What to do with filet mignon scraps?

[Jenise]

I have about four pounds of filet mignon scraps salvaged from a big event I did back in December. All smallish pieces, many 1" or so, but all trimmed of silver skin and what little fat tenderloin comes with. Stupidly I froze it in one big lump instead of smaller, more usefull wads, so the bag sits in my freezer staring at me. I'm flummoxed, in part, because I'm really not a fan of filet mignon. Other than four pounds of tartare, is there anything particularly good you can do with filet? I've never made patties with it, since I actually prefer the flavor and texture of ground chuck to all other ground meats and can do the math on what something as soft and tender as filet would result in.

Lacking any other inspiration, I can invite 20 of my closest friends over for beef stroganoff. Any other ideas?

Ialways have some marinade in Ziplocs in the freezer ready to go - usually Bul Kogi or some other 'Asian' style. I'd put the scraps in the marinade for a while and grill them alone with what ever veggies I have also on the grill. Better yet, if it's still a little cool outside - Beef Stroganoff over wide egg noodles with some nice Barolo.

I'm all for the Stroganoff.

Jenise, girl, what are you thinkin'? C'mon now!

Yam Neau (Thai Beef Salad) for 20
Asparagus and beef stir fry in black bean sauce
Broccoli Beef in Oyster sauce
Mongolian Beef
Mandarin beef on crispy rice noodles

Jo Ann is on to something - are you in a funk ? I have had the experience that there is a tremendous sense of fun and excitement in a big project yet re working the frozen trimmings is hard to get through and they invariably sit longer than they should in the freezer

Sausage?

[Jenise]

Jo Ann is on to something - are you in a funk ? I have had the experience that there is a tremendous sense of fun and excitement in a big project yet re working the frozen trimmings is hard to get through and they invariably sit longer than they should in the freezer

Re the funk, yeah. Didn't realize it before but as soon I read your words I felt the truth. All this contract work going on (two contractors working on two independent projects) has had me tied to the house and feeling just a bit weighed down in every part of my life. One of the projects is in week three of what was supposed to be done in 7-8 working days.

Let me digress: and it won't be done until mid-June, because one of the custom 12 foot wide, four panel doors was not made to spec and is going to have to be replaced in its entirety, and I got the news this morning that it will be another six weeks before the replacement gets here. The other two are finally installed as of yesterday and today, but we can't even finish the moulding because there are a few missing parts. To give you a sense of how long this has gone on, all three doors were ordered late last November and delivered early January. Our first contractor bailed after accepting the work--he was just too busy. Our second, Jerry, was due to start late February as soon as he finished or got a break from some repairs next door on an empty house that was to become a vacation home for a Seattle family since Barb Freda decided not to move up here after all. We waited patiently. Then things got eerily quiet next door. Around March 1st we learned that Jerry had his leg amputated. We also learned that the new neighbor had hired an architect and was now going to gut the place and add rooms and keep the rest of Jerry's crew busy until July. Prudently, I had a another guy who lives in our neighborhood lined up just in case. He was going to call as soon as he finished another project. In the meantime, he went on a solo fishing trip by boat. A few days later his empty boat washed up on Lummi Island. His memorial was last Sunday. Are you laughing? It's all terribly tragic, but it's so bad it's funny. So this is contractor #4, we're like seven months out from the day we put our 50% down for the doors, and I have to stare at a half-finished project for another two months. It's an unbelievable letdown.

Jo Ann, you're right. I should be thinking Asian (after, Jeff is so right, we get the Stroganoff jones taken care of)--I cook a lot of Asian, I don't know why that didn't occur to me. (Maybe it's depression over the impending rice shortage, now that Costco has limited me to four 80 lb sacks, I'm just not sure I can do Asian any more. ) Maybe I'll just get out a hack saw and carve that frozen lump into four pieces. That would at least allow me to end the phase Christina identified with as allowing them to sit longer in the freezer than they should.

Note to self: Do not do contract work for Jenise. Too dangerous to long-term health.

I was going to say Stroganoff too...I use filet ends for that.

Wow, Jenise, that is some story! You poor thing. You can't make that stuff up...that is crazy about the contractors. I hope this is the end of all the "bad luck" and your projects get finished asap.

And I had to totally LOL at Jeff's comment.

[quote]Defrost it and make half into Carbonnade a la Flamande and half into Boeuf Bourguignon. You'll have 2 dinners for 6 or 7 people. Both super wine friendly as you know. You could actually refreeze the finished dishes then and keep them for easy dinners on the boat while anchored at your local islands. That's what I do with beef leftovers and it makes the arrival and first dinner at Catalina so much easier. [/quote]

Great idea, both. Oh, we sold our boat. That's another drama. Turns out our partner's wife never intended to let her husband keep the boat, she was just humoring him. They nearly got divorced over it, sold their home and have moved away.

