Reverse-Seared Tenderloin Steak

20230422 #breakfastdiary 736, 15°C/cloudy, 21min/exercise(Y) When you sear a steak in plenty of oil over high heat, almost frying it, the outside turns crisp and the Maillard reaction kicks in — that process is called #searing. Easier said than done, though: most of the time the outside burns before the inside is cooked. I don't really go for meat, so I rarely cook it, and while I was wondering how to handle this expensive, unfamiliar ingredient, I came across #reversesearing. It's a method that uses the oven instead of a sous vide machine (though the idea is similar) — cooking the meat evenly at a low temperature over a long time, then finishing with a quick sear. Supposedly it has a fairly low failure rate. -Let the tenderloin come to room temperature, then cook it in a 90°C oven for 40 minutes. (The tenderloin was marinated beforehand with salt and pepper.) -Pour oil in a pan and flip it twice, 30 seconds each side; then add butter and rosemary and baste while flipping twice more, 30 seconds each side. That was the plan, but the moment the meat actually started cooking in front of me, oil spattering everywhere, my breathing sped up, my hands got clumsy, and all those neat numbers — 30 seconds, twice — went out the window. Watching the video I took afterward, I'd clearly seared it quite a bit more than planned, so my intended medium-well went out the window too, leaving just well-done. Once again: in the moment you're actually facing a task, what decides success or failure isn't a meticulous plan so much as practiced hands. In the end, there's no substitute for doing it many times. As for steak, since I'm not that big on meat, I doubt I'll ever get around to cooking it skillfully.