Help me not to ruin Christmas (Beef Content)
Discussion
Christmas Dinner is happening at ours this year, cooking for 6. I hate Turkey so I'm going with Beef and a Ham.
So I have here a 2.35kg Fillet of Beef and at not too short of £100 you will understand why f
king it up is not an option.Want it medium rare, some will want it cooked a bit more but it does taper off towards the end so that should be OK.
Have meat thermometer but cooking a steak well is about the top end of my ability.
How would you cheffy lot sort this out?
I would take the middle of that piece and focus on that for Xmas day. You should end up with a piece about 12" long and fairly consistent in diameter.
To cook that, pre-heat your oven to about 240C. Sear the outside in a very hot pan, or on a gas BBQ. Keep turning it until all of the outside is nicely seared. Then onto a baking tray and into the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove, put on a wooden board, cover with foil and rest for 20 mins or so.
It really doesn't take long to cook fillet. Hot and quick is the best way.
To cook that, pre-heat your oven to about 240C. Sear the outside in a very hot pan, or on a gas BBQ. Keep turning it until all of the outside is nicely seared. Then onto a baking tray and into the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. Remove, put on a wooden board, cover with foil and rest for 20 mins or so.
It really doesn't take long to cook fillet. Hot and quick is the best way.
First thing is you have more than enough fillet there for 12 people, in restaurant portions nearer 15, so you really shouldn't cook it all.
Step one is to get it out of the vacpac and drain it off. Then as has been suggested you want to cut the centre section for roasting on Xmas day.
I assume you are serving it medium-rare. That being the case it will not loose much in terms of weight because you will be cooking as already described in a hot oven for minimal time.
Take off the tail where it starts to noticeably taper. There might be enough to do a proper stroganoff for two with if you freeze it down and save for later.
Same with the head of the fillet but this is where you will start to see a whole fillet comprises of a couple of muscles. The main fillet which is fairly cylindrical and then tapers off (the tail) and the head end which has a second muscle attached.
Once you have taken off the tail I would weight the remaining piece and work on about 170g uncooked weight per person. Estimating where approx to cut to remove the head end of the fillet. This should leave you with a fair size end piece for a chateaubriand.
You will also need to remove any remaining silver skin from the fillet if not already done for you, and also the chain if that is still on.
In terms of cooking, rub with oil, season well and sear in a red hot pan. Onto a baking tray and roast in a hot oven for as short a time as you dare then out and roll in some fresh chopped herbs like parsley and tarragon and black pepper.
Leave it to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. If its slightly under warm plates and gravy will cook it on enough.
Step one is to get it out of the vacpac and drain it off. Then as has been suggested you want to cut the centre section for roasting on Xmas day.
I assume you are serving it medium-rare. That being the case it will not loose much in terms of weight because you will be cooking as already described in a hot oven for minimal time.
Take off the tail where it starts to noticeably taper. There might be enough to do a proper stroganoff for two with if you freeze it down and save for later.
Same with the head of the fillet but this is where you will start to see a whole fillet comprises of a couple of muscles. The main fillet which is fairly cylindrical and then tapers off (the tail) and the head end which has a second muscle attached.
Once you have taken off the tail I would weight the remaining piece and work on about 170g uncooked weight per person. Estimating where approx to cut to remove the head end of the fillet. This should leave you with a fair size end piece for a chateaubriand.
You will also need to remove any remaining silver skin from the fillet if not already done for you, and also the chain if that is still on.
In terms of cooking, rub with oil, season well and sear in a red hot pan. Onto a baking tray and roast in a hot oven for as short a time as you dare then out and roll in some fresh chopped herbs like parsley and tarragon and black pepper.
Leave it to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. If its slightly under warm plates and gravy will cook it on enough.
Edited by 21TonyK on Saturday 23 December 14:44
This is how I cut ours, there are 3 for lunch including my mum who eats very little.
I'm doing Wellington with the piece on the right. The remains will be frozen but used quickly.
Bottom piece is the tail, cut from the "Wellington"
Top piece and L.H. piece are the head, I separated the 2 muscles.
