CHÂTEAUBRIAND RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Stand meat on its wider-cut end on a solid work surface. Fold a kitchen towel lengthwise once or twice into a wide band, and drape it loosely around the upright meat like a scarf. Gather the ends of the towel, and twist to form a tight collar that will hold meat in a round shape during pounding; grasp securely in one hand. With the other hand, pound top of meat with a meat mallet until flattened into an oval steak about 2 inches thick and 5 to 7 inches wide.
• Heat a medium grill pan over high heat until it is very hot. Rub steak with oil, and season with salt and pepper.
• Place steak on grill pan at an angle to ridges, and cook until ridges leave clear marks, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Turn, maintaining same angle and repeat on second side. Turn again, rotating so visible grill marks are perpendicular to ridges. Cook until a crisscross is clearly marked, 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Turn once more, maintaining same angle, and grill so second side has been on grill exactly as long as first side. Brown steak on outside edge, holding with tongs or propping against a potato, shifting meat so entire edge gets browned. Grill a total of 10 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness of steak and desired degree of doneness.
• Meat will be barely springy to the touch, indicating that it is still rare. Transfer to a small shallow roasting pan, and place pan in oven for 15 minutes. Remove to a cutting board; slice thin on a bias. Place on a warm serving platter, and pour pan juices over. Serve with bearnaise sauce on the side.

Steps:

• For the roast: Season the roast all over with salt, and set on a rack over a sheet pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours. (Chilling the roast will allow the salt to begin to penetrate and prevent the roast from cooking too quickly. It will also deeply season the meat. You can also do this in the morning on the day you want to cook it; up to 8 hours is fine.) Adjust an oven rack to center position and preheat the oven to 250°.
  Remove the roast from the fridge and brush it all over with 2 tablespoons of the butter. Place the roast (still on the rack) in the oven and cook for about 60 to 90 minutes. If your oven has hot spots, rotate your pan every 30 minutes. After the meat has been in the oven for 45 minutes, measure the internal temperature: Insert a meat thermometer into the center of the roast from one end and push it in so that the tip of the thermometer will hit the middle of the meat.   Keep cooking until you reach an internal temperature of 120° for rare, 125° for medium rare, or 130° for medium.  Meanwhile, make the shallot-wine sauce: In a skillet or saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the shallots until softened and not brown, about 3 minutes.  Add the wine and cook over medium heat until it has reduced to about ¼ cup. Add the broth and sugar if using, and reduce by half. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time, until the sauce is glossy. Season with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.  Remove the roast from the oven, brush all over with the reserved butter, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.