I genuinely hope that the other Doristas feel more favorably toward this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe than I do. To make Boeuf a la Ficelle, you take a beautiful (ahem, expensive) beef tenderloin, cut all the fat off of/out of it, bind it up with string, then boil it in a broth you spent the afternoon making. Serve it with some root vegetables that had been previously boiled in the broth.
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| Who's got two thumbs and doesn't know how to tie up a piece of meat? This gal. |
Here's the thing. Beef tenderloin can be one of the most delicious things on the planet. If I'm going to spend the money on this cut--which generally only happens on Christmas Eve--I want it to be as delicious as possible. I don't know what my husband usually does with it, but it involves garlic and roasting, which are, off the bat, two things that set it ahead of Dorie's "boil it" method.
Despite my pathetic job of tying up the roast, the ends were cooked through and the middle was pretty raw after 17 minutes of boiling and 10 minutes of sitting. Dorie says that if it's undercooked, just pour some of the hot broth over your slice of beef in your bowl and it will cook it more. That didn't work. Guess my broth cooled off too much during the 10 minute sit. Fortunately, I like very rare beef, so I ate this and it was fine, but I would have preferred if it was a little less raw looking.
Matt said, "It's like she took a poor man's recipe that's supposed to be for a cheap cut of meat and threw a tenderloin into it." Yup. I understand that a cheap cut of meat wouldn't turn out to be as tender with such a short cooking time, but I don't care. For me, beef tenderloin is a luxury meat, and I expect the rest of the meal to match up to it. Boiled potatoes and turnips do not pass the test.
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| Hey! Look what I grew! Gardens are magic. |
I might feel more kindly to this recipe if it didn't cost so much for the meat. This is definitely not the tastiest way a tenderloin can be prepared. There's not a chance I'd make it again.
Oh no! Sorry you didn't like this. I am very impressed by your home grown turnip.
ReplyDeleteI am now relieved my beef came already trimmed and tied! Yeah, it was fun to try this method, but I doubt I'll make it again.
ReplyDeleteI, too am happy my beef was trimmed and tied - I have no clue how to do that either! Sorry you didn't enjoy ;(
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this was not a good recipe for you, however, YAY for your garden!!!
ReplyDeleteOh I am sorry that you did not like this week's dish; but am so darn envious of your garden's produce!!
ReplyDeletemmm garlic and roasting sound good to me! Bummer that this wasn't as good as you hoped!
ReplyDeleteOh no :-( Sorry this was a bummer for you.
ReplyDeleteYou don't even want to know what tying shenanigans I went through.
Love your turnip!
We actually enjoyed this more than we expected to but I made John cut the tenderloin roast in half because I was so skeptical. Although this was delicious, I'm sure I'd prefer your husband's method!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend!
This was an interesting recipe, tasty, but I love to roast the whole tenderloin. We did that
ReplyDeletefor Christmas and it was incredible. I did enjoy all the root vegetable in this, very
flavorful.
Congratulations on the homegrown turnip! Sorry you didn't enjoy this. I used a filet mignon (which said tenderloin on the package). It was enough for two and not so expensive as a roast. Hopefully you like the next recipe better.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Ei, I must agree that your beef-tying ability is lame. Perhaps that's a job to turn over to Charlie. However, your point is well made about wanting to get the best possible result from an expensive cut of meat. I like beef rare but not raw and yours does seem, I admit, a little undercooked. I am making this beef dish this week, along with the white salad, so I am glad to have your thoughts and suggestions. Quite honestly, your plate of beef and vegetables looks tasty. The turnip, however, fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed it this was meant for inexpensive meat… I slow cooked a cheap piece of meat in the broth and it was delicious and took no time to put together.
ReplyDeleteawwww.... :( well at least you dont HAVE to make this again!
ReplyDeleteSorry this was not a hit for you! My meat eaters really enjoyed it! Love your turnip…don’t you love growing your own veggies…can’t wait till spring!
ReplyDeleteGreat and very real opinion (as always). I actually came into this week thinking along the same lines regarding the cut of meat, mostly because I DON'T consider myself a great meat cook so have trepidation at expensive cuts. And doing anything unusual to them. My hubby LOVED this preparation so my tune changed but he left many veggies behind.....;)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that you didn't like this. I was skeptical at first, but I would definitely make this again. But you are lucky in that you have your wonderful garden to give you such fantastic turnips! That's really terrific!
ReplyDeleteIt is an expensive cut of beef, and would not be my preferred cooking method. Despite our initial objections to poaching the beef, we both ended up enjoying this one.
ReplyDeleteHope the next dish is a winner!