Tenderloin Steaks With Arugula Rocket Cornichon Relish Food

BEEF TENDERLOIN BITES ON A BED OF ARUGULA

Steps:

• Preheat broiler to high.
• Mix bread crumbs with parsley, cheese. Warm the oil and garlic over low heat to infuse flavor, 5 minutes. Pour oil into bread crumbs and combine to distribute equally and moisten the bread crumbs.
• Season the meat with salt and pepper. Coat the meat in bread crumb mixture to coat evenly. Spread meat onto baking sheet and broil until crisp and meat is tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Serve meat on bed of shredded arugula with pasta alongside, such as Spicy Crab and Vermicelli. Give a squeeze of lemon juice over the beef and arugula.
• Place a large pot of water on to boil. Add pasta and salt water. Cook to al dente.
• While water comes to a boil, heat a deep skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and butter. To warm oil and butter add crushed red pepper flakes, garlic and shallots, saute 3 minutes, add shiitake mushrooms and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes more. Deglaze the pan with sherry or Marsala wine, scatter in crabmeat - feeling for shell bits as you go. Warm the ingredients through, a minute or so, stir in tomatoes and heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in half-and-half or cream and reduce heat to lowest setting.
• Drain pasta when cooked to al dente and toss with sauce and crab. Top with cheese, if using, and basil.

TENDERLOIN STEAKS WITH ARUGULA (ROCKET)-CORNICHON RELISH

Steps:

• Trim fat and rub both sides of steaks with pepper and salt. In large skillet, heat 2 T of olive oil over medium heat. Add steaks and cook until desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking (8-11 minutes for medium rare or 12-14 minutes for medium).
• Meanwhile, for relish, in a small bowl combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, parsley cornichons, capers, green onion, and vinegar. Set aside.
• To serve, cut steaks in thin slices. Arrange arugula on 4 dinner plates. Top with steak slices and spoon relish over the top.

GRILLED FILET STEAK AND ARUGULA

Steps:

• Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals or turn a gas grill to medium-high heat.
• Meanwhile, pat dry the filets mignons with paper towels. Brush the filets lightly all over with the oil. Combine the fleur de sel and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the filets on all sides in the mixture, pressing lightly to help the salt and pepper adhere. The steaks should be evenly coated with the fleur de sel and cracked pepper.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
• When the grill is ready, place the steaks on the grill. Cook them for 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare or until the centers of the steaks register 125 degrees on an instant-read -thermometer. Remove to a plate, cover tightly with foil, and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing thickly.
• Toss the arugula in a large bowl with enough of the dressing to moisten; divide among 4 plates. Place a steak on top of each salad. Shave the Parmesan onto each steak with a vegetable peeler, sprinkle with salt, and serve hot.

TENDERLOIN STEAKS WITH GORGONZOLA AND HERBS AND ROASTED GARLIC AND GRAPE TOMATO PASTA WITH BASIL AND ARUGULA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil for the pasta. Salt water, add pasta and cook to just-shy of al dente. It needs to have a real bite left to it because it will sit in the sauce for 2 minutes later on and continue to cook. Heads up: you will need 2 ladles of starchy cooking water just before draining, about 1 1/2 cups.
• Place the grape tomatoes on a cookie sheet with the garlic. Coat the tomatoes and cracked garlic with 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and season with lots of salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes.
• Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Rub with a clove of cut garlic. Coat the steaks lightly in extra-virgin olive oil.
• Chop the scallions, whites and greens. Thinly slice the sage and finely chop the parsley. Combine the scallions and herbs with the Gorgonzola crumbles.
• When you are a few minutes away from taking the tomatoes out of the oven, heat a skillet over high heat. Add the steaks and caramelize the meat on both sides, a minute and a half per side should do it.
• Take the tomatoes and garlic out of the oven. Turn the oven off. Top the meat with the gorgonzola and transfer the skillet to the oven. Let the meat sit in the hot oven 4 to 5 minutes. The Gorgonzola will melt down over the meat and the steaks will be tender and pale pink inside.
• Remove the roasted garlic from the skins and mash into a paste with the side of your knife. Transfer the garlic paste to the bottom of a pasta bowl. Using a fork, mix the garlic into 2 ladles of starchy pasta cooking water, about 1 1/2 cups. Add the tomatoes to the bowl and mash them with a potato masher until a sauce forms and tomatoes are well combined with garlic broth. Add penne, grated cheese, arugula and basil and toss a minute or 2 to allow the pasta to soak up flavors.
• Serve meat with pasta alongside.

BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH RED WINE, ANCHOVIES, GARLIC AND THYME

Steps:

• In a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or pot in which the beef will fit comfortably (the two pieces mustn't touch each other, and no scrunching at the ends), heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over lowish heat. Add the shallots, sprinkle with a little salt, and sauté until soft and transparent but in no way coloring, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme and give 2 more minutes, stirring, then add the garlic and push about the pot.
• Add the anchovies and cook until they've started fusing with the oniony, buttery, oily mess in the pot. Transfer this shallot mixture to a bowl for a minute so you can brown the meat.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pot and turn up the heat. Pat the beef dry and season it all over with salt and pepper. Sear the beef on all sides, sprinkling with the sugar as you do so, till you've got a good crusty exterior. Add the brandy, let it bubble up a bit, then pour in the wine.
• Return the shallot mixture to the pot. Lower the heat and turn the meat over. Give everything a good stir to make sure the shallots, garlic and so on are not burning or sticking. Cover and cook for 10 minutes - the meat is braising, frying and steaming all at the same time; as it cooks it breathes in flavor.
• Uncover, peek in, prod or poke. If the meat is springy, it's rare; springy but with some resistance, medium-rare to medium. Turn the meat over, cover again, and leave for another 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your findings and taste. When the meat is almost as you like it, transfer it to a cutting board (it will cook a little more as it rests) and get on with the sauce. And you can do all this before you sit down for the first course.
• Fish out the garlic from the pot with a spoon. Then turn up the heat and let the sauce bubble up a good bit, and taste, adding salt, if needed, and pepper. You may want to add some water. Take off the heat, but warm up before serving, at which time you should first pour into it the meat juices that have run out of the cooked beef as it stands and whisk in the remaining chilled, diced butter.
• Carve the beef, arrange on a large, warmed platter, and surround with arugula. Drizzle over some of the sauce, leaving the rest in a sauce boat or pitcher for people to pour for themselves.

GRILLED STEAK WITH ARUGULA AND SHAVED PARMESAN

Steps:

• Blend garlic, 2 teaspoons oil and black pepper in small food processor (or mash on plate with back of fork) to form paste. Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Rub garlic paste over both sides of steaks. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes or refrigerate up to 8 hours. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill steaks to desired doneness, about 9 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to cutting board. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut steaks on slight angle into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
• Arrange arugula on platter. Top with steak slices. Pour any accumulated juices over steaks; sprinkle with salt. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over steaks. Using vegetable peeler, shave Parmesan into strips over steaks. Serve with lemon wedges.