Cow

Ingredients
4-6 steaks (I used 4 NY Strip steaks cut about 1 ¹⁄₂-2 inches thick)
1 tablespoon steak sauce (I used Smith and Wollensky brand, A-1 would work as well)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¹⁄₄ cup white wine

Instructions
1. Combine the steak sauce and the Dijon mustard in a bowl.  Brush this mixture over all sides of steaks.  

2. Place the meat into the slow cooker, pour white wine over the steaks, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.  

3. Serve with extra steak sauce if desired.  

Comments
This recipe is adapted from A Year of SlowCooking.  I used Smith and Wollensky’s steak sauce because I’ve never been a fan of the A-1 called for in the original recipe.  The steak ended up with a texture very similar to pot roast, ensuring that Art wouldn’t enjoy it, but both Lance and I felt it was quite tasty and flavorful.  

Shown here with Summer Squash Casserole.

Internet - A Year of Slow Cooking

Ingredients
1 filet of beef (about 5 pounds), well trimmed and tied
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Instructions
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425*F. Lightly oil a roasting pan.

2. Pat filet dry.  Slide a small knife into the filet, creating holes about 1-inch apart all over the meat.  Insert a piece of garlic into each hole.  Mix together oil, salt and pepper and rub over the entire surface of the meat.

3. Place the tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roast reads 120*F for rare, 125* to 130*F for medium-rare, or 135* to 140*F for medium, 25 to 45 minutes (the temperature will continue to rise 5* to 10* out of the oven). Cover the roast loosely with aluminum foil and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the strings and cut the tenderloin into ¹⁄₂-inch slices.

Comments
This is a modified version of the filet roast I posted a few weeks ago.  As you can see from the picture, I didn’t slice the garlic thinly enough so it didn’t soften as much as it should have during the cooking process, although Art still happily ate all of it on his plate!  With garlic that is thinner, it will soften nicely and mellow in flavor.  Even with my too-thick garlic, the meat had a fantastic garlic flavor throughout.

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
4-6 filet mignon steaks, 1-inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 cups red wine (If you run out of red wine, like I did, feel free to use white)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375*F.

2. Season both sides of the filet mignon generously with salt and pepper. In a large heavy, ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Place the steaks in the hot pan and cook until well seared on 1 side, about 3 minutes. Turn the steaks over, there should be a nice crust on top. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; give everything a good stir. Transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 10 to 12 minutes or until the steaks are cooked medium-rare.

3. Remove the steaks to a platter; cover to keep warm. Return the pan to the stove over medium-high heat. Deglaze with the wine, scraping up all the yummy bits in the bottom of the pan.

4. Simmer until the wine is reduced and has formed a nice glaze on the mushrooms.  Add the butter to make it rich and stir until it has melted.

5. Serve the steaks topped with glazed mushrooms.  

Comments
This recipe was supposed to be completely different, but I got distracted, ran out of red wine, and a few other things didn’t happen quite the way I had initially intended.  The result was still fantastic and filet mignon is always a big hit in my home.  

I used to get 2-inch steaks from the butcher but I’m finding that I get much better and consistent results with 1-inch steaks, and people can always eat two of them if they want.

Shown here with Swiss Chard Strudel.

Unknown

Ingredients
1 boneless eye-round roast (3 ¹⁄₂ to 4 ¹⁄₂ pounds)
4 teaspoons kosher salt, or 2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Sprinkle all sides of roast evenly with salt. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225*F. Pat roast dry with paper towels; rub with 2 teaspoons oil and sprinkle all sides evenly with pepper.

3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until starting to smoke. Sear roast until browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

4. Transfer roast to roasting pan, preferably one with a v-rack. Roast until meat-probe thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 115*F for medium-rare, 1 ¹⁄₄ to 1 ³⁄₄ hours, or 125*F for medium, 1 ³⁄₄ to 2 ¹⁄₄ hours.

4. Turn oven off; leave roast in oven, without opening door, until thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 130*F for medium-rare of 140*F for medium, 30 to 50 minutes longer. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice meat crosswise as thinly as possible and serve.

