Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (81 page)

1)
Preparing the garniture

the small onions:

1 lb. (2 cups) small white onions about 1 inch in diameter

A saucepan of boiling water

A 6- to 7-inch frying pan or saucepan (no-stick recommended)

2 Tb butter and 2 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch thyme

½ cup bouillon

A cover for the pan

Drop onions in boiling water, bring rapidly back to
boil, and boil 1 minute. Drain, and refresh in cold water. Shave off 2 ends and peel onions; pierce a cross ⅓ inch deep in root ends. Heat butter and oil in pan; when foam is subsiding add onions and sauté over moderately high heat to brown lightly. Reduce heat, add rest of ingredients, cover, and simmer very slowly for 20 to 30 minutes, or until onions are tender when pierced with a knife. Set aside with cooking juices.

the mushrooms:

½ lb. (1 quart) fresh mushrooms

2 Tb butter and 2 tsp olive oil

An 8-inch frying pan (no-stick recommended)

2 Tb minced shallots or scallions

Salt and pepper to taste

Trim and wash the mushrooms; dry in a towel and cut into quarters. Heat butter and oil in pan until foam is subsiding, add mushrooms and sauté over high heat, tossing frequently, until mushrooms begin to brown. Reduce heat, add shallots or scallions, and toss a moment more. Season lightly, tossing, and add mushrooms to onions.

the olives:

4 to 5 ounces (1 to 1¼ cups) pitted green olives, medium size, about ¾ inch long

2 quarts simmering water in a saucepan

Drain and wash the olives; drop into simmering water. Simmer 10 minutes, to remove excess saltiness. Drain, rinse in cold water, and add to onions and mushrooms.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: Garniture may be prepared in advance.

2)
Serving

The cooked
filet
of beef and its 2½ cups or so of sauce

The onions, mushrooms, and olives

2 to 3 Tb soft butter

When the beef is done and the sauce is made, add the onions, mushrooms, and olives to the sauce and simmer 3 to 4 minutes to blend flavors. (If meat is being held in casserole, return sauce and garniture to it.) To serve, place meat on platter, and dip out the onions, mushrooms, and olives with a slotted spoon, arranging them around the beef. Beat the enrichment butter into the sauce a tablespoon at a time, spoon a little over the beef to glaze it and pour the rest of the sauce into a warm gravy boat. Serve, along with whatever other vegetables you may have chosen.

Filet de Boeuf en Feuilletons, Duxelles

[Tenderloin of Beef Sliced, Stuffed with Mushrooms and Roasted]

By slicing the raw tenderloin, seasoning each slice, and spreading it with wine-flavored mushroom
duxelles
and then re-forming the roast, you will have a deliciously flavored tenderloin that practically serves itself. For this you should have as long a piece of the main tenderloin muscle as possible with no under-turning tail, so that you will have large slices. (Drawings and discussion of tenderloin are at the
beginning of this section
.)

For 16 slices ½ inch thick, serving 8 to 10

1)
The duxelles stuffing—for 1½ to 1⅔ cups

1 lb. (2 quarts) fresh mushrooms

A heavy-bottomed 8-inch frying pan (no-stick recommended)

3 Tb butter

¼ cup minced shallots or scallions

⅓ cup finely minced mild-cured ready-cooked ham

1½ Tb flour

⅓ cup dry Madeira (Sercial)

⅓ cup block
foie gras
, liver paste, or very finely minced cooked ham fat

1 egg yolk

½ tsp dried tarragon

Salt and pepper to taste

Trim and wash mushrooms. Cut into
¹
⁄
₁₆
-inch dice, using either a big knife or the vegetable mincing attachment of an electric mixer or a food mill if you wish. Twist a handful at a time in the corner of a towel to extract as much juice as possible. Heat butter to foaming in frying pan, stir in mushrooms, shallots or scallions, and ham. Sauté over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until mushroom pieces begin to separate and start to brown lightly (5 minutes or so). Sprinkle in the flour and stir over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, blend in the wine, and stir again over heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat, beat in
foie gras
, liver paste, or fat, the egg yolk, tarragon, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2)
Stuffing and tying the filet of beef

The heart of the tenderloin, 8 to 10 inches long and as even in diameter as possible (2½ lbs. or more)

A double thickness of well-washed damp cheesecloth large enough to envelop beef. (
See also notes on caul fat
.)

Salt and pepper

A tray and a pastry brush

Rendered goose fat, pork fat or cooking oil

The
duxelles
stuffing

White string

With a very sharp knife, cut the meat into 16 even slices, each about ½ inch thick, setting them aside in the order in which you cut them. Lay the cheesecloth on the tray and paint with fat or cooking oil. Salt and pepper each slice, spread with a tablespoon and a half of stuffing, and re-form the roast, arranging the slices against each other on the cheesecloth. Tie one loop of string around the length of the re-formed
roast to hold the slices against each other, then stretch the cheesecloth tightly over the meat to enclose it. Twist each end of the cheesecloth closely against each end of the meat; tie securely with string. Then twist a tight spiral of string around the circumference from one end to the other and back again, so that meat will keep its shape. It will look like a fat sausage about 12 inches long and 4 inches in diameter.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: When stuffed, tied, wrapped in plastic, and refrigerated a day before roasting, it will pick up added flavor.

3)
Browning and cover-roasting the beef—at least 1 hour before serving

Brown the beef and the aromatic vegetables that accompany it as described in the
Master Recipe, Step 1
. (It will brown perfectly well in its cheesecloth covering.) Roast, as directed in Step 2, counting 30 to 40 minutes and leaving the meat red-rare (125 degrees on a meat thermometer). Remove from casserole as soon as it is done, and leave at room temperature for 15 minutes while finishing the sauce described in Step 3.

4)
Serving

Set beef on hot serving platter and cut string and cheesecloth, carefully pulling them out from around and under the meat (15 minutes rest will have drawn slices of meat together). Spoon enough sauce over meat to glaze it nicely, arrange around it whatever garnish you have chosen, and serve, passing rest of sauce separately. Server need only spread top of meat apart with large fork and spoon to show location of each slice, which is then served with its share of
duxelles
stuffing.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE
: Use the same system as in the Master Recipe, but do not untie meat until just before serving.