Fennel Crusted Beef with Blue Cheese, Sauce Foyot, Spinach Saute

Once you’ve successfully processed beef chuck or top round as described on this site, you are ready to apply your product to more novel preparations.  This dish requires some effort and patience, and an open mind, but the rewards are many.  Even though the recipe is written for 2 servings, it’s not that difficult to produce it for 4, or more…

Ingredients:

• 2 piece Sous Vide processed beef, 6-8 oz. each
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• Approx. 1 Tablespoon each chopped fresh green herbs of your choosing–I used fennel fronds and parsley, but basil, mint, etc. all good.
• S+P to taste
• Spinach sauteed, uncovered, in neutral oil with a pinch of salt and drained, approx 4 oz.
• Blue Cheese wedges, 1 oz/person
• “Steak” fries; I make my own, but they’re readily available frozen–about two per person

Sauce Foyot

• 1 egg (whole). that’s right. WHOLE.
• 1 stick of COLD butter. 4 oz, DO NOT MELT.
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 oz. heavily reduced Demi-Glace, or comparable substitute (Knorr makes a pretty good one)

Preheat your SV vessel to 183F

• Crack the egg into a Ziplock quart bag, add the butter, the vinegar, the demi glace
• Seal the bag. You don’t have to remove all the air.
• Put the bag in the tank for half an hour
• Remove, and pour into a glass shaped more or less like the one pictured–a stick blender must be able to reach the bottom. Insert the stick blender all the way down to start.
• PULSE, and watch, as the egg on the bottom slowly pulls the butter down into it. DON’T LIFT THE BLENDER UP. Keep pulsing, and then, TILT the blender a little bit to pull the remainder of the butter into the sauce.
• If there’s still a little butter on top, you can stir it in with a spoon, and then taste it. It’s going to be hot–about 140F. Serve immediately, or you can keep it, it won’t break until it goes below 120F, although it may get somewhat thicker.

and, now, our featured performer…

While you’re waiting for the sauce, coat the beef with the flour, and then coat the beef with beaten egg white

gather your herbs–these are the fronds from the stalks of fennel bulb, most people just throw them out.  Very fresh, mild, flavor.

I almost always incorporate parsley somehow

There’s still no machine to do the chopping for this properly, so just have at it, it doesn’t have to be perfect.  It won’t be, the fennel doesn’t like being chopped.

If your hands are nice and dry, you can sprinkle to coat, or just roll up your sleeves and spackle it all on there.

Let set for 15 minutes, and the coating will be less likely to fall off.

I deep fried them for this app, which is the best way to avoid overcooking, but they can be seared in a pan, you just need enough oil to insulate the crust from the dry pan.  Roll carefully to touch each side, or broil in a very hot oven or BBQ oven until you get the color you want.  I plead guilty to spraying a little Pam on there, it helps the crisping process.

we used to call this “French Fried,” meaning not quite enough oil to fully submerge.  Just don’t call it “Flash Fried.”  There is no such thing.

Crispy, crusty, mysterious looking

I like to form the spinach into a ring, but this is really optional, just make a nice bed in the middle of the plate

if you don’t smother the spinach when you cook it, it preserves its color much better

Top the spinach with the Sauce Foyot

Carve the steak, London Broil style, and lay out, stand the cheese up next to it…

garnish with the steak fries

looks good to me.  Not so fancy, but stylish

the crust really adds some personality

just like DOWN town

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