Duo of Kobe Beef with Creamy Polenta

I prepared this over the summer as part of my Top Chef with Teanna series from Season 1, but never got around to blogging about it before the new season picked up.  But it really is a phenomenal dish, and although I had to use a flash (it was dark by the time we served it), it still is deserving of a post. 

This is a dish from season winner Harold, from the Season 1 Finale episode. Lorraine Bracco was a guest judge, and the chef's were asked to prepare a five-course dinner and pair wines from her vineyard with their dishes. This episode was at the height of Sopranos fame, although it was around that time when David Chase was doing very odd storylines where Tony Soprano did peyote in the dessert with some girl, which is not very mafia-like to me and forever changed the way "Don't Stop Believin'" was viewed forever. 

The beef was incredibly tender, and the two different textures of the short ribs and strip loin worked perfectly with one another.  The polenta was rich and creamy, but filled with butter and cheese, so I only had a bite, lest I wanted to gain five pounds just from my side dish.  

Funny side note:  I made this dish for our weekly dinners with our friends Chris and Chelsea while we were all living in DC.  Chelsea and I were talking in the kitchen as I was preparing the polenta, and I was so embarrassed when I threw in an entire stick of butter and a whole container of mascarpone cheese. No one should have to witness that.  If I'm going to eat that much butter, I'd rather not know about it. 

Luckily, the dish was a huge hit, regardless of the butter.  Tom Colicchio said in his blog post on the episode that this dish was lick the plate good.  And it was.  Hands down, this was one of my favorite dishes from the season (although I liked everything from that season, unlike this season).  It was very simple dish to make, and one that didn't require me to be in the kitchen for hours. 

Oh, and ere is an example of the poorly written Top Chef recipes from seasons past. Luckily, they have changed this and made much more comprehensive recipes.

Duo of Kobe Beef by Harold Dieterle courtesy of Top Chef

Ingredients
5 lbs. Kobe Short Ribs
2 qts. Red Wine 
1 qt. Chicken Stock 
2 qts. Veal Stock (I subbed beef stock)
2 pc Onions 
1 pc Celery 
5 pc Fresh Tomatoes 
1 cup White Polenta 
2 cups Milk 
1 cup Cream 
½ cup Butter 
½ cup Mascarpone Cheese 
2 oz. Morels 
2 oz. Asparagus Tips Blanched 
4 oz. Butter 
20 oz. Kobe Strip Loin 

Assembly:
Sear the Ribs in a Braising pot till golden brown. Add the vegetables and caramelize.  Add the red wine and reduce by ½. Then add the stocks and cover. Braise for 4 hours or until fork tender.  Remove the bones, portion into 3 inch cubes. Strain the reduced sauce and place the short rib cubes back in the sauce. 

In a sauce pot heat the cream and milk. Whisk in the white polenta. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Constantly stirring to avoid lumps. Add the butter and the mascarpone. Season generously. 

Heat the butter in a sauce pot, add a little drop of water and emulsifies. Place the morel and poach. Add the asparagus at the last second and season. 

Heat a sauté pan with oil and season the Strip loin heavily. Pan roast the beef on both side and place in the oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven baste with butter and cook till med rare. Rest beef for 4 minutes and slice 
into 2 oz. pieces.

Comments

[Jennifer]

This looks absolutely delicious! I've never made polenta, but I know that I should!!!!

[jenn]

I've had that happen to me when my attention is slightly off while cooking that I end up adding a little too much of something. lol. Goo thing it was hit and a good thing you posted it. This looks delicious!

[Chelsea]

Ahh, I remember that dinner with such fondness. And, unlike you, I think I recall that I had a heaping serving of the polenta. Then I asked for seconds. Then I had your banana crisp with cinnamon toast ice cream for dessert. So, adding it all up, it looks like I probably gained somewhere in the range of 20 pounds during that meal. It was well worth it :)

[Jen]

Wow this looks amazing! I almost always have to use a flash - can never seem to finish cooking dinner before dark :) Butter and mascarpone - yum!

[Mimi]

Looks incredibly delicious. I love anything with polenta.
Mimi

[Tracey]

Oh my word, that looks soooo good!! I give you huge credit for attempting so many of these Top Chef recipes. I guess I'm just more of a baker than a cook, but they intimidate me with their long ingredient lists.

[Hilary]

I love polenta - I just don't usually out that much butter and cheese in it! :)

I would like to have this for dinner tonight. Impressive.

[Shandy]

A whole stick of butter is alarming but I am cooking through Julia Child and think I may be adjusting to this butter epidemic. The treadmill be always be my best friend!

Love the looks of this dish...absolutely delicious! Also, thank you for posting the recipe for the Pumpkin Chai bread. I made this put in my blog that I found the recipe here so a HUGE Yay for posting. My family loves it.

[Eliana]

This looks absolutely delicious!

[Jessie]

that looks simply amazing and extremely flavorsome dish.

[Madam Chow]

Your grocery bill must be huge, my dear! This looks so tasty!

[AmyRuth]

Oh, I forgot to do the little spammer thing at the bottom, so I'm back. Just wanted to say I loved the idea of all the "fat" yumminess. Even if only a few bites passed your lips. Darn, I hate that. However, there is the whole issue of working it off at the gym, right? So it goes. Looks so delish. Glad you shared it.
AmyRuth

[Juliana]

Oh! This beef dish looks absolutely fantastic...I am not being bias due to my love for meat...it is just mouth-watering...how could you wait so long to post this? :-)

[Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction]

Looks fantastic. I think I might have to try the polenta. My husband loves the polenta we had at Legal Seafood in Boston this past weekend!

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

Fantastic recreation! The one thing that I haven't splurged on yet is a real Kobe. At one point, Wegmans was carrying local American Wagyu fillets which were fantastic but unfortunately they don't now. Their Japanese Wagyu is quite pricey :(

[Kobe Beef]

Great recipe... Can I post it on my website? You can check it out we sell Kobe Beef and Wagyu Beef and we are looking to put together a compilation of Kobe Beef Recipes.

Thanks