Chateaubriand with Marrow Sauce and Pureed Black Rice

Does anyone else feel like taking a nap?  If you are lucky enough to have bright weather, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.  But if you are living in Seattle, you might share my pain.  I think I'm going to rename the blog "The Mary Buffet and Daily Weather Outlook".  Perhaps it's because as I type each day, looking out my office window, I cannot help but feel moved in some way by the weather and it inevitably makes an appearance in my writing.  I have lived here pretty much all my life and have always been a defender of Seattle weather, but I may have turned traitor and taken to side with those who say it's always grey here.  


When it's grey out, what could possibly make one feel better?  Red meat and red wine of course!


1.5 Pound Chateaubriand (in this case, cut from the top sirloin)
Using cotton string, tie the steak into a round.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sear and fry the steak in a heavy cast iron pan with lots o butter.  Ladle the butter over the meat as you fry it.  I cooked mine for about 5 minutes a side (all 4 sides) for medium rare.  Let rest 10 minutes before carving.


Marrow Sauce
Two 3" beef marrow bones
1 cup veal stock
3/4 cup red wine
1 large shallot, minced
leaves from 1 sprig of thyme
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp madeira


Soak marrow bones in ice cold salted water, preferably over night, but some is better than nothing.  Mine soaked for about 5 hours.  This draws the blood out of the marrow.  Salt and pepper the marrow bones and roast at 450f for 15 minutes.  Let cool and scoop out the marrow and set aside.


In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over med heat and add shallots.  Saute until softened.  Deglaze with red wine.  Pour mixture into a blender and puree with the veal stock.  Return sauce to pan and bring to a simmer for about 6-8 minutes to reduce by 1/4.  Add madeira and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Whisk in bone marrow and any collected fat just before serving.


We all swooned over the sauce.  I caught the girls just dipping their fingers and licking them.  Saucy heaven!


Pureed Black Rice
1 cup black rice
2 cups chicken stock


This was part of a dish I saw on No Reservations the other night, which inspired tonight's meal.  Ingenious to puree the rice.  I had to try it.  Rinse rice a couple of times with water.  Then combine rice with chicken stock, cook covered, until water has evaporated.  The rice should be pretty soft.  Let rice cool before your puree.


I made 2 versions to test: 
1 1/2 cups cooked rice with approx 1 cup water and 2 tbsp butter
Puree in a blender or food processor.  Since I haven't done this before, I kind of lost measure of exactly how much water I added.  But add enough to the consistency you like.  We tasted many stages, one of which Maggie advised me it tasted like playdough.  Hmmm, not exactly the outcome I was trying to achieve.  But then she added, Daddy will like it though.  I still couldn't decide if I should be insulted or if Chris should.
It was gummy to start, but as more water was added, it became more creamy.  


1 1/2 cups cooked rice with approx 1 cup whole milk, 2 tbsp red wine
Puree.  Return to a shallow pan to reheat when ready to serve.  This is the one I served with dinner.  You need to heat the puree through to cook off the alcohol of the wine a bit.  


In the end, I have to confess, the rice got scraped to the side.  The flavor was great...nutty.  But, there was no need for it.  More research and testing required.


And don't forget sauteed button mushrooms in butter.  Champignons, a perfect companion to steak.

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