In a previous post, titled Six Affordable Steaks You Should Be Buying, I mentioned that shoulder tender is like a little beef tenderloin. When I cut it into steaks similar to tournedos, people assume it is tenderloin. I routinely buy and cook this cut. It’s about the size of a pork tenderloin and it only costs around $5.
I sometimes like to cook the shoulder tender like a fillet of beef. To roast it evenly, you need to cut halfway through the tapered ends and fold them underneath so that the whole steak has a uniform thickness.
Next, wrap the beef in 1/2 pound of sliced bacon. You could tie the steak with kitchen twine to make it perfectly round, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
I also like to toss a couple of pounds of baby yukon gold potatoes onto the roasting pan along with a chopped onion and a few whole cloves of peeled garlic. I figure that the bacon fat is going to render anyway, so why not use it to season some sides? I just drizzle a little olive oil over the vegetables and season them with salt, pepper, and a sprig of rosemary.
Preheat the oven to bake at 400° with one rack in the lowest position and the other rack in the second-highest position. When the oven comes to temperature, place the roasting pan on the lower rack and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, change the oven to broil at 400° and move the roasting pan to the higher rack. Between 10-15 minutes later, the internal temperature will reach 135°. If you like your steak medium-rare, take it out. If you like it medium, take it out when the temperature reaches 140°.
Let the beef rest for at least 10 minutes and then slice it into steaks. I usually cut it into four 2-inch thick steaks, but you could slice it into smaller rounds if you prefer (like in the picture above).
Before removing the roasted vegetables, shake them across the pan so that they soak up the bacon fat and the beef drippings. The flavors come together perfectly.
These ingredients amount to $5 for the steak, $2.50 for the bacon, $4 for the potatoes, and $1 for the onion. If you already have the olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, this whole meal will feed four people for around $12.50. That’s a pretty good deal, and it looks and tastes great too.
