Cook's Country

-Today on "Cook's Country," Natalie makes Bridget a streamlined recipe for classic roast-beef tenderloin.

Adam reveals his top pick for tongs, and Lawman makes Julia the ultimate Lyonnaise potatoes.

That's all right here on "Cook's Country."

-Have you ever wondered why beef tenderloin is so expensive?

Well, it's a clear example of supply and demand.

-On average, a 1,200-pound steer will yield 240 pounds of ground beef and stew meat, 126 pounds of chuck roast, but only 15 pounds of tenderloin.

-That is not a lot of supply, but its tender texture, mild flavor, and zero gristle puts tenderloin in high demand from American consumers.

-Which means that butchers can charge upwards of 20 bucks a pound.

So, it pays to know how to cook this pricey piece of meat the right way.

-We're heading into the kitchen with Natalie.

She's gonna show us a foolproof way to make classic roast-beef tenderloin.

Let's head in.

Here's a scary story.

I found a butcher online that sells beef tenderloins that are trimmed, tied, all ready to go, for $77 a pound.

That's pretty terrifying.

But we've got an answer here to that, you know, save you some serious money.

Natalie is here.

She's gonna show us how to prepare beef tenderloin.

-So, let's talk meat.

A tenderloin looks very impressive on a table.

It could feed a crowd.

It's really easy to carve.

-Sure.

-And it's extremely tender.

But it's absolutely expensive.

-Crazy expensive.

-You can buy an untrimmed tenderloin, and break it down yourself, and you'd be able to save a lot of money, and be able to make a great sauce out of it, as well.

So, you're gonna want to find a 6-to-7-pound untrimmed tenderloin for this recipe.

But if you are purchasing a pre-trimmed one, you're gonna want to use a 5-pound roast.

And we're gonna start off by patting it dry.

-And what's amazing is, this whole thing probably cost right around $100 -- maybe a little bit more, a little bit less -- but save you some serious money.

-So, you can start peeling off some of this fat somewhat easily with just your hand.

Before we start any of the trimming, this long muscle that runs through the side is called "the chain."

We're just gonna take this off, so we can make a sauce with it later.

-So, Natalie is using a boning knife to start, here, because a boning knife is very flexible, very thin.

She's gonna be able to get in there without taking away too much meat.

-So, this top portion is called "the head," and then, this part is called "the tail."

And usually, the middle portion is referred to as "the Chateaubriand."

We do want to leave some fat on here, but these larger pockets are inedible, so we're just gonna take them off.

-So, you're just getting rid of all the visceral fat that's on the outside.

-Yes, all the visceral fat that kind of won't really break down.

But we also still want some fat to... -Baste the meat, right?

-Yeah, essentially baste the meat.

So, for this part, right here, there is some silverskin that you can pull off with your hands.

-So, Natalie just took off the silverskin.

That's basically the fascia that's on the outside of the meat.

That never really tenderizes at all.

-No, it does not.

So, I'm kind of just angling this boning knife upward, and doing a soft sawing motion, and pulling this other piece of silverskin, to take it off.

So, we know that tenderloin is a very hard cut to cook properly... -Sure.

-...because of its weird, odd shape.

It's thicker at the head, and then, it's thinner at the tail.

We realized that the easiest way to get around this problem was just to make two roasts.

See where the base of the head is, over here?

We're gonna cut about an inch below it.

-Okay.

-So, this is one roast, And then, this other one, we're gonna tuck underneath and then, tie it.

-Nice.

-Just about the same size.

We're gonna tie our roast at 1-inch intervals.

It's a little bit easier to start at the middle.

And then, we're also going to do a double loop on the knot, so it stays.

We're only gonna tie it three times over here on the tail end, so it retains its shape, and it cooks more evenly.

-Great.

That's gonna keep that bottom part tucked under.

-Correct.

We're gonna do the same thing with this roast, as well.

Little snip.

Right.

So, roasts are good to go.

This is two pieces of plastic wrap, And we're gonna start with one of these roasts.

And we're gonna do 1 tablespoon of salt.

This is kosher salt.

So, we're salting on all sides, not just the top.

We really want this salt to penetrate.

-Unseasoned beef is terrible.

-A travesty.

-Yeah, it really is.

That's a great word for it.

-I feel like it's rude.

It's such a disservice.

-That's exactly it.

It's rude.

-So, this is good to go.

