By Brian L. Lichorowic

There’s a tremendous difference in the quality of protein in the meat form an animal given steroids and one raised on it’s own accord. It a scientific fact that the one given steroids is lacking certain essential amino acids.

Take these as facts; The US Department of Agriculture has approved the feeding of sawdust, plastic chips, industrial waste, sewage, cement dust and dead animal parts to commercially raised animals. These are toxins; your body stores toxins in fat.This also causes the animal to pack on tremendous amounts of fat because all animal bodies, including humans, use fat to wall toxins off and away from the nervous system and the vital organs. So what they’re essential doing is selling us huge amounts of toxic fat. Red meat is not bad for humans. Commercially raised, steroid poisoned meat is.

I believe in sustainable local food based economies. The unfortunate thing is not many other do. I attribute this to laziness. If we each had to forage the days sustenance maybe the world would be different. In foraging, I will on occasion and not as much as I use to, come across a organic,fresh, trimmed aged gorgeous piece of dead animal.

You live for those moments….{grin}

Dry Rubbed Whole Beef Tenderloin with Carrots, Shallots and a Virginia Norton Sauce

I’ve gone on record stating that the Norton grape makes the best Epicurean cooking wine I’ve every used. It reduced wonderfully and fuses extremely with all other herbs that your care to try with it. Add 2 cups of with a stick of butter and 2 med size plums and you’ll get something like chocolate in the end It is amazing.
Serves: 8 as a main course

For the Sauce:
4 Tbs.                 Butter
½ cup                 Shallots chopped
4 cups                 Virginia Norton wine (about one 750-ml. Bottle)
3                 Thyme sprigs
1                 Bay leaf
1 tsp.                 fresh ground pepper
2 cups                 beef broth

For the Vegetables:
4 tbs.    .            Butter
4                 Carrots, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch dice
10                Shallots, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4                 Thyme sprigs
1                 Bay leaf
½ tsp.                 Fresh ground pepper
¼ cup                 Italian parsley leaves
½ tsp.                kosher salt

For the Beef:
8 6-oz.             Beef tenderloin medallions
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp.             butter

Making the Sauce:
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the shallots and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the wine, thyme, bay leaf and pepper. Cook until the liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup.

Add the broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half, about 30 minutes.
Strain through a fine sieve, return to the skillet and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.

Making the Vegetables:
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots, shallots, thyme, bay leaf and pepper. Cook until the carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove the thyme and bay leaf. Add the parsley and salt parsley.

For the Beef:
Sprinkle the beef generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the beef and cook until seared, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook 3 minutes. Turn and cook until rare, about 3 minutes.

Place a spoonful of the sauce on each plate, top with a beef medallion and a spoonful of the vegetables.

Shaker Herb-Marinated, Spinach-Stuffed Whole Beef Tenderloin
A different take on a old recipe. I came up with this  sole for the purpose or find something to do with the 150lb Montreal Steak Seasoning jar my wife got at CostCo. Any of your favorite seasoning (rubs) will work.

For the Tenderloin
3 to 5 lb.                Beef tenderloin, butt-end or tail-end cut
3 tbs.                    Olive oil extra-virgin
½ cup                     Cream sherry
2 tbs.                    Montreal Steak Seasoning
½ cup                     Basil fresh chopped
½ cup                     Parsley fresh flat-leaf chopped
¼ cup                     Chives chopped fresh
3 sprigs                 Rosemary fresh leaves
3 sprigs                 Thyme fresh leaves

Spinach Stuffing:
3 tbs.                     Olive oil extra-virgin
1 lb.                     Spinach frozen chopped
4 cloves                 Garlic, chopped
2 tsp                    Red pepper flakes
½ cup                     Sweet sherry
1 cup                     Bread crumbs
½ cup                     Romano cheese grated
1 tsp                    Basil leaves fresh chopped
1 tsp                     Parsley leaves fresh chopped
1 tsp                     Chives fresh chopped
1 tsp                     Rosemary leaves fresh chopped
1 tsp                     Thyme leaves fresh chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Spinach Stuffing,
Heat oil in a saute pan over high heat. Add frozen spinach, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and saute over high heat until the spinach has lost its moisture and is heated through, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Add sherry and cook for 2 minutes. Add bread crumbs and Romano cheese. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the ingredients combine into a soft-textured stuffing. If the stuffing seems too dry, add some additional sherry. If the stuffing seems too wet, add more bread crumbs.
Remove from heat and add salt and pepper, to taste. Add all fresh herbs and mix gently. Allow to cool before stuffing into tenderloin.

For the Tenderloin
Trim and remove all silver skin and fat from the beef. Rub meat with the olive oil and then splash with sherry. Continuing to rub beef, then sprinkle the steak seasoning all over the meat. Cover beef on all sides with the fresh herbs, rubbing to coat.

Place meat in a shallow pan and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Turn and pat beef with the marinade that has collected in the pan. Allow to rest for an additional 30 minutes.
Heat the grill to 500 degrees F.

With an 8-inch knife, carefully pierce the meat in the center of 1 end. Cut a hole through that side as far into the fillet as the knife will allow. Turn to the other end and repeat this process, until the hole extends all the way through the fillet. Open the hole like a tunnel, being careful not to break through to the outside of the fillet. Using only small amounts at a time, stuff the cooled Spinach Stuffing into the opening from 1 end to the other.
Reduce grill temperature to 400 degrees F.

Place the stuffed beef tenderloin on the grill and, turning every 5 to 7 minutes to avoid burning the herbs, cook to an internal temperature of 110 to 120 degrees F. Cooking time for a medium-rare tenderloin is approximately 20 minutes.
Once the tenderloin is cooked to your liking and removed from the grill, allow to rest for 10 minutes. Slice into 1/2 to 1-inch medallions. If desired, serve on a bed of roasted marinated red and yellow peppers with a green salad of your choice tossed in Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Chateaubriand con Vino Norton
So I’m a French guy and The American named Jefferson brings you a bottle of wine from the new colonies that just beat the crap out of England. He proudly shows you the bottle claiming that “The colonies can make wine too”  Your polite and thank him but when he leaves, you fein disgust and cook this with it.. That would be..  the French thing to do.

4 lb.                    Beef tenderloin roast, trimmed
2 cloves                 Garlic, quartered
¼ cup                     Olive oil extra virgin
1 tbs.                    Lemon juice, fresh
1 pinch                 Oregano dried
1 pinch                 Basil dried
1 pinch                 Dill dried
1 pinch                 Rosemary dried
1 pinch                 Thyme dried
2 tbs.                Peppercorns whole multi-colored
1 cup                     Water
2 tbs.                     Dijon mustard
1 clove                 Garlic chopped fresh
¼ cup                     Butter
1 ½ cups                Virginia Norton Wine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F Cut 8 small slits in the roast. Insert garlic into slits.
In a medium bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, basil, dill, rosemary, and thyme. Brush over roast. With a small spoon, press whole peppercorns into roast. Place roast in roasting pan, and pour water into bottom of pan.
Bake in a preheated oven, 20 minutes for medium rare, 40 minutes for well done. Remove roast to a cutting board, and let sit 5 minutes.
Pour drippings from roast into a small sauce pan set over low heat. Stir in mustard, chopped garlic, and butter. Cook until butter is completely melted, then add wine, and reduce by half. Spoon sauce over sliced roast.

copyright 2007 Brian L. Lichorowic