lucky me

Every once in a while the world's greatest male houseguest to whom I'm not related shows up on my doorstep with flour and yeast--quite literally, bag in hand--and he bakes bread and we cook and he does the occasional chore around the house that can only be done by someone who is his height. He is a Gem.

The last time he did this we made beef stroganoff. Notice the homemade bread. WGMHWINR bought for the creation of said dish tenderloin roast. I don't know about you, but the cuts of meat in my life these days aren't ever that swanky, when I have them at all. I am pretty sure I gasped when he pulled it out of the bag; gasped like I had just won the Showcase Showdown, gasped like a British housewife opening a packet of sausages during rationing, clucking in astonished matronly you-shouldn't-haves.

It made a spectacular stroganoff, then two delicious little stir-fry things from slices sawed off the hunk left in the freezer. Tonight I used up the remaining hunklet of roast beast and it turned out so well I thought I'd memorialize it so I wouldn't forget it, should such a succulent cut of meat ever enter my life again.

Rice: Grate one large shallot into 2 T. melted butter and stir, cooking, for a couple minutes. Add 2 c. of brown rice and toast and stir for some minutes more. Add 4 c. of chicken stock and a dash of salt. Cook the full time, covered, making sure you let the rice rest after you fluff it after cooking.

Roast Beast: Pat the meat dry and pepper it. Sear it on all sides in an oven-safe pan that has been heating well over medium heat for a while (I used vegetable oil to do this). Once it's seared, take meat out of the pan and brush it with Dijon mustard and sprinkle it with dried thyme. Put it in 450º oven and cook until internal temp is 120-ish. (I overcooked mine by some people's tenderloin standards--just slightly pink in the middle--but I thought it was delicious and the burneded, crisp bits on the edges were great.)

When the meat is done, put it on a plate, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt (which will melt into the meat), and tent with aluminum foil. Pour off any remaining vegetable oil from cooking the meat, then return pan to burner over medium-high heat. Deglaze pan well with leftover red wine in your fridge door and when that's done and it's thickened a little bit, add a knob of butter and stir to combine. Slice the rested meat, lay it on the rice, then pour the sauce over all.

Sometimes I get close to being a vegetarian, then stuff like this happens.