My mom makes something called Beef Pepperoncini

Do you really mean beef with pickled peppers?

Note to self: Do not do contract work for Jenise. Too dangerous to long-term health.

That should read: "Note to everybody."

Four 80lb sacks of rice ? Cool. I store flour in those quantities. Our current house rules is that I'm not allowed to have more flour in the house (in total), than I weigh. As if I needed more incentive to put on weight..

I think if I had 4lbs of filet mignon scraps, I'd do stroganoff first. Maybe panfry any leftover strips and tuck them into a sourdough roll for lunch the following day.

Jenise, have you done anything to piss off St. Joseph (you know, Chuy's stepdad), the patron saint of carpenters?

[Jenise]

Jenise, have you done anything to piss off St. Joseph (you know, Chuy's stepdad), the patron saint of carpenters?

Gosh, you'd think so! And there's more, not to diminish the sad human elements here. And that's about how things are going with the installation, now that it' sunderway: like that we didn't discover that the 12 footer was not to spec for high wind resistance until after it and the other two doors (10 door panels, three frames, and a zillion facing strips and mullions) had been conditioned, stained, and given two coats of Varathane Satin, and on the day it would otherwise have been installed. A missing piece lead to our discovery. That was on Day 11, and Andersen corporation has accepted liability and will reimburse the sunk cost for the work done on the door that has to be replaced. Almost simultaneous with that we realized that 7 out of 10 of the panels were suspiciously glossy. Turns out the new can of Varathan my carpenter opened when his first can ran out was a bad batch! The basic Varathan recipe starts with full gloss and additives tone that down to make to the semi and satin products. A breakdown in the production line meant our can didn't get the extra goodies and it has sparked a nationwide recall. Varathane has accepted liability and will reimburse the costs of the work done and remedial work required to remove the gloss and recoat. So on Day 12, we practically started over.

Talk about snake-bit.

Argh! I forgot to MOVE!

You should have hire me to be your project manager!

But seriously, folks. I say steak and kidney pie without the kidneys. That is my Boxing Day dinner using trimmings from the tenderloin we make into Beef Wellington every year...Delia Smith's is great...the gravy that is part of the pie.. Mmmm. I believe Robin has partaken of this (the suet party, Robin)....I don't always do a suet crust, but just a great pastry will do..

[Jenise]

Argh! I forgot to MOVE!

Yes, you did. Don't think it hasn't been noticed. (sniff sniff)

You should have hired me to be your project manager!

You'd have killed the few survivors?

But seriously, folks. I say steak and kidney pie without the kidneys.

You know what, that would be a great food challenge for FLDG. "Steak pie". Beyond the Morton's beef pot pies you and I grew up with and the pub food Britons know, there are a thousand ways creative cooks like those here could interpret those two words. Let's put it on the list.

Sounds like a plan

[David M. Bueker]

Argh! I forgot to MOVE!

Yes, you did. Don't think it hasn't been noticed. (sniff sniff)

You should have hired me to be your project manager!

You'd have killed the few survivors?

Now that's funny!

Jenise - if you have ticked off St. Joseph try drinking some Syrah.

And I would be making Asian marinated kabobs, but that's just me.

Dear Jenise,

At this point I'm surprised that a defective power tool hasn't caused a spark and burned your whole house down. Though if that had happened the first thing, you'd probably have everything rebuilt by now.

I too rarely eat filet anymore, but when I make tartare, I always have trimmings left over. The best use I've so far found is as the meat in an omlette. The eggs are fluffy so even the soft texture of filet is a contrast.

Walt

I'm with Walt on this one: I never buy filet mignon, and I almost never order filet mignon at a restaurant... unless it's the only way to get the Sauce Perigordine.

Machaca.

[Jenise]

Dear Jenise,

At this point I'm surprised that a defective power tool hasn't caused a spark and burned your whole house down. Though if that had happened the first thing, you'd probably have everything rebuilt by now.

I too rarely eat filet anymore, but when I make tartare, I always have trimmings left over. The best use I've so far found is as the meat in an omlette. The eggs are fluffy so even the soft texture of filet is a contrast.

Walt

Shhh! Don't give the gods any more ideas!!!!

I don't eat eggs, but my husband certainly does, and I could certainly toss a few his way in an omelette, or even the filling for some breakfast tacos. Great idea, thanks!

John T--what's machaca?

John T--what's machaca?

Originally, a kind of Mexican beef jerky. But these days, it's morphed into well cooked, small bits of beef, which are then cooked on a flat grill with eggs (oh, I forgot - you don't eat eggs) along with a flavorful salsa. The cook "chops" the egg mass with the sides of two spatulas, as if he or she were playing the drums.

Kind of a glorified omelette, but with less structure. Think scrambled eggs.