And, again, this is two pieces of plastic wrap.

-Just to ward off any leakage.

-Yes.

-Okay.

-And we're gonna do the same with the other roast, as well.

-I'm gonna refrigerate these for 12 hours.

Up to 24 hours, but anything past the 24-hour mark is gonna cause the exterior of the meat to get too dry.

-Okay.

-Alright.

So, our roasts have been salted, and they've been in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

And I just took the plastic wrap off, and we're gonna add pepper now.

Because if we would have added it before, it would have just come off with the plastic wrap.

So, we're gonna cook these in a 250-degree oven.

And the tail end is gonna take about an hour and 20 minutes to an hour and 40 minutes.

And then, the bigger roast will take an hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours.

So, low and slow for the roast.

-Keep the juices inside.

-Exactly.

-Alright.

-Thank you.

So, meanwhile that's going, we're gonna start on a sauce with the chain that we reserved.

We're just gonna cut this into 1-inch pieces.

We're not gonna take off a lot of the fat or the gristle on here, because we're gonna end up discarding the solids.

-Gotcha.

Now, if you didn't have the chain, if you were starting with a pre-peeled tenderloin, you could just buy a little bit of beef-stew meat.

-Yes.

12 ounces of stew meat.

-Great.

-So, this is 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter.

And to this, we're just gonna add our chain.

So, we want to spread this around, so they're not on top of each other.

We're gonna let this meat go for about 10 to 12 minutes on medium-high heat, or until a really nice fond forms.

-So, it's been 10 minutes, and we have a great fond already formed.

So we're gonna add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

We wanted to keep these classic red-wine-sauce flavors, and we also wanted a lot of umami, as well.

We're just gonna cook it for a little bit to get that tinny flavor out.

This is 2 cups of red wine.

We want to be using a medium-bodied wine, like a Ctes du Rhne or a Pinot Noir.

This is 2 cups of beef broth.

And then, at this point is where I want to start scraping down those brown bits around the side.

To this, we're gonna add one shallot that's been thinly sliced, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce -- again, for another umami component.

-Nice savory flavor.

-Yes.

And 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, just to balance out all that super savory flavor that we have.

And then, 6 thyme sprigs.

And, again, we're just gonna see if we have any more browned bits.

Let this come up to a boil.

We're gonna cook this until it reduces to about 4 cups, so, 12 to 15 minutes.

-Okay.

And this is not the time to pull out the dried thyme.

You want to add that fresh thyme, because Natalie added both the stems and the leaves.

There's a lot of flavor compounds in there.

You paid money for that beef tenderloin.

You might as well make the sauce as good as it can be, right?

-So, this has been cooking for about 15 minutes, and let's just see if it's about 4 cups' worth, and then, we'll drain out the solids.

-Okay.

-So, we're just gonna strain the solids.

It's better to go fast with this.

We want every last bit of flavor in here.

So, we're gonna pour this back into our saucepan, turn this back up to medium high, and then, we're gonna add a slurry to it.

We're gonna add 2 1/2 teaspoons of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of cold water.

So, we wanted a thick sauce, but not too thick, like how it is with a roux, where it just kind of becomes stodgy.

We just wanted something that was rich with a little bit of a mouthfeel -- nothing really too super decadent.

So, we're gonna add our cornstarch slurry to boiling liquid, because we want the starch granules to activate, and to actually swell up, and to thicken our sauce.

-Otherwise, we'd end up with cornstarch dumplings.

-Exactly.

We just want to be whisking in the slurry to completely dissolve it in the sauce.

We want to boil it for about 30 seconds until it's slightly thickened.

So, on low heat, we're gonna add 4 tablespoons of butter 1 tablespoon at a time, because we don't want the butter to break.

We don't want the milk solids to separate.

-Looks beautiful.

-It looks very velvety.

It smells awesome, too.

-Mm-hmm.

-Alright.

So, I just want to taste this, just to double-check to see how the salt is.

I'm just gonna add a little bit of salt to this.

So, I'm just gonna put a lid on this, and keep it warm.

I'm gonna remove it from the heat, and we're just gonna wait for our roast to be ready.

-Okay.

-Thank you.

-Huh.

-Okay, so... -Oh, I've got questions.

-Okay.

So, they don't look pretty right now.

I know they don't look pretty, but they're not browned yet.

I just wanted to temp the tail end of the roast, since it tends to cook a little bit quicker.