Note: I aim for somewhere between medium and medium-rare when I make this, so I cook it until it reaches 120*F and then leave it in the oven until it reaches 135*F.  Step 1 is crucial to making this delicious and tender.  

Comments
This recipe is from an issue of Cook’s Illustrated and it’s amazing.  Eye Round is a relatively cheap cut of beef and this turns it into something wonderful and flavorful.  The leftovers make fantastic sandwiches as well.  It does take quite a lot of time but with cooking and the salting, so be sure to plan ahead the day before.

Shown here with Horseradish Cream Sauce and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Cook’s Illustrated 2008

Ingredients
2 pounds ground meat
2 large onions, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons wet mustard
¹⁄₄ cup brown sugar
12 ounces tomato paste
12 ounces water
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Hamburger buns

Instructions
1. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and add meat and onions.  Sauté until meat is fully cooked and onions are soft.  Drain.  

2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for a while, at least 30 minutes.  

3.  Serve on hamburger buns.

Slow cooker variation: Sauté meat and onions as above and then add all ingredients to your slow cooker.  Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours.  

Comments
This is another recipe from my mom and it’s a family favorite.  I’ve modified it slightly because it’s hard to find HFCS-free ketchup.  Apparently this is known as barbecue if you’re from the Midwest.  (Note: Since first posting this HFCS-free ketchup has become super easy to find!  Thanks Hunts!  I still make this with tomato paste, though.)

Person - Mom

Ingredients
1 filet of beef (about 5 pounds), well trimmed and tied (a.k.a. whole filet mignon)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 425*F. Lightly oil a roasting pan. If you have a v-rack, this would be a good time to use it.  

2. Pat filet dry. Rub oil over meat and then season liberally with salt and pepper.   

3. Place the tenderloin in a shallow roasting pan and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roast reads 120*F for rare, 125* to 130*F for medium-rare, or 135* to 140*F for medium, 25 to 45 minutes (the temperature will continue to rise 5* to 10* out of the oven). Cover the roast loosely with aluminum foil and let stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the strings and cut the tenderloin into thin slices.  

Comments
I live near an amazing butcher and we always try to stock up on filet mignon when it goes on sale.  While steaks are lovely, a roast filet is a great alternative.  This recipe is from the 1997 Joy of Cooking, the cookbook that got me through the first 3 years of my adult life.  This recipe is actually the first one I made with meat after several years of vegetarianism.  

I was reminded of this recipe the last time I bought filet mignon.  I had needed one cut up for steaks, but it was on sale so I asked Art to get a second one trimmed for roasting to go into the freezer.  That way we could roast it, cut it for steaks ourselves, or whatever we decided to do with it.  Another customer heard Art order “filet trimmed for roasting” and expressed curiosity about how that was achieved.  She’d only ever had filet in steak form.  I told her about the process and how delicious and tender the meat turned out and, the whole time, I wished that I had this recipe posted so I could direct her to my site.  

And now it is posted!  If you’re ever looking for a good alternative to “slab o’ meat,” this is a great one.  You can easily use a smaller roast, it will just cook more quickly.

Shown with Cabbage and Potato Gratin with Sage.

Joy of Cooking (1997)

Ingredients
³⁄₄ cup butter (1 ¹⁄₂ sticks), room temperature
3 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 ³⁄₄-ounce package dried porcini mushrooms (I couldn’t find dried porcini mushrooms, so I used a “forest blend” of dried mushrooms instead)  
6 1-inch filet mignon steaks

Instructions
1. Mix first 4 ingredients in small bowl for herb butter. Season butter to taste with salt and pepper. Using a food processor or spice grinder, grind dried porcini mushrooms to fine powder. Transfer powder to plate. Season mushroom powder with salt and pepper. Press steaks into powder to coat both sides well.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons herb butter in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add steaks to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plates. Spoon rounded tablespoon of herb butter atop each steak and serve.

Comments
I have no idea where this recipe is from originally.  I do know that about two years ago I was getting a bit tired of making the same filet mignon recipe over and over again.  (I know, it’s a rough life when you get tired of filet mignon.)  This recipe was suggested to me online and I filed it away for future use.  Finally, two years later, I decided to make it.  I’m sorry I waited so long!  

