Flawlessly Friday

MATTHEW0 COMMENTSFROM THE LUNCH BOX, RECIPES

Feb 17

Alice Revisited Looking Through the Glass

Grilled Beef Tenderloin in chopped Herbs de Provence? Now, to make this interesting could be much more challenging than it sounds.

The steak was a no-brainer, a new store had opened up in town that specialized in Amish meats from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and our meat came from an Amish farm cooperative in Bird-in-Hand, PA. Truly beautiful piece of meat.

Next the herbs: I couldn’t get my hands on fresh lavender flowers, but I had lavender salt with dried blossoms in it, so mixing 1 teaspoon of that with 1 t of Danish smoked salt, then rolling with a mixture of fresh herbs that I could get my hands on:

• Chives,
• Margoram,
• Rosemary,
• Thyme.
• I added in about 1/2 t powdered fennel and sprinkled the beast with it
• Finishing it off with about 1 teaspoon of dried basil for good measure.

Coat Your Loin and Let Come to Room Temp

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You’re supposed to use savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender flowers, in order to successfully replicate the famous herb blend. So while this didn’t quite work as intended, the resulting flavor was “off the chi-zang” as Chris Rock would say (When he played MARTY THE ZEBRA in the animated film “Madagascar 2.”)

Here’s all you do:

Ingredients

Salsa:

2 red bell peppers

2 yellow bell peppers

1 T water

3 T extra-virgin olive oil

3 T balsamic vinegar

1/4 c capers, rinsed and drained

3 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steak:

1 1-lb. boneless beef tenderloin

2 t smoked salt or kosher salt

2 t herbs de Provence (again, I used fresh chopped chives, margoram, rosemary, and thyme; about 1 T of each or enough to adequately cover the entire loin)

Sprinkle about 1 t of dry fennel over the loin

Drizzle 2-4 T olive oil

Directions

Salsa: Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Grill the peppers on all sides until charred, about 10 minutes. Put them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

Lift plastic wrap, remove the charred skin, and then proceed to core and seeds from the peppers. Cut the flesh into 1/4-inch thick strips and put them in a small bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, capers, and parsley until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the mixture over the peppers and toss until coated. Refrigerate for at least two hours, (This salsa can be made one day in advance).

Ah Lovely!

Steaks: Put a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the steaks on both sides with the smoked salt and herbs de Provence. Drizzle with olive oil and grill for 4 to 6 minutes each side for medium-rare.

Again, fire up the gas or charcoal grill and place wood chunks directly on the lava rocks or coals. Cooking took no more than about 5 minutes each side.

Remove the steaks from the grill, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Thinly slice the steaks and arrange on serving plates. Place salsa in nifty little bowls for self-service on each plate.

- See more at: http://www.alunchboxblog.com/grilled-beef-tenderloin-flawlessly/?preview=true&preview_id=2066&preview_nonce=b1bc2c38da#sthash.e6gTpIBm.dpuf