Alright.

So, it's 125.

So, we're just gonna put this on our cutting board.

We're gonna let it rest.

And then, we'll put the other roast in.

If you could tent that for me, that'd be awesome.

-You got it, a little bit of foil.

-And the door, as well.

So, this head-end roast, we're gonna let it go for another 20 minutes or until it reaches 125.

-It's a little bit thicker.

-Yes.

So, our roasts have been resting for 20 minutes.

-Let's take a look at those beauties.

Yep.

-Beautiful.

I know.

I know.

So, this is 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and we're gonna heat it on medium-high until it's almost smoking.

-Gotcha.

-And right before we do that, we're just gonna pat-dry our roasts.

-A dry surface makes for a better crust.

-Correct.

-Just about smoking.

We're gonna put in our roast.

So, we want to brown these 5 to 7 minutes, constantly turning them.

-There it is.

-So, just within a couple minutes, we got an awesome crust, like that.

-Alright.

About 5 minutes more?

-Yep.

Alright.

So, our roasts are browned, and we're just gonna take off the twine.

-They're browned.

That's just half the story.

They're gorgeous.

-They're beautiful.

-They're mahogany, crusted.

It really does make a difference to start roasts and meat in a lower oven, like 250, because it also dries the exterior a little bit.

Then, when you brown it, it looks like that.

-I'm just gonna cut these into 1/2-inch slices.

-Look how juicy that is.

-Yeah.

Very well-seasoned throughout, too.

-I've cut into beef tenderloins that were more reminiscent of the Kansas Dust Bowl, they were so dry.

-[ Laughs ] How many slices would you like?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Two.

Two.

Sorry.

-Okay.

So, two slices for you.

-This is what we call an "appetizer."

Alright.

And we have the sauce, here... -Yeah.

-...nice and warm, still.

-It's very delicious.

You're gonna want to drink this sauce.

Trust me.

-That's it.

That's all it took to get through that.

The texture of the meat is buttery.

It is so tender and juicy.

And I love the crust, that dark color on the outside.

And even as it's getting towards the exterior of the roast, it still is medium-rare.

-Mm-hmm.

-You cooked it perfectly.

And I'm in love with this sauce.

Mmm.

This is perfection.

Natalie, great technique, great tips.

Beef tenderloin for dinner, I think, every weekend.

-I'm glad you like it.

-Well, a classic roast beef tenderloin dinner is actually easier than you think.

Trim a 6-pound tenderloin yourself, and reserve the chain trimmings.

Cut the roast into two, season with salt, and then, refrigerate overnight.

Roast in a low-temperature oven until the meat registers 125 degrees.

Meanwhile, make a sauce by browning the reserved trimmings.

Stir in tomato paste, then red wine, beef broth, and fresh thyme.

Simmer, strain, then thicken with cornstarch and butter.

Rest the roast, then sear afterwards.

Slice the beef, and serve with that beautiful sauce.

So, from "Cook's Country," a foolproof plan for a fabulous, classic roast-beef tenderloin.

We're gonna be here all day eating that, you know that?

-That's fine.

-[ Chuckles ] -Tongs are an essential piece of kitchen equipment, and the difference between a good pair and a bad pair is in the details.

So, Adam is here to break it all down for us.

-You know, they're almost like an extension of your hand, Julia.

-They are.

-There were a couple of new models on the market, and we were curious, so we put together this lineup of eight different sets of tongs.

The price range was $12.88 up to $19.99, and they were all 10 or 12 inches long.

Now, testers did a ton of testing.

They used them to manipulate tortillas in hot oil to make taco shells.

They browned a 4-pound beef roast in a Dutch oven, and then transferred it to a roasting rack.

So, you're turning that roast around getting different sides of it.

They portioned angel-hair pasta -- the really thin kind, which is slippery, and hard to pick up -- 1 pound of it into four separate portions.

And they used it in a recipe for chicken-fried steak.

So, they were both dredging the steaks and frying the steaks.

They also picked up a single rounded toothpick.

-That is my favorite test.

-It's a great test, and it's hard to do.

-Mm-hmm.

-Those things are really hard to get a grip on.

And they transferred ramekins filled with 4 ounces of pie weights into and out of a Dutch oven with an inch of boiling water.

