Petite tenders, just the sound of it and I immediately think of small, delicate cuts that beg not to be overcooked. This cut is from the shoulder portion and doesn’t pay to be cooked beyond medium-rare if you can help it, otherwise, I would braise it. As with any beef, a nice coating of crushed peppercorn, sea salt and spices to rub in flavor adds that extra influence on the tastebuds that makes me wander back into the kitchen, after the dishes are cleared from the table, to sample more.
I made a much needed visit to see my mother, who still frequently shops as if my brother and I are coming to dinner. She pulled out a nice petite tender cut of beef for me to cook because, as she says, she doesn’t know how to do anything with beef except grill it. Over time, her ability to eat certain foods has narrowed, too much tomato before bed and there’s heartburn through the next few days, so she’s forced to cut out certain ingredients and find a substitute that makes a much loved meal work.
For this meal, I planned around her special diet with foods she can tolerate. She can’t eat onion unless it’s cooked or caramelized, and rarely eats potato unless it’s sweet potato or yams, she doesn’t eat white rice, she only eats brown. Whole milk is another issue so substitutes are always non-sweetened almond or coconut milks. With that in mind, I made a sweet potato, coconut milk sauce for the brown rice, caramelized onion and brightened up the dish with an array of spices, then finished it off with goat cheese and sprinkled roasted pecans on top before serving. For an extra choice, I served a side of caramelized onion chutney.
We uncorked a bottle of Chianti and talked about her upcoming trip to Italy where she’d be visiting Chianti and how nice the wine paired with the dinner we were eating. Cooking a nice meal for mom always brings her such happiness, kinda; like those homemade gifts she always hung up on the “mom wall” while I was growing up. Cooking for someone you care about is personal. It’s like a gift that you prepare knowing when you sit down to the meal, it will spark conversation and renew old memories and new plans. This meal took us back in time to offshore vacations and travel to places where we substituted known American ingredients with something different from the lands we were visiting, it always seemed to work and be delicious. In the early years, mom would do all the cooking, but as we grow older, I find myself rummaging through the cabinets to find familiar spices and cooking dishes to make our meals. This one was one of the best.