As Tony said, cut off the tail & then trim down the head to get an even sized piece & cook as suggested or Beef Wellington, but that's going to be difficult to get different levels of "cooked"
£26 kg
Whatever you do, don't over cook it.
I'm doing Wellington with the piece on the right. The remains will be frozen but used quickly.
Bottom piece is the tail, cut from the "Wellington"
Top piece and L.H. piece are the head, I separated the 2 muscles.
As Tony said, cut off the tail & then trim down the head to get an even sized piece & cook as suggested or Beef Wellington, but that's going to be difficult to get different levels of "cooked"
£26 kg
Whatever you do, don't over cook it.
Vacuum packed meat is best just left in the packaging until you want to use it I believe.
If a butcher has wrapped something like the rib above in loose plastic then you should remove it and place it on a plate as above so it doesn’t sweat. Some people cover it with a bit of foil but there’s not really any need as far as I can tell. Having it open like that is also a good opportunity to salt the fat ready for roasting.
We’ve also got beef rib on Christmas Day. I was sent to buy enough beef for just the two of us and came back with 3.5kg of rib, I think the butcher saw me coming.
Personally with a fillet I’d be tempted to do steaks, that way everyone gets exactly how much they want and gets it cooked how they like it. Maybe do some steak tartare on Boxing Day with the rest?
If a butcher has wrapped something like the rib above in loose plastic then you should remove it and place it on a plate as above so it doesn’t sweat. Some people cover it with a bit of foil but there’s not really any need as far as I can tell. Having it open like that is also a good opportunity to salt the fat ready for roasting.
We’ve also got beef rib on Christmas Day. I was sent to buy enough beef for just the two of us and came back with 3.5kg of rib, I think the butcher saw me coming.
Personally with a fillet I’d be tempted to do steaks, that way everyone gets exactly how much they want and gets it cooked how they like it. Maybe do some steak tartare on Boxing Day with the rest?
djc206 said:
Vacuum packed meat is best just left in the packaging until you want to use it I believe.
No definately not. Get it out of the bag as soon as possible. Dry it thoroughly with kitchen towel leave uncovered in fridge on some paper towel as long as possible. Needs to be dry before you cook it to get proper crust and Browning. Cooking agree with above. 10 mins should be enough in a hot oven after Browning. If using a meat thermometer take it out when the thermometer hits 35 for rare 40 for med rare as it will go up by around 15degrees once out of oven
Timely topic.
I told the butcher I was feeding six people, well it's actually five adults and two kids under six, but I just counted the kids as an adult. And he recommended a 2kilo piece.
Which now it's at home I realise is fking massive. It's like bloody snake. £100.
So I'll cut off some of it for freezing. The rest will be Wellington.
I told the butcher I was feeding six people, well it's actually five adults and two kids under six, but I just counted the kids as an adult. And he recommended a 2kilo piece.
Which now it's at home I realise is f
king massive. It's like bloody snake. £100.So I'll cut off some of it for freezing. The rest will be Wellington.
Personally I'd go a different way with it - sear it in a hot pan to colour all over, then bang it in a 60 degree oven for a few hours - no loss of moisture, and perfect cross-sectional colouring all the way through. You're dicing with over or undercooking by putting into the over for X minutes at 200 degrees or whatever, where as this will bring it up to medium all the way through.
Same principle (albeit on a much reduced scale) as Heston Blumental's perfect steak recipe.
Same principle (albeit on a much reduced scale) as Heston Blumental's perfect steak recipe.
Pete Franklin said:
djc206 said:
Vacuum packed meat is best just left in the packaging until you want to use it I believe.
No definately not. Get it out of the bag as soon as possible. Dry it thoroughly with kitchen towel leave uncovered in fridge on some paper towel as long as possible. Needs to be dry before you cook it to get proper crust and Browning. Cooking agree with above. 10 mins should be enough in a hot oven after Browning. If using a meat thermometer take it out when the thermometer hits 35 for rare 40 for med rare as it will go up by around 15degrees once out of oven
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