This turned out perfectly.  The mushroom coating was inspired and the compound butter was phenomenal.  I can’t wait till I’m able to make it using fresh herbs from my garden instead of the packaged ones from the grocery store.  As Art said, “Without the butter this is great.  With the butter it’s incredible!”  This is definitely a keeper of a recipe and it helps that it was very easy to throw together.

Shown here with Disappearing Zucchini Orzo.

Unknown

Ingredients
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (i seem to have miscalculated my lime needs for the week, so i was out of fresh limes.  i used bottled lime juice and it seems to have worked well enough.  i’m sure fresh juice would be even better.)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoon Sriracha
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound flank steak, trimmed
Cooking spray
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

Instructions
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add steak; seal and marinate in refrigerator 24 hours, turning occasionally.  Note: Since I tend to buy whole spices, and also like short cuts, I used my hand blender to make the marinade. I just tossed in the garlic cloves and whole coriander and let the blender do the work.  A hand/stick/immersion blender is a very useful kitchen tool.  So useful, I even bought one for my mom! 

2. Prepare grill (or griddle) to medium-high heat.

3. Remove steak from marinate; discard marinade.

4. Place steak on grill rack (or griddle) coated with cooking spray; grill 4-6 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steak from grill; sprinkle with salt. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut across grain into thin slices. 

Comments
This recipe comes from Cooking Light’s 2009 Annual.  Flank steak is a rather new addition to our diets and I’m not sure why we weren’t eating it sooner.  It’s extremely flavorful and takes well to all sorts of marinades.  I would make some variety of flank steak on a weekly basis if the griddle wasn’t so annoying to clean.  I’ve got a Lodge cast iron griddle and, if you’re like me and don’t have a proper grill, it’s an acceptable substitute.  Just be sure to open a window in your kitchen since it can be quite smoky. 

Don’t let the ingredients scare you away.  It tastes neither fishy nor killer spicy from the fish sauce and sriracha.  I promise.

Shown here with Tempura Squash and Soy Dipping Sauce.

Cooking Light 2009

Ingredients
2 teaspoons garlic, minced (I used two cloves)
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh basil, minced
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon black pepper
4 (1-inch thick) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (a.k.a. filet mignon)
Cooking spray

Instructions
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; rub evenly over steaks.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steaks to pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.  Let steaks rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Comments
The picture does not do the food justice; I’m still learning the great art of food photography.  (Photo Updated: 1/28/2012)  This is another recipe from Cooking Light.  It’s nice and simple and yields a tender and flavorful piece of filet mignon.  Thanks to an amazing local butcher, we tend to get filet mignon rather often, and I’m always on the look-out for new ways to prepare it.

Shown here with Disappearing Zucchini Orzo.

Cooking Light

Ingredients
¹⁄₂ cup shallots, chopped
¹⁄₄ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon fresh thyme (having no fresh on hand, i used 1 teaspoon of dried thyme)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 2-pound boneless top round steak trimmed (a.k.a. london broil)
Cooking spray
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag or shallow container with a lid. Pierce steak with a fork. Add steak to bag or container; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning every 30 minutes.  (I marinated it for a bit over three hours since Apocalypse Now Redux is a very long movie.) 

2. Preheat broiler.

3. Remove steak from bag; discard marinade. Scrape shallots and garlic from steak; discard shallots and garlic. Place steak on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle steak evenly with salt and pepper. Broil 4 inches from heat 6 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting against grain.  

Cook’s Note: I cooked mine for about 10 minutes a side until it reached an internal temperature of 130*F.  This yielded meat that was on the medium side of the medium-rare spectrum.

Comments
This recipe is from Cooking Light’s 2009 Annual.  As you can see from the picture, it turned out pretty much perfect.  Art cut nice slices against the grain, it was tender and flavorful, and it always amazes me what you can do with a cheap cut of beef given the appropriate cooking method.  This was the first time I’d ever made a London Broil and it’s safe to say we’ll be revisiting this meal in the future.

Note for future cooking: Aim for 115*F.

Cooking Light 2009