Photo: Beef Tenderloin in Salt Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
- 5 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme, and/or sage)
- 1 (6 to 7-pound) whole beef tenderloin, trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
Place the flour, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and water and add to the dry ingredients along with 2 tablespoons of the herbs. Combine with a potato masher until the mixture begins to come together. Then knead with your hands for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large zip-top bag, seal, and let stand at room temperature for 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.
Transfer dough to a floured surface and roll out to 3/16-inch thickness, approximately a 24 by 18-inch rectangle. Trim away extra dough, if necessary. Sprinkle the remaining herbs on the center section of the dough and gently press down.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In order to achieve uniform cooking, fold over slender tail end of tenderloin and tie with kitchen twine. Set a large electric griddle at its highest setting; brush the tenderloin with the olive oil and sear on all sides until well browned, approximately 10 minutes. Rest the meat for at least 5 minutes or until it is cool to the touch so as not to melt the dough.
Place the tenderloin in the center of the dough. Fold top part of dough over, flipping back about 1-inch of dough onto itself. Repeat with the bottom half of the dough. Press together the 2 flaps of dough and seal. Make sure the dough is not too tight around the tenderloin. At the ends of the tenderloin, press together dough to form a seal and cut away any excess. Transfer to a sheet pan, place in the oven and roast to an internal temperature of 125 degrees F, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour. The tenderloin will continue to cook 10 to 15 degrees more. Cut salt crust at 1 end and extract meat by pulling out of dough tube. Slice and serve immediately.
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By early99
on April 13, 2013
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After finding this recipe I have made it probably 10 or more times and have made a few of my own changes. The meat always comes out very tender and the crust really helps to maintain all the juice. I'm happy I found this recipe.
I have been using about 1lb cuts of filet mignon each in their own separate crust. Normally I will use regular table salt in place of large grain salts which usually comes out too salty for me. Instead of chopping up the fresh herbs I use a fresh pieces of rosemary and thyme in with the meat which really seems to infuse the flavors of the herbs. I will take butter and coat both sides of the fillets then sear both sides until golden brown. Sometimes I will also inject clarified butter into the fillets before I wrap them in the crust but it comes out fine with out it.
As previous reviews state, take the meat out about 10 degrees before the desired temp and let it rest in the crust. Every time I have cooked this for someone they absolutely love it.
By JC_1
on December 27, 2012
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I wanted to prepare a beef dish for my Christmas dinner (I was turkey and ham'ed out and found this online. It was fantastic and easy to prepare.
Based on previous reviews, I pulled the meat out of the oven when the thickest portion registered about 115 on my thermometer. I'm glad I did. I let this rest in the crust for about 20 minutes and during that time it continued to cook to perfection. The thinner ends were more medium-well and the center perfectly medium-rare.
If you do not like salt then I would suggest you cut back on the salt used in the crust. I use salt appropriately when cooking but don't add salt to my finished meals. For me, I could taste the salt. It wasn't overpowering at all but I knew this was salty. My sodium loving friends LOVED it and didn't think it was salty at all. The salt taste is subjective.
Either way, this is a great recipe and am definitely going to prepare this again.
By cari27
bettendorf, ia
on November 03, 2012
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My husband was in love. I think I would have preferred less rare, but that just means next time I will cook maybe an extra 15 minutes. It was very very salty, if you're not quite a super salt lover, maybe reduce the salt used. I probably will. This is very company worthy.
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