the bad kind of bullseye

No recipe today, and not exactly a tip either, but a definition of a term. Have you heard of a meat "bullseye"? It looks like this:

 

And you don't want it. If you cook a large piece of meat, like a beef or pork tenderloin, straight from the fridge, the outside will get charred dark brown just fine pretty quickly, but that heat won't be able to work its way to the center of the meat. The inside will stay raw for so very long. If you like your meat rare (as I do), it might seem like a good thing at first, but that spot in the center isn't rare. It's raw. And maybe even still cold. Not so tasty.

The fix is in the picture itself -- which, while not a super-optimal way to treat a nice piece of meat, will at least get your dinner on the table in 10 minutes instead of 40. If you find yourself pressed for time with a tenderloin that's all bullseye, cut it into inch-thick slices and cook those slices in a pan on the stovetop. Like so.

 

(This set of beef tenderloin slices worked out just fine in the end, and in a nice flavorful sauce too. The secret ingredient: Blue Chair Early Girl Tomato Marmalade.)

Comments

[pam claughton]

Jael,
This looks delicious! Am craving beef now. :)
~Pam