Binging with Babish: Chateaubriand Steak from The Matrix

Agent Smith: Do we have a deal, Mr. Reagan? Cypher: You know, I know this

steak

doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix tells my brain that it is juicy and delicious. Oliver: Hey guys, welcome back to Binging with Babish, where this week we're making a whole beef tenderloin. At least, that's what I think it looks like Cypher is eating at that fancy harp-infested restaurant. Now, my butcher cut and tied this particular whole loin. But I'm going to take the ties off and cut it into three pieces so I can show you how to prepare it three different ways, not to mention how to tie an entire roast.

First, we'll tie a knot in a loop at the end of our roast and then we'll start tying the rope in a loop like this, sliding it under the bottom of the roast to the next desired anchor point and pulling it tight. Tie a roast? Well, as you can see, it's a little warped and tying it helps even out the overall width of the meat, which helps it cook more evenly. Now I'm going to go ahead and cut this into two roasts and a single filet mignon. This way we can try a couple of different cooking techniques.

First, we need to finish tying our roast. We will do this by pulling the thread under the roast, cutting it and starting to pass it under the bottom of all the loops we tied earlier. Pull everything nice and tight and then at the end of the roast, we have the original thread from the beginning of the process that we are going to tie. Simply tie with the bottom thread and there you have it: a lovely little bundle of beef ready to be personally delivered to your mouth. So here we have our thickest, most tied type of oblong roast.

We'll try to sear it upside down and then we have the center cut roast, which is much more consistent in its shape and therefore doesn't need to be tied. . And then, if you don't feel like spending $120 on a barbecue, you have our simple

steak

. All of which we are going to salt generously with kosher salt, a little freshly ground pepper. We'll place it on a rack and refrigerate it overnight to help dry out the outside and give us a better crust in the future. Steak day: 24 hours later, and the exterior of our roasts is significantly drier.

This will help us achieve better browning and better flavor. Also, I'm going to tie this other roast because last night I learned a quick and easy technique in my pajamas. We're just going to wrap the twine lengthwise around the roast and then start wrapping the roast widthwise in a spiral shape, making it a little quicker and easier to wrap and match the shape of our meat. Once you have everything wrapped, simply cut the rope, tie a small knot, and boom! As easy as pie or beef. As easy as meat™. 2018 Babish Companies. Alright, let's start with our traditional searing and roasting technique.

I'm heating up some vegetable oil in a stainless steel toaster until it starts to smoke and then I drop our meat into it. Let it sit for 2 or 3 minutes because we want to. to develop a good color on the outside of this roast. I feel like I'm saying too much roast. From now on I will call him Julio. Let's insert our probe into *laughs* Julio *laughs* Ok, never mind. We won't call him Julio. Insert our probe into the roast and put it in a 450°F oven. Meanwhile, I microwaved some Cipollini onions for 1 minute. Now I'm going to pour a little bit of vegetable oil over them and then pour them onto a preheated baking sheet so they brown a little right away.

This will make a nice little dressing for our steak. Put them back in the oven, roast them for a few minutes, turn them once they get a little color, and try not to eat them all before the steak comes out of the oven. This guy is sitting at 114°F indoors; It has a beautiful brown rind. Sorry, I'm getting emotional. Optionally, you can make good use of the fond that is at the bottom of this pan. Add some grated shallots, a little chicken broth, and a little red wine; Boil until syrupy, turn off the heat and add a good chunk of butter.

Whisk until you have a delicious little sauce and then set it aside because Julio has been waiting 10 minutes to be untied, so it's time to open it up and see if we did our job right. Here we go: Perfect half-baked July. But, as you can see, the traditional technique of browning and roasting causes quite a gradation, from medium rare to well-done towards the outer edge, and of course, it all looks very pretty plated and tastes very good. For this next roast we're going to try reverse browning: that is, inserting our temperature probe into, let's call it Troy, and placing it in a 225°F oven for two to three hours or until Troy also reaches an internal temperature of 115° F.

Then we're going to brown the outside, hence the name reverse browning. And then we have this nice bottom of the pot, so let's make some mushroom sauce. I'm simply adding some mushrooms, sautéing them, adding a little thyme, a little crushed garlic and then deglazing with a little sherry and a little chicken broth, letting it reduce to a syrupy consistency, turning off the heat and adding a butter layer. (H)beat until (h)well combined and, again, set aside because it is time to carve. Let's see what Troy looks like. Medium cooked rosé from edge to edge.

You can see that there is hardly any gradation in the cooking. Now it looked like Cypher was eating a huge piece of roast, so that's how I'll serve it. You won't hear me complain about eating an entire half of a Chateaubriand. And don't forget to garnish with parsley like in the movie. Then wax poetic about how we could all be living in a simulation before digging in and enjoying. Now I'm sure this roast was cooked much more evenly. But I like a little variety in chewing different bites of my tenderloin. So let's try the Gordon Ramsay: filet mignon roasted right in the pan.

After we've formed a nice crust on both sides of the steak, we're going to add a clove of garlic, a little thyme, and a little chicken broth. We lower the heat and let the steak come to temperature while we prepare our gremolata which is simply equal parts chopped parsley, capers and lemon zest. Then my man Gordon slices the meat, which is a good idea, seasons it with a healthy sprinkle of gremolata, and then spoons some sauce from the pan around the steak along with a good drizzle of olive oil. Hey, it looks pretty good. That Gordon Ramsay guy really knows what he's doing.

And sure, he has that little gradient from medium rare to well done, but, again, that's what I like. Now, I did this off camera, so you'll have to trust me when I say he entered the "Clean Plate Club."