The Rainy-day Return of Foodie Friday

As the quality of American meat has broadly declined, the availability of exceptional meats to the relatively affluent has grown. We may be living in the End Times of the Clusterfuck Nation (that's Kunstler's admirabley precise appellation), and may soon be forced by circumstance and economy to return to bark and bitter root vegetables, but in the mean-fucking-time, if you're willing to drop a little coin, you can eat some tasty shit. I don't eat much beef, but at the store the other day I saw a really lovely beef tenderloin and asked the butcher if he could slice me a couple of steaks. I got two, each just under 3" thick, just over a pound. It was raining that day, so grilling was out. They were the dark, dark red of grass-fed meat.

Filet de boeuf and pan-cooked Brussels sprouts

However many tenderloin steaks (filet mignon) you want to serve
coarse sel gris
black pepper
clarified butter

1 lb brussels sprouts, outer layer removed, stem-end trimmed
3-4 medium shallots sliced paper-thin
2-3 cloves of garlic sliced paper-thin
olive oil
good white wine vinegar
water
raw sugar
sea salt
black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. Rub both sides of the steak with coase sel gris and a heavy coating of ground black pepper. Set aside.

Begin the Brussels sprouts. In a heavy saucepan, sauté the shallots and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Adding salt right at the outset helps to sweat them out. Add the Brussels sprouts; sauté them until they begin to brown, then deglaze the whole pan with a healthy pour of white wine vinegar. Add a nice pinch (1 tspn or so) of sugar. Salt again lightly. Cover, not too tightly, and simmer. If the liquid reduces too far, add water, not more vinegar.

While the Brussels sprouts simmer, heat a heavy-bottomed pan over the highest heat with a generous spoonful of clarified butter. When the butter is very hot, add the steaks, searing until both sides of the steaks are caremalized, no more than 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the pan from the stovetop and place in the hot oven for about 12 minutes. The best way to test for doneness is by touch and smell--the give of the meat under the pressure of your finger indicates how rare it is; the more give, generally, the more rare. You should just begin to smell the cooking meat above the other kitchen smells. If it becomes too powerful, you've already overcooked your meat. This should be served rare to medium rare, and if the middle third of your steaks aren't pink and just this side of warm when you eat them because you're one of those people, then seriously, there's a McDonald's down the street.

Let the steaks rest on a plate or cutting board for a few minutes. In that time, uncover the Brussels sprouts and raise the heat to boil off the liquid, leaving just a glaze in the bottom of the pan. Toss a few times. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve unadorned on a big white plate.