They also had a wider group of testers come in from throughout the office, into the kitchen, and use these tongs to take a bunch of asparagus, one spear at a time, off of a roasting sheet when they were roasted, put them on a serving plate, and to repeat that angel-hair-pasta test.

Now, I want you to give these a try.

See what you think.

-Alright.

I like the color.

It's alright.

-Yeah.

Now, check these out.

-Hmm.

Oh, yeah.

I definitely would have more grip with these.

They're easier to close than these.

This is actually -- It's not quite a fight.

I could use them.

But I have to say, if I had to use these all day, say, out at a grill or something, my hand would start to hurt.

It's almost like an exercise.

I wonder if I would get a hand cramp.

-That's exactly what the testers thought.

And they got curious about this, because there were different degrees of force required to close these things.

So, they took all the tongs to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where a material-science- and-engineering expert used a tool called the "uniaxial tensile tester."

And that told us exactly how much force is required to close these tongs.

And there were sort of two ranges.

The upper range, the stiffer tongs, required between 0.7 and 0.84 pounds of force.

The easier tongs, the ones that had a lighter touch, were between 0.44 and 0.57 pounds of force.

Those red ones you have in your hand, the highest of all -- 0.84.

You know, and we all thought that that's okay for one or two quick moves, but as you said, hand cramps if you use them for too long.

-Yeah.

Well, and the devil is in the details.

Those are points away from each other.

-Exactly.

Now, testers also gave some consideration to the locking mechanism, which is my pet peeve with a lot of tongs.

And there were basically two types in this lineup.

Unlock these for me, would you, please?

-Yeah.

That's not bad.

-No.

They're not terrible.

-They're not terrible.

-Try unlocking this one.

There you go.

-This works.

-The two types were the kind that you had to pull out -- which doesn't seem like a big deal, but you did have to use two hands -- and this type, where you just push it in.

-You're sauteing something.

You reach over, grab your tongs.

You have one hand.

Done.

-Exactly.

-Yep.

-A seemingly minor difference, but if you're at critical mass in a recipe, or juggling a bunch of stuff going on, that actually does make a difference.

Now, the business end of the tongs is called the pincers.

That's where you pick stuff up.

See what you think of those.

-Oh, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no.

I feel like I wouldn't get a grip on anything.

It only -- Actually, if you look at it, it only touches on the very ends.

-Yeah.

-The whole middle is wide-open.

-You're batting 1,000.

That's exactly what the testers thought.

Testers, by and large, didn't really like the ones that have straight edges, especially in that test where they were picking up the beef roast, and turning it around in the Dutch oven.

-Oh, yeah.

-The straight-edge tongs slid up the roast a little bit, didn't grip it nearly as well as they wanted.

-They definitely preferred pincers that are scalloped, like this... -Yep.

-...as opposed to pincers that have straight edges, like that.

-Yeah.

-They also preferred bare-metal pincers than coated silicone ones... -Mm-hmm.

-...because, again, the grip was better.

So, these are actually the tongs to beat.

These are the OXO Good Grips 12-inch tongs.

They were $12.95.

They have that sweet spot, 0.55 pounds of pressure necessary, so a nice, light touch.

They have the right kind of pincers.

They have the right kind of lock.

They have little silicone inserts on the arms, so they're super comfy.

And they are our tongs of choice.

-Alright.

So, there you have it.

Devil is in the details when it comes to tongs, and our winner is the OXO Good Grips.

They're the 12-inch tongs for $12.95.

-Lyonnaise potatoes, named for Lyon, France, is a classic side dish that takes leftover cooked potatoes, slices them up, and sautes them in a lot of butter with a little onion.

And they're delicious.

And today, Lawman is gonna show us how easy it is to make this simple side dish at home.

-That's right, Julia.

Nobody wants to wait around for leftover potatoes.

-Mnh-mnh.

Not for a side dish this good.

-No.

So, we're gonna use raw potatoes.

Here, I have 2 pounds of peeled Yukon Gold potatoes.

I'm just gonna finish prepping them.

Now, you want to cut the potatoes on the thicker side -- about a 1/2 inch.

-That is pretty thick.

Usually, the old recipes I've seen cut them much thinner.

-The thicker cut is gonna allow them to fit in the skillet easier.

And also, it's gonna allow more browning of the potato, and it's not gonna overcook.

-Makes sense.

Now, you also mentioned Yukon Gold potatoes, which is slightly different than the russets that I find in a lot of recipes.

