Pete and Paul spent many hours on the backsplash in my kitchen, so to properly thank them, I cooked. In retrospect, I may have spent about as much time planning, shopping and cooking as they spent tiling, but I'm not keeping track or anything. No, I would not do that.
We started with french onion soup. I used Cooks Illustrated latest incarnation, which was slightly more complicated than necessary, in my opinion. While Pete and Paul loved, I thought it tasted slightly burnt; the recipe called for deglazing the caramelized onions several times, but the deglazed bits turned burnt, a problem that I've had in the Le Creuset soup pot, but that's never made the food taste burnt. I wasn't able to properly bake the soup with croutons and gruyere - someone didn't pay attention to the texts asking for the proper pottery - so I sprinkled the toasted slices with gruyere, melted under the broiler for a few and topped the soup. I also opened up a bottle of 2005 Les Jamelles Chardonnay, a non-oaked varietal that was smooth and somewhat flavorful, although despite reading that it would go well, didn't really match the soup.
The main course featured what was the probably the best piece of beef tenderloin I have ever tasted. I've never been that thrilled about roast...and this cut and recipe completely changed my opinion. I've found that Cooks does a great job with meat, and they did not fail me with this cut. Directions: use a two pound cut of beef tenderloin (note, this is not an inexpensive cut), tie, salt and let sit for an hour at room temperature. Rub with shallot-garlic-parsley butter and bake until cooked to desired temperature. I like my meat on the rare end, so about 35 minutes. Then, sear in vegetable oil, resulting in a tasty, tasty crust, put on a cutting board and rub with more of the butter. Let it sit, ask someone to carve...and enjoy. I kid you not, this meat was melt in your mouth delicious. The butcher tried to sell me on some other cut, telling me that the tenderloin didn't have as much flavor, and she may have been right, but didn't bargain on my Cooks Illustrated directed recipe skills. Many sounds were made the table, and I knew that the meat was perfect when Paul told me that the meal "was totally worth the backplash". Good to know, Paul, good to know.
I also made Cooks' rustic dinner rolls, which are quickly becoming a Sunday night dinner mainstay, artichoke and leek potato gratin, and roasted asparagus with lemon. Oh, and a bottle of 2007 A to Z pinot noir. The wine was a bit syrupy, but opened up nicely and did well with the meat.
For dessert, a long-time go to recipe: lemon cheese with a hazelnut crust. Delicious, not too rich and just the right type of dessert to end a rich meal.
By the way, it may not be too noticeable, but that's a brand new table. Yes, after a several month absence, I now have a real life kitchen table. Four chairs, a beautiful finish, a built-in leaf, it is absolutely perfect.
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