Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Gorgonzola Butter
Makes 6 servings
This is dead simple, and deadly delicious. Just make sure you don’t overcook it! Serve the tenderloin with your favorite steak accompaniments, like Grilled Broccoli and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (see recipes below).
six 6 oz | 175 g tenderloin (filet mignon) steaks, about 2 inches | 5 cm thick
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
Gorgonzola Butter at room temperature (see recipe below)
Generously season the steaks with salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Let them sit for an hour to bring them to room temperature.
Prepare your grill for direct medium heat. Drizzle the steaks with a little oil and place them on the cooking grate. Cook the steaks for 2–4 minutes per side (depending on how rare you like them). Take them off the grill, tent them in foil, and let them rest for a few minutes. Serve them with a pat of the Gorgonzola butter.
Gorgonzola Butter
3/4 cup | 175 mL Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 lb | 125 g unsalted butter at
room temperature
1 tsp | 5 mL fresh lemon juice
kosher salt to taste
Cut the butter into cubes and place them in a food processor. Add the flavoring ingredients and whiz the mixture until it’s thoroughly blended, stopping to scrape down the stuff that sticks to the sides of the food processor as needed. If you’re serving the butter right away with corn, or on a piece of grilled meat, just place it in a small bowl and serve it.
If you want to store it, use a spatula to transfer the butter onto a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and shape it into a rough cylinder. Fold the wrap around the butter and shape it into an even tube about 11⁄2 inches | 4 cm in diameter. Twist the ends so the tube is sealed and tight, and fasten both ends with a twist-tie. Refrigerate or freeze the butter until you need it. To serve, slice off discs of it. Thaw it a while before dressing steaks or corn with it, or use it still frozen to stuff inside a burger.
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Makes 4–6 servings
If you’re calorie-conscious, you can substitute milk or chicken stock for the cream in this recipe, but the point of this dish is to celebrate decadence, so I suggest adding extra butter, cream, and truffle oil to taste. This dish goes well with almost any planked meat or fish.
2 lb | 1 kg yellow-fleshed potatoes
1 head roasted garlic
1/2 cup | 125 mL butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup | 125 mL heavy cream
1/4 tsp | 1 mL freshly grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp | 15 mL finely chopped parsley
1 tsp | 5 mL truffle oil (optional)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place them in a large pot and fill it with cold water to cover them. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium for 15–20 minutes, or until a fork goes easily through a chunk of potato. Drain the potatoes, reserving a cup or so of the water, and return them to the pot. Add the roasted garlic, butter, cream, nutmeg, parsley, and truffle oil, if desired, and mash the potatoes by hand until they’re creamy. (Never mash potatoes in a food processor. It makes them gluey.) If the mixture seems too dry, moisten it with a little potato water. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Inhale.
Roasted Garlic
Here’s a great kitchen staple that works well baked in the oven or planked on the grill. Roasted garlic is as versatile as it is delicious. Use it as a flavor enhancer in mayo, an enricher of mashed potatoes, and a flavor note in soups and sauces—or just spread it on a piece of toasted French bread.
Preheat the oven to 350°F | 175°C (or preheat your grill in preparation for plank-cooking). With a sharp knife, slice off the top of a garlic bulb, just enough to expose the tops of the cloves. Drizzle it with a little olive oil, season it with salt and pepper, and wrap the bulb tightly in foil. Place it in the oven, cut side up, and roast it for about an hour, or until the garlic is soft and lightly browned. Once it’s cool enough to handle, you can squeeze the head and the roasted garlic comes out like toothpaste.
Grilled Broccoli
This is a great side dish that even broccoli haters can love. The trick here is to use a metal grill pan or vegetable basket designed to keep smaller items from falling through your cooking grates.
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish
2 large heads broccoli, divided into bite-sized florets
1 tsp. crushed chili flakes
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or pushed through a garlic press
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 fresh lemon
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Preheat your grill for medium direct cooking. Rinse the broccoli florets in cold water and drain them. (This leaves a little moisture clinging to them, which helps them survive the heat of the grill without burning.) Add the chili flakes, salt, black pepper, half of the olive oil, garlic and Worcestershire Sauce and toss to ensure the ingredients are distributed evenly.
Place the broccoli on the grill pan or in the vegetable basket. Close the grill and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning regularly, until the broccoli is bright green and a bit charred around the edges. Remove from the grill and transfer to a serving dish. Finish with a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan.
