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Beef Chateaubriand Sous Vide: a new holiday tradition

Beef Chateaubriand Sous Vide: a new holiday tradition

We’re fortunate. A lot of reasons exist as to why that’s true. One—albeit minor—is that we get three Thanksgiving dinners. Our wife still has grandparents with us, so on Thanksgiving Day, we do two big meals: one with each side of her extended family. The day afterwards, we host our immediate family.

We love turkey. We respect turkey. It reigns as the official entree of Thanksgiving. No one can take that away from turkey. It’s earned its celebrity. But, two straight turkey feasts, plus leftovers, is enough. When we host, we mix up the meats. We’ve tried prime rib, rack of lamb, Chinese takeout, etc. This year, we prepared a beef chateaubriand roast. Wow! The holidays may never be the same.

After 3.5 hours in the sous vide bath, the tenderloin comes out cooked throughout to a uniform, perfect temperature. But it still needs a hard sear to form the desired crust.

Chateaubriand is a method of preparing a center-cut roast of tenderloin. It usually involves a hard sear, then a brief roast. The meat, which comes from the same place within the cow as filet mignon, is already tender and delectable. The goal centers on adding flavor and texture without screwing up all of that preexisting goodness.

In a blazing hot skillet, the crust and color forms rapidly. We seared the top and bottom for 50 seconds each.

We riffed on the traditional recipe by cooking our tenderloin sous vide, searing it in a cast-iron pan, then using the drippings to make a red wine reduction. What we’re about to say sounds like hyperbole. It isn’t. The chateaubriand soared. It was immaculate. Descending from Iowa farmers, we’ve consumed a ton of beef, and this stood tall as the very beef we’ve ever eaten. It beat steak at Bavette’s Bar and Boeuf in Chicago, which is also blissful. With the help of our Sous Vide Supreme, dunces like couldn’t have ruined it.

Turkey has its day. Now, at least for us, so does beef chateaubriand—a new family tradition.

Beef Chateaubriand Sous Vide

Ingredients

  • 1 3-lbs tenderloin roast
  • 3 tablespoons of softened butter (for coating)
  • 5 tablespoons of butter (for searing)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 cups of red wine
  • 4 sprigs of thyme

Directions

Heat sous vide bath to 130°F for rare or 134°F for medium rare.

Coat tenderloin roast with softened butter, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper, and pat.

Seal tenderloin in air-tight, food-grade bag.

Cook tenderloin in sous vide bath for 3.5 hours.

After it finishes, remove the tenderloin from the bag. Pour juices into a container, and set the container aside. Sprinkle tenderloin again with salt and freshly ground pepper

Put cast-iron skillet on high heat with butter. When the butter starts to smoke, sear the tenderloin for 45 to 60 seconds on top, 45 to 60 seconds on bottom, 30 seconds on each side. It helps to use tongs.

Set tenderloin aside, placing it under a tinfoil tent to retain heat.

Turn heat on stove to medium. Sauté the shallot for three minutes, scrapping any residue from the skillet. Add wine and thyme. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Continue stirring.

Let sauce reduce until it reaches the consistency of a thin syrup.

Remove sauce from heat. Discard sprigs of thyme. If desired, add a tablespoon or two of reserved meat drippings to sauce.

Slice tenderloin. Serve.

4.1/5 (26 Reviews)
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