Go Big Or Go Home

The way I look at it, if you are only going to eat red meat once a week, you should do it properly.  The Bride expressed a desire for filet, and so filet she should have!  Wouldn't you know it?  The only recipe left for filet was the Filets and Crab With Bearnaise Sauce on page 104.

I had to work Saturday morning, but I stopped by Findlay Market on the way in to pick up the filets, which they were cutting to order from the tenderloin.  I asked for two nice filets, and this is what the butcher gave me.

Do you see this Fresh Market?  Do you?  Take a good look!  THIS is how you should treat your customers!

Asparagus has two nasty habits.  First, it makes your pee smelly funny.  Second, it LOVES to fall through the grates.  Learning from earlier grilling sessions, I began this recipe by making a "raft" using wooden skewers.  Then I drizzled the raft with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

The rub for the filet called for a mixture of red and black peppercorns.   Into the spice grinder they went!

In order to use my technique of dipping the filet into the rub, I was going to need a bigger bowl.  I mixed in the salt, and I was ready to go.

The picture below has the filet with one side already dipped, and soaking up the rub for the other side.  I like this method because the meat grabs exactly the right amount needed.

Everything was now ready for the grill, and I thought it just looked lovely.

The grilling would not take long, and the sauce still needed to be assembled.  I had never made a Bearnaise sauce before,  but all of my experience with sauces told me to make darned sure I had my mise en place ready, as sauces can be finicky, and you don't want to be caught without your next ingredient ready.  Otherwise, bad things can happen to your sauce.

So, Corey, how do you make a Bearnaise sauce?  Well, you begin by simmering your shallots, tarragon, and pepper in your saucepan.  I believe this is called making a court bouillon.  

Next, whisk your egg yolks.  This denatures the fat molecules so they can better surround and absorb other flavor compounds.  

 

If you added the egg yolks directly into the saucepan, you would soon have scrambled eggs.  This is less than desirable for your sauce.  Instead, you have to "temper" the egg yolks by adding in a small amount of your court bouillon.  This will ensure that your eggs come up to temperature slowly and do not curdle.  Whisk away!

Now that your eggs have been tempered, you can add them into your saucepan (with the heat off) and whisk to incorporate.  

When this mixture takes on the consistency of mustard, you are ready to incorporate the butter.

You must add the butter slowly.  If you dumped it in all at once, you would have a mess.  Instead, you must drizzle in only a little bit of butter at a time, whisking the entire time.  You are creating an "emulsion."  Drizzle a little, whisk, emulsify that amount, and then add a little more butter, and repeat.  If you see a layer of butter floating on the top, you must not add any more butter and keep whisking until it is fully emulsified.  When it is all said and done, you should have a sauce that now has the consistency of mayonnaise.

With the sauce ready, I was ready to grill!  Gorgeous!

With the steaks still cooking the crab and asparagus came off the grill.  

I plated the asparagus before  taking on the crab.

I don't have crab all that often in the house, so I didn't have those fancy crab-cracking thingies.  So I improvised.

I checked the temperatures of the filets, and they were at 135 degrees in the middle, which is perfect for medium rare.

All steaks that come off the grill need to "rest," so I continued working with the crab.  Here you can see a nice piece that I got from its shell.

I plated the filets at an angle almost perpendicular to the asparagus.  I felt this looked cool.

Continuing the cool plating, I placed the crab at yet a third angle.  Fancy, huh?

Finally, I sauced the whole meal.  As I had my alcohol for the week last night, it was time to open up a nice 2011 Grape Kool-Aid.

Take your fork, grab some crab, get some filet, and make sure you get some sauce.  Praise the heavens.

I cannot, and thus will not, describe the awesomeness.  The Bride even caught me chewing silently with my eyes closed, in deep reflection of just how wonderful this meal was.  I'm going to go ahead and say it right now...this is the best recipe so far.  It is the most "company worthy" recipe yet.