Beef

Beef Filet a la Randy Fenoli

Randy Fenoli, a U.S. TV presenter and designer I'd seen many times on the choose-a-wedding-dress show "Say Yes to the Dress," shared this recipe when he appeared in Toronto on the Marilyn Denis Show. I tweeted something about his appearance and he nicely tweeted me back. He's made this recipe many times for guests at his New York home. Although I'm not a fan of Gorgonzola cheese, Norm is and I copied this recipe thinking I'd make it one day for guests, too....

• 4-5 lb beef filet, trimmed and tied, at room temperature
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Both meat and butter should be at room temperature.

Place beef on a baking sheet, pat dry with a paper towel.

Spread butter to cover the filet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in 500 degree F. oven exactly 25 minutes for medium rare.

Remove from oven and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Let meat rest for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and strings.

Cut thickly, drizzled with hot Gorgonzola Sauce.

Serve with roast cherry tomatoes (2 pints tomtaoes tossed in olive oil, salt and vinegar, roasted 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.)

Gorgonzola Sauce: 

Bring 4 cups whipping cream to a boil over medium-high heat, stir while bubbling till thickened (about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola cheese, 3 Tbsp Parmesan, 3/4 tsp each kosher salt and black pepper, 3 Tbsp minced fresh Italian parsley.

Keep on low heat until ready to serve.

Marilyn's Rump Roast, Stew and Eye of Round

My mom made great rump roast for special occasions, like my dad's birthday.

Later she started making eye of the round roast to slice cold for buffets, like the one at my sister's wedding reception.

Left-over rump roast works best in the beef stew recipe.

• 1 large beef rump roast or eye of round 
• clove of raw garlic (optional)
• at least 5-6 large potatoes, cut in large chunks
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into coins
• 2 large handfuls raw green beans (ends nipped and beans snapped in half)
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, steamed (optional)
• 1 beef boullion cube if necessary
• corn starch or flour as a thickener
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh rolls or crusty bread

Dinner, Day One

Remove the roast from its package in the fridge.

Salt and pepper the beef and put back in the fridge for 15 minutes to overnight (or skip this step.)

Rump Roast

1. If cooking with garlic: Cut small slits in the fat on top and insert slivers of a peeled clove of garlic in the slits.
2. Put a little oil in a frying pan without a plastic handle
3. Heat on the stove, and brown the beef on both sides to seal in juices.
4. Put the pan in the oven and cook uncovered at 325 degrees F to rare or medium rare.
5. Let roast sit in the pan 10  minutes fater removing from the oven.
6. Save pan drippings, don't use for gravy.
7. Slice half the roast thinly and serve with dinner on Day 1.
8. Refrigerate left-over beef and put drippings in a bowl in the fridge.
9. Fat on the drippings will solidify on top as it cools.

Leftover rump roast makes great beef stew.

Boneless Eye of the Round

1. Put the roast in a frying pan without a plastic handle.
2. Rub the roast all over  first with oil, then with peeled fresh garlic or garlic powder. 
3. Season the beef lightly with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
5. Roast until the beef is seared (browned) outside. (15- 20 minutes)
6. Turn off the oven and let roast sit to continue cooking in the residual heat.
7. When temperature of roast reaches 130 degrees F, (or the doneness you want) take roast from the oven and tent with foil.
8. Let roast rest about 20 minutes before slicing.

Leftover eye of the round, thinly sliced, is good in sandwiches.

Day Two: Beef Stew

1. Wash and peel raw potatoes, cut into quarters.
2. Peel and cut the carrots into coins (if you add too much carrot the stew will be sweet.)
3. Wash, snip the ends off, snap fresh the green beans in half. (You can use frozen)
4. Skim the fat from the pan drippings* and discard the fat.
5. Put the drippings in the bottom of a very large pot on the stove to warm.
6. Chop the left-over cooked rump roast into 3 cm chunks.
7. Add beef to the pot, turn up heat, cook till the meat is browned.

*If you did not have a lot of drippings or forgot to save them, brown the meat in 1 tbsp of olive oil and a clove of garlic, which you may remove after browning.  Then add 1 beef bouillion cube in a cup of boiling water.

1. Add the raw potatoes, carrots and beans and add water to cover.
2. Add salt (at least 2 tsp, or until you dip your finger in the cool water and it tastes salty.)
3. Bring to a boil, turn down heat.
4. Simmer, covered, on low about an hour, stirring occasionally.
5. Add extra boiling water if necessary.
6. Cook on low heat until the meat is very tender and the potatoes are soft, almost mushy.
7. Taste--if you think it's too salty, peel another raw potato and add to the pot to absorb extra salt (discard this potato before serving.)
8. The stew should thicken as some of the potato cooks down.
9. If you need to thicken further, remove some of the stew juices with a ladle or large serving spoon into a dish, whisk in 1 tbsp corn starch or flour, stir to make a smooth paste. Stir paste into the stew.
10. Dish the stew into shallow bowls, sprinkle on fresh grated pepper if desired.
11. Serve with bread.

No-Potatoes Beef Stew

Norm says his mother Nan's beef stew had big chunks of beef in broth and that's the kind of stew he likes. Nan got her stewing beef from a butcher. Her husband Earl would buy part of a cow every fall and they'd fill the freezer with packages of meat. The stewing beef from Costco is similar.

This is recipe seems like Nan's. She didn't add tomato sauce, an option here. She probably used Earl's home-made wine, to get the same taste, use an Italian Red.

• 1-1/2 pounds stewing beef cubes 
• 1/3 cup flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 4-5 medium carrots, scraped and sliced
• 3 stalks celery, washed and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1-1/3 cups beef stock OR 1 cup beef stock + 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• mushrooms (optional)
• cooked rice or crusty bread

1. Mix four with salt and pepper in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Toss beef cubes in the flour mixture.
3. Heat olive oil in the bottom of a large pot, over medium heat.
4. Fry onions, carrots, celery just until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in garlic, fry 1 minute.
6. Add additional olive oil if needed.
7. Add floured beef cubes, stir until meat is browned.
8. Add the stock, wine, bay leaves, herbs.
9. When mixture bubbles, reduce heat to minimum.
10. Cover and simmer 3 hours.
11. Add mushrooms, if using, in the last half hour.
12. Remove bay leaves before serving.
13. Sop up juices with crusty bread or serve over cooked rice.