Sam's Famous Sous Vide Filet with Chimichurri Sauce

Beautiful beef filet with a colorful and flavorful Chimichurri Sauce. Ready to impress! Perfectly paired with any New Zealand big reds.

Ingredients

• 2kg Beef Filet, trimmed, aged, and tied. As your butcher to tie it if you prefer not to.
• Large bunch of fresh Italian (flat-leaf) Parsley. The more Parsley the better, you really can't have too much.
• 1 cup Italian Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 cup Olive Oil (the good stuff)
• 1/2 cup light cooking oil (I prefer Rice Bran but Canola also good)
• 4 cloves garlic (I like 6, but appreciate that not everyone likes garlic so avidly)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 large strong ziplock bag, or vacuum seal bag if you have one

Set Sous Vide to 127°F

Charcoal BBQ (like my traditional and well-priced Weber kettle) with lots of charcoal - we are going to fire up the heat so you can melt steel if you want (we don't want..)

Method

1. Tie up the beef tightly with butchers twine, sprinkle well with salt, and place in the bag
2. Put all the other ingredients into the food processor and whizz for about 20 sec. You should still see some leaves and it should have good vibrant color.
3. Keep 1/3 of the Chimichurri aside for a sauce - I like to put out small dishes with a teaspoon each for guests so they don't have to fight for their share
4. Pour the rest of the Chimichurri into the bag. Seal the bag
5. Marinate in the fridge for 1 hour
6. Put the bag in the Sous Vide. If you are using a ziplock, you need to make sure all the air is squeezed out of the bag. The easiest way to do this is to lower the bag into the water, using a spoon to push any air out. Seal well. Keep the closed edge of the bag hanging over the lip of your Sous Vide so it's not in the water, lessening any chance of leakage.
7. Leave in Sous Vide at 127°F for 3 hours. Note that 125°F will get you slightly rarer meat, and 129°F slightly more medium. I prefer 127°F, but your guests might prefer 129°F or, heavens forbid 131°F.
8. With 45 mins to go, light the BBQ. Get it hot. When I leave the lid on my weber the needle is trying to bust out of the thermometer.
9. After 3 hours in the water bath, remove the meat from the Sous Vide
10. Place meat on BBQ. You should get some small flare-ups. You want superheat to really char the outside quickly, without changing the internal temp of the meat - which is perfect! I like to spread some of the marinade over the meat as it cooks, the Olive Oil in the marinade will create flare-ups so be careful.
11. Rotate on the grill to get an even burn. Should not take more than 5 mins.
12. Wrap the meat tightly in tinfoil and leave for at least 5 minutes to rest.
13. Remove and display proudly to the assembled guests, you've earned it.
14. Carve thinly, eat with plenty of the sauce.

Good accompaniments include roast potatoes, green salads, beans, carrots. But who really cares, this is all about the Filet.

About Sam

My parents inspired my love of cooking and entertaining.  I remember many happy nights with family friends around our round dining table, eating wonderful food and (when old enough) good wine.  My father was famous for Ginger Mussels, perfect with a Riesling like our Ostler.  Many of my best memories involve wine - when my girlfriend (now wife) and I finished law school, we travelled up the length of New Zealand from Otago University (at the very South of the country) to Auckland in the North to launch our new careers.  On the way we made sure to go through every wine region, stopping at dozens of vineyards and buying 1 bottle at each (all we could afford for sure!). 

We arrived at our destination with the back of our old car weighed down so far that the wheels scraped the underside of the car.  We lived in the US for 20 years, spending many vacations travelling to California and Europe wine regions.   I love a refreshing Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris on a hot afternoon in summer - there is sun and warmth that springs from The Darling and Nuku Sauvignons.  I love cooking fish and red meat (sorry I'm not a chicken guy) and love to pair our dry Rieslings with salmon and tuna (see my Tostada recipe for example). 

Our Complex Pinot Noirs like the Ceres, Big Sky, Ostler pair beautifully with tender and more delicate flavours of Filet Mignon and Duck.  I love the full and velvety SQM Big Red with stronger red meats like BBQ, New York Strip and Venison.  My US friends always marvelled at the New Zealand wine we served and one friend in particular was concise - he said: The incredible thing about these wines is that they reflect the beauty and power of the incredible landscape.  The most beautiful country in the world delivers these incredibly beautiful wines..