Thursday, March 15, 2012

Cooking Filet Mignon

Filet mignon is French, of course, with filet meaning "thick slice" and mignon meaning "dainty." Filet mignon comes from the small end of the tenderloin (called the short loin) which is found on the back rib cage of the animal. This area of the animal is not weight-bearing, thus the connective tissue is not toughened by rehearsal resulting in extremely tender meat. This also means that the meat lacks some of the flavor held by meat that has the bone attached. In order keep the flavor, you must cook filet mignon quickly. This can be done a range of ways, along with broiling and grilling.
It should never be cooked beyond medium rare, because the more done it is, the less tender and more dry it becomes and the more flavor it will lose. You should always use a dry method of cooking, even when it will be a quick method. Methods of cooking that are dry are such types as roasting, pan frying, grilling, broiling, etc. Since this cut of meat is more dry than others, you will not want to cut the meat to check to see if it is done. Instead, you should touch it. The touch-method of checking is not as hard as it may sound:

1. If the meat feels hard or firm, it is too done.

Stainless Steel Barbecue Grills

2. When the filet mignon is soft when you touch it and your finger leaves an imprint, it is rare.

Cooking Filet Mignon

3. If it is still soft, but leaves no imprint, and is slightly resilient, then it is medium rare (best for this particular type of meat).

The surmise filet mignon is often wrapped in bacon (this wrapping is called barding) is because this particular cut of meat has no layer of fat around it. The bacon not only adds extra flavor to the filet mignon, it also gives it the fat essential to keep the meat from drying out. This is a concern since the strips are so small in filet mignon and they have less fat than most cuts of beef.

What to serve with Filet Mignon

Since the flavor of filet mignon tends to be quite mild, many population prefer to serve it with sauces, either smothering the beef or as a dip. There are many dissimilar choices for the best sauce for filet mignon and most depend solely on the person's particular flavor preference. Some consumers prefer to have a clear type of steak sauce for dipping and some may prefer a marinade to add flavor during cooking. either of these can turn out well.

Wines & Filet Mignon

There are many dissimilar types of wines that are good to serve with filet mignon, and determining which one will go best with it depends largely on the flavor of the sauce. This is especially true if the sauce is rather strong, or has a flavor that is stronger than the filet mignon itself. The best wines to match with filet mignon are dry, red wines such as Merlot. If your preference is a sweet wine, you may want to consider trying a White Zinfandel (if this is your choice, though, you will not want to use very much pepper on the filet mignon). If you are a white wine drinker, the best match for filet mignon will be a rich Chardonnay.

Tips for cooking Filet Mignon

-When selecting tenderloin or slices, select the lighter color over dark red. This indicates more marbling which makes it more tender. This cut is so tender that it should never be cooked beyond a medium-rare stage. The longer you cook it, the less tender and more dry it becomes.

-Use a dry, high heat method such as broiling, roasting, pan-frying or grilling for this tender cut.

-Whole tenderloin is phenomenal to stuff or bake en croute (in savory pastry).

-Cutting into the meat to check doneness lets high-priced juice escape. Use the touch method. Press the meat. If it feels soft and mushy and leaves an imprint, it is rare. -If it is soft, but slightly resilient, it is medium-rare. The slight it begins to feel firm, it is overdone.

-Since the tenderloin has no surrounding fat tissue, it is often wrapped in a layer of fat (called barding) such as suet or bacon to keep it from drying out. Likewise with filet slices. The barding also adds flavor.

-Cubed tenderloin is a favorite selection for fondue hot-pots and shish-kebabs.

-To ensure even cooking when roasting the whole tenderloin, the small end should be tucked up and tied or trimmed for other use.

Cooking Filet Mignon

Grill Cleaning Tips and guidance

For many citizen who like outdoor grilling, it can be quite a hassle to clean it up after usage. Many times after we have ended cooking on it, we naturally try to postpone the cleaning until a few days later. This of policy allows for the grease, oil, dirt, grime, and debris to stick to the grill. Then when we finally get colse to to cleaning the grill, it becomes much harder to clean it. There are however, some things that you can do to make your cleaning job a lot easier.

There are a integrate of methods that you can use to help take off some of the thick layer of char burnt food particles that sticks to your grates. These methods involves the use of grill stones and wire brushes. When starting to clean your grill, the wire brush should be the first thing to use because it'll take off the crusty layers on the grates first. naturally take your wire brush and then scrape the grates with it. After you consideration that all the larger debris have fallen off, you should then use the grill stones tones to scrape off the smaller and stickier particles that are stuck there. These stones can work wonder and you just naturally use them to scrub your grill grates and underneath the lid of the grill itself.

Stainless Steel Barbecue Grills

Another solution for removing hard residue is by burning them with the grill. To do this, all you have to do is to let your grill burn for about half an hour. After that time, you should turn your grill off and allow it to cool down and then use any kind of metal scraper to scrape off the crust that you see. Because they have been heated by the grill, these residues are now much easier to take off and shouldn't require too much attempt on your part.

Grill Cleaning Tips and guidance

Cleaning the face of your grill tends to be a much easier task. For this you can naturally use any type of barbecue grill cleaning sprayer, a grease remover cleaner, or a stainless steel cleaner. Alternatively, you could use dish washing soap with water and a sponge to clean the face of the grill. After cleaning your grill, be sure to cover it up with a grill cover. This will safe your grill from the weather and help keep it clean for the next time that you do your grilling.

Grill Cleaning Tips and guidance