The Classic Chateau Briand

The Classic Chateau Briand.

Working at Hotel Vancouver during my apprenticeship The Timber Room and the Panorama Dinning Rooms steak nights were popular on a regular bases. For those having a special dinner out the Classic Chateau Briand for two was beautiful aged beef tenderloin done to perfection. If you were a capable cook the sous chef would give you the privilege to work one of the cooking stations during these orchestrated periods of chaos.
When the lunch or dinner hour was in full swing you had to be ready to produce your part of the menu at least 40 or 50 times.
You had to be fast, organised and have a good sense of timing.
Most of the crew that worked here together had done so for many years and were well rehearsed at their positions. If you screwed up the timing you would get a lot of attitude from the other cooks and servers trying to recover the momentum.
At first it was pretty scary getting all those grill orders at once and then became more controllable once I got the hang of it.
I worked all the stations an after several years became the roast and grill cook.
Beside the huge restaurant kitchens there was a large bakery area with commercial ovens, a massive fully outfitted commissary kitchen with 4000 sq. ft. of work space manned with cooks and bakers.
I learned a lot about beef at this job. The hotel chef would purchase millions of dollars of prime beef a year and butcher it all into steaks, roasts and filet mignon the signature dishes. He graded and inspected every piece of meat personally giving it grades and uses.
On Lumber Jack Nights; we would grill 400 cuts of Angus beef.
I mastered this extremely hot 700 degree gas fired convection char broiler turning out perfectly grilled steaks.
A great meal to serve at a dinner party is the classic meal Chateau Briand sided with sauce Béarnaise, Grilled Parmesan Tomato, Mushroom Caps and Yorkshire Puddings.
When you ask the butcher for well aged beef tenderloin cut showing some marble giving each diner a six ounce portion.
For six people I would suggest a 48 oz. portion of beef tenderloin filet.
3 ounces of beef stock
2 tbs. of melted butter
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
At room temperature rub some kosher salt and fresh ground pepper into the filet of beef and let the salt rest,
Turn the oven broiler on and bring to full highest heat. Place the meat on the broil/grill pan and place directly under the heat source. Using a timer set at 5 minutes intervals continue to broil and turn every 5 minutes to a new side and baste with the mixed beef stock and melted butter.
After broiling lightly cover with foil and let the beef rest for 10 minutes.
Place the chosen vegetables, some mushrooms, grilled tomato and fried onion rings sauce béarnaise .

Choose the sauce and place on the plate for best presentation..