-Correct.

We found that Yukon Gold potatoes had a deep flavor and a tender texture.

We also tested russets.

They were a little too dry, and also, red potatoes, we just found they were just okay.

The Yukon Gold potatoes were the best, by far.

-Okay.

-Now, for the onion, I'm just gonna slice it thin.

I'm going through pole to pole, or right through the root end of the onion.

And I like to start on the small end of the onion.

I'm just gonna cut it thin.

I'm using the claw method, so I don't cut my fingers.

I go about halfway, keep the wide end right here, so it's more stable.

-It's that last slice that always gets you, though.

-This is the part where I feel like, "Is it worth it?"

And maybe not.

[ Both laugh ] -Protect your fingers, above all.

-And I'm just gonna do the same thing with this side of the onion.

-So, there are two ways to slice an onion -- pole to pole or the other way, where you get sort of that rainbow effect.

Now, when you cut them pole to pole, the onions will actually hold together better during cooking.

When you make those rainbows, those get very soft, and they actually get a bit wormy.

So, better off going pole to pole.

-Yes.

Now, let's get cooking.

So, here, I have 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter on a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.

I'm gonna add our potatoes and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.

So, other recipes have you cook the potatoes and the onions at the same time, but we found the cook time of the two ingredients never matched up.

You ended up with raw potatoes and burnt onions.

-That makes sense.

-Nobody wants burnt onions.

-Nobody likes burnt onions.

-Exactly.

You could cook the onions separately, but instead, we're going to stagger the ingredients, starting with the potatoes.

So, I'm gonna cover and cook the potatoes until they're tender and golden-brown -- about 15 minutes.

It's important to cover the potatoes, so they cook through.

And we're gonna flip them occasionally, to get even browning.

-Makes sense.

-Julia, it's been about 15 minutes.

Let's check on the potatoes.

-Ooh-hoo!

Those are beautiful.

-They look gorgeous.

Now, I'm just gonna turn the heat down to medium-low, so that, when you add the onions, they don't burn.

So, I'm gonna add our sliced onions, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper.

-Ooh-hoo.

You can hear those onions just starting to hit that butter, and start to fry.

-And we're gonna cover and cook these onions until they're tender and golden-brown -- about 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.

So, it's been about 10 minutes.

Let's check the onions for doneness.

-That looks gorgeous.

-I like to test onions one of two ways.

I either take a fork, and kind of poke it, to see if it's soft, or the best way, I find, is just fish one of these guys out, taste it.

You know it's done.

You know it's seasoned well.

-Yep.

-In this case, it's both.

So, I'm just gonna take it off the heat.

Now, potatoes Lyonnaise, it's somewhat of a rustic dish, but it's also elegant at the same time.

I can't exactly serve it to you in a skillet, so we have this nice platter over here.

-Mm.

I like it -- rustic, but elegant.

-And before we eat, I'm just gonna add the classic garnish of this dish, which is a tablespoon of minced parsley.

It adds a pop of color and some fresh flavor.

So, let's eat.

-Alright.

And I love that it was cooked all in one pan, because as a side dish, you don't want to use up every pot and pan in your kitchen.

You want it to be simple.

-No, you don't.

You're right.

-Mmm.

Onions are tender and caramelized.

-Potatoes are nice and brown.

They're creamy.

You notice that parsley really adds some fresh flavor.

-Well, the potatoes are delicious.

They're perfectly cooked through, fluffy in the middle because it was a fairly thick slice.

But it's nice and crisp on both edges, So, you get a dual texture.

-Exactly.

-And the flavor of the onions worked its way into the butter, so everything is coated with a very gentle onion flavor.

Lawman, these are delicious.

Thank you.

-You're welcome.

It's my pleasure.

-So, if you want to make Lyonnaise potatoes, start by peeling and slicing 2 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Using a nonstick skillet and 4 tablespoons of butter, cook the potatoes over medium heat until they're just tender.

Then, stir in a sliced onion, turn the heat down to medium-low, and continue to cook until the onion is tender.

To finish, simply transfer to a platter and sprinkle with parsley.

From "Cook's Country," a great recipe for Lyonnaise potatoes.

You can get this recipe, and all the recipes from this season, along with our tastings, testings, and selected episodes at our website -- cookscountry.com.

These are delicious.

I'm gonna need a few more.

-Let us help with dinner tonight.

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