Recipe - Saath

1/3 cup Dried black beans; washed,
picked over
2 cup Water
3 sl Bacon; cut 1/2" wide strips
One half Onion; minced
Salt; to taste
Freshlyground black pepper;
to taste
2 Eightounce Beef tenderloin
fillets
2 teaspoon Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
=== GARNISH ===
1 bn Scallions; white and light
green parts, thinly cut or sliced up
3 Red jalapeno chiles;
stemmed, seeded,
; and julienned
Juice of 1 lime

Place the beans and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to
a simmer and cook, covered, until soft throughout, about 1 hour and 15
minutes. Remove from the heat. Fry the bacon in a medium skillet over low
heat until golden. Spoon off excess fat. Add the onion and saute until
lightly golden. Add the beans with their liquid, One half teaspoon salt and 1/2
teaspoon pepper. Cook for 2 minutes longer. The mixture should remain thin
and soupy. Keep warm. This may be prepared a day or 2 in advance and
refrigerated. Reheat before serving. To flatten the steaks, coat four 15
by 12inch sheets of plastic or parchment paper with One half teaspoon of the
oil each. Sandwich each tenderloin, with the grain running vertically,
between two sheets (with the oiled side facing the meat). Flatten each one
with the flat side of a heavy cleaver or mallet, using steady even sweeping
strokes from the center out as you would roll pie dough, until the steak is
a thin oval of about 14 by 10inches. It will take about 5 minutes per
steak. Preheat a lightly oiled very large nonstick skillet or cast iron
pan. Peel the paper off the steaks and season all over with salt and
pepper. Sear, one at a time, in the hot pan 30 to 40 seconds per side. Coat
each of two large serving plates (platters would be great) with the warm
bean mixture. Top each with a hot steak. Prepare the garnish by melting the
butter in a small hot skillet over mediumhigh heat. Saute the scallions
and jalapenos with salt and pepper to taste and the lime juice for 1
minute. Sprinkle over the steaks. Serve immediately. This recipe yields 2