The idea of sweating and slaving over a grill when it’s 110 degrees in Phoenix just doesn’t appeal to me, so once again our Bitch and BBQ session this past weekend was moved indoors. Instead, we did a Bitch and Roast.
Despite the heat, which tends to curb my appetite this time of year, I’ve had beef tenderloin on the brain for the last week. So I needed to satisfy my craving. I also just purchased a new All Clad roasting pan that I wanted to test drive, so I headed over to Hobe Meats on Saturday afternoon to pick up a 2.5 pound tenderloin. For the bacon portion of the meal, I visited my friendly neighborhood AJ’s for the ingredients required to make a bacon, lettuce and tomato salad, and a bacon mushroom risotto.
As much as I love AJ’s, I had one unfortunate discovery while I was there. They are out of Bitch. And I’m down to my last 3 bottles. So unless I find another source, Bitch and BBQ 2007 could be coming to an end sooner than planned!
For the BLT salad, I stacked a couple heirloom tomato slices with arugula leaves layered in between. I then drizzled olive oil over the top and garnished each plate with crumbled Swiss Meats bacon (my last 2 slices!), fresh ground pepper, and sea salt.
For the bacon risotto, I sauteed some onions, garlic and crimini mushrooms in a skillet. In a separate saute pan I fried a few strips of applewood smoked bacon from AJ’s. When the bacon was crispy, I placed the strips on a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess grease. When the bacon was cool to touch, I crumbled it into the mushroom, onion and garlic mixture and set it aside. I added the risotto to the leftover bacon grease in the saute pan, added a couple splashes of white wine, and cooked it for about a minute until the rice was opaque. I then began the process of gradually adding warm chicken broth to the risotto until it had all been absorbed. With the last ladle of chicken broth, I added the mushroom and bacon mixture to the risotto. When the risotto was done cooking, I sprinkled it with some fresh grated parmesan cheese and let it sit on low for a couple more minutes while I finished cooking the beef tenderloin.
To prepare the beef tenderloin I first rubbed it with some sea salt. Using a grill pan, I seared each side for 2-3 minutes. Then I brushed the meat with a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, mustard seed, rosemary, and oregano, placed it on a rack in the roasting pan, and put it in the oven on the convection roast setting at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, bringing the temperature of the meat to about 135 degrees. I removed the pan from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
This particular meal is something I’d normally be more inclined to prepare once the weather starts to cool off, but fortunately I have air conditioning so I didn’t have to wait until Fall to deal with my beef tenderloin craving! We cooled the house down to 72 degrees, poured a few glasses of Bitch, and enjoyed our delicious tenderloin with bacon-enhanced accompaniments.