Ingredients
Directions
Cleaning a whole beef tenderloin worth the effort. To do so, take a look at my Tournedos Rossini recipe. The center cut, called chateaubriand or more commonly known as filet mignon can be used for many things: for a roast, beef Wellington or divided into steaks. While tips can be used for steak tartare and other scraps for ground meat. This following technique however shows you how to literally use 70% of the whole tenderloin into flawless looking tournedos steaks, using transglutaminase, aka meat glue.
Meat glue is a substance used in cooking to bond proteins together. Meat glue has found use among practitioners of the molecular gastronomy movement, as a means of melding new textures with existing tastes. Meat glue is safe, natural, and easy to use.
Meat glue should not be consumed directly in large quantities, but consuming active transglutaminase in the levels recommended for food usage is harmless. It is classified by the FDA as a GRAS product (generally recognized as safe) when used properly.
Clean tenderloin first. The assemble meat parts together (tips and flaps) on the tenderloin ends without adding any meat glue to see how it goes first. Then apply meat glue (using a small mesh sieve) and add meat accordingly in order to reconstitute a uniformed cylinder. Wrap it up in cling film – Seal one end at the time rolling it up tightly, chasing any air pockets left behind. The finished meat log should measure 3.25-inch/8.25 cm in diameter; refrigerate overnight before cutting.
For top notch tournedos steaks, cut meat log into nine 1.75-inch/4.5 cm thick portions that should weights 7.8 ounces/220g each. Steaks can now be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for weeks.
In order to keep tournedos round, you will need to use individual stainless-steel cake ring that measure 3.25-inch/8.25 cm in diameter and 1.75-inch/4.5 cm H. Grease cake rings with neutral oil and insert meat in. Place them by 2, and vacuum-seal. Now, steaks can be stored in the refrigerator for even longer. Do not season the meat prior to seal.
Immerse vacuum-sealed meat in the water circulator previously set at 135ºF/57.2ºC (medium-rare). Cook steaks for 60 minutes. Transfer cooked meat in an ice water bath and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Remove steaks from bag and save rendered juice for later use. Season cooked meat with salt. Heat up a frying pan. Add oil and sear meat on both side for 3 minutes max, and quickly do the edges as well. Turn the heat off and basted steaks in butter, garlic and herbs for a couple of minutes. Season with ground black pepper.
No need to rest - Enjoy!
