Carnage du Jour - 23 July 2015

Beef tenderloin.

Yes, that's correct, BEEF tenderloin this time, not pork. While it's not as versatile - beef just has more inherent flavour, I think - it's still a very nice cut of meat.

So, how did we do this one?
First off, it was rubbed with a bit of dry mustard, salt, pepper, and Hungarian paprika.
Next, while those flavours melted into the meat, the fire was started in the Weber (charcoal, of course), and a couple chunks of apple wood were soaked in water.

Once the fire was ready, it was all scooted over to one side of the grill so I could cook the meat with that often-elusive indirect heat.

It took some time, but not really all that much, for the meat to get a nice surface colour and some firmness. Then it was time to check the internal temperature with my trusty instant-read thermometer. (What a handy gadget that is!).
Once we hit 140F (60C), it was pulled off to rest.

We had some lovely rolls - somewhat crusty, a bit yeasty, very tasty - so sandwiches were the order of the day. I took some sour cream, the juice of a couple small oranges, a bunch of crumbled gorgonzola, salt and pepper, and a bit of powdered ginger to make a sauce for the sandwiches. It was delicious (a bit runnier than I would have liked, but it firmed up as it sat), and this will definitely be repeated.

Delicious and highly recommended.

Where to Eat in Detroit

Roast.

Yes, our anniversary dinner at Michael Symon's Roast in the Westin Book Cadillac hotel was as spectacular as we had hoped.

The atmosphere was great - energetic but not noisy / rowdy.

The service was excellent - attentive and friendly but not hovering.

The food was spectacular - we agreed that it was almost certainly the best food we've ever had in a restaurant.
 
The appetizers we had were excellent: fried Brussels Sprouts - what can one say? They were simply delicious, and the pecans really did add some flavour and texture. The beef cheek pierogie had the only slight disappointment of the night - the dough was more a puff pastry than a pasta, but the filling, the sauce, and the mushrooms were great.

The sauces were amazing - the flavours had clearly been allowed to develop and work together so that there was never a single note that stood out, but each of the ingredients built layers upon one another.

The entrées were wonderful - The lemon chicken had such lemon flavour without being tart and acidic; the chicken actually had its own flavour. The lamb ragu was a bowl of perfectly cooked fresh pasta with stunningly tender lamb in a sauce where every ingredient worked together beautifully (in fact, the shaved cheese on top was nearly superfluous - it was good there, certainly not detracting nor distracting, but I would have enjoyed it just as much without the cheese, and that's very unusual for me).

All in all, a beautiful anniversary night out (being with Heidi always makes for a better time), and a place we'll recommend (and already have) and to which we'll return.

Highly, highly recommended.

Carnage du Jour - 16 March 2011 (plus Sauce-age!) [Updated]

from grandteuton.blogspot.com

Steaks are fairly simple things, aren't they?  Typically they are - and rightly so - and so they were again this time. What wasn't terribly simple was the accompaniment to the nicely broiled strip steaks.  Oh, and since there was a nice pile of shrimp from an earlier shrimp cocktail platter, they had to get heated at the last moment and piled on top of the steaks. [The shrimp are the update.  How could I have forgotten those beautiful shrimp sitting on top of my steak?]

Swiss chard is always great, and this was particularly fresh and tasty from the steamer (stalks in first to soften a bit, then the rest of the greens - don't toss the stalks, they're at least almost the best part!).
Still, what starch to go with?  Potatoes?  Pasta?  Rice?  How about grilled cantaloupe instead?
Brilliant, no?
Brilliant, yes!

A good-sized cantaloupe (probably really a muskmelon, as we don't get real cantaloupes much in the States) was seeded and cubed, then dusted with a bit of white pepper.  Into the very hot grill pan (how do people cook without one of these?) with some canola oil they went to develop some nice grill marks and begin to soften even beyond their nice ripe softness.  They were awfully tasty as is, but what's better than grilled fruit with something to drizzle on it?  (Answer: not much.)  So a quick sauce (which will definitely be repeated!) was created.
About a tablespoon of nice aged balsamic vinegar went into a quarter cup or so of honey, along with about a half tablespoon of dijon mustard and a sprinkling of beau monde (another go-to seasoning at Cleveland, by the way).  When they were fully mixed, it was little short of spectacular, really.  It worked perfectly on the melon, but as it got on the chard and steak, we discovered that it was simply delicious on each of those elements as well.

Definitely worth repeating, and soon.