Filet de Bœuf Camargo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Narrow boning knife and small paring knife
• •Small food processor
• •3-quart heavy lidded cocotte or 12-inch ovenproof sauté pan with lid
• •Kitchen twine
• •Thin metal skewer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Pastry brush
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Small saucepan and small frying pan
• •Warm oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the linked work

   Have the home-scaled Poëlings (No. 250) preparation ready in a snug, heavy, lidded vessel, and warm the Périgueux sauce gently in a small saucepan without boiling it. Chill the processor bowl and blade, the 2 oz (57 g) portion of foie gras, and the cream for the farce. Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Once the fillet is opened, the work must move cleanly so the filling stays cold.

2. 2

   Hollow the fillet

   Remove the chaîne (the long side muscle) from the thicker side of the fillet and save it for another preparation. From that same side, cut lengthwise into the meat without cutting through the opposite wall. Open the cut and withdraw meat from the center with a narrow boning knife and spoon, leaving an even wall about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick all around. Weigh the withdrawn meat; a 2 lb (900 g) fillet should give close to 8 oz (225 g). If the knife nicks the exterior, place a thin scrap of beef over the opening from inside before filling, then position that side beneath the bacon. Ça se rattrape.

3. 3

   Bind the farce

   Dice the withdrawn beef and pulse it in the chilled processor until finely chopped. Add 2 oz (57 g) cold foie gras and pulse only until combined, then add 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) cold cream little by little. Season with about ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, then fold in 1 oz (28 g) finely chopped truffle. The source ratio is exact: for every 8 oz (225 g) withdrawn beef, use 2 to 2½ tablespoons cream, 2 oz (57 g) foie gras, and 1 oz (28 g) truffle. Fry a teaspoonful until cooked through and taste it. If the farce feels stiff, add the remaining cream a teaspoon at a time; if it slumps, chill it for ten minutes rather than adding bread or flour. It should hold a soft mound.

   Stop processing as soon as the farce binds. If the bowl turns greasy or warm, place the whole bowl in the cold for ten minutes before continuing; warm foie gras smears and weakens the filling.
4. 4

   Fill and truss

   Season the cavity lightly, then pack in the cold farce a spoonful at a time, pressing out air pockets and restoring the fillet's original shape. Close the lengthwise opening. Cut the remaining truffle into pointed pieces about 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide (2.5 by 0.6 cm). Make slanting pilot holes across the upper surface with a small knife and insert the truffle pieces. Cover the fillet with the bacon slices, then tie crosswise at 1-inch (2.5 cm) intervals. The strings should hold the shape firmly without squeezing out the filling. Chill for fifteen minutes.

5. 5

   Poêle the fillet

   Settle the fillet, opening side down, into the ready Poëlings (No. 250) preparation and follow that entry's covered, butter-rich cooking method. Do not add liquid while the fillet cooks; moisture would turn poêling into braising and wash away the concentrated savor the method is meant to preserve. Baste as directed and begin testing after thirty-five minutes. Insert a thin metal skewer lengthwise into the thickest part of the filling, leave it for five seconds, and withdraw it; the center should feel resistant and elastic, and the skewer should emerge hot and clean of raw paste. Confirm with a thermometer: the farce must reach 158 to 160°F (70 to 71°C), carrying fully to 160°F (71°C) as it rests. If the outside darkens while the center is still low, lay fresh foil loosely over the fillet and lower the oven to 300°F (150°C). If the center is ready but the surface is pale, stop cooking; the broiler will supply the color.

6. 6

   Reduce the liquor

   Transfer the cooked fillet to a warm board and rest it loosely covered for twelve minutes. Finish the cooking liquor from the Poëlings (No. 250) preparation according to its own entry, then strain, remove the excess fat, and reduce it until glossy enough to coat a spoon. Reserve 2 tablespoons (30 ml / about 30 g) for glazing. Stir the remaining reduced liquor into the warm Périgueux sauce and hold it at a bare simmer until it naps the back of a spoon. If beads of fat rise, stop boiling, let the sauce settle for a minute, skim it, and whisk in a teaspoon of hot water. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Glaze under the broiler

   Remove the strings and bacon without disturbing the truffle studs. Brush the fillet with the reserved reduced liquor and place it briefly beneath a fully heated broiler, the honest home equivalent of the salamander, until the surface takes a deep, even lacquer, usually thirty to sixty seconds. Watch without leaving the oven. If the glaze runs instead of clinging, reduce it for another minute before brushing again. Rest the glazed fillet for five minutes.

8. 8

   Build the tartlets

   Boil the noodles in the salted water until tender but still distinct, then drain them well. Bring the ½ cup (120 ml / 120 g) cream to a gentle simmer and reduce it slightly before folding in the noodles; cook until they are nappé, coated closely enough that no cream puddles beneath them. If the cream tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of hot noodle water. Warm the tartlet shells and fill each with the cream-coated noodles. Foam the butter in a small pan and toss the four cold foie gras slices just until their surfaces color, about twenty to thirty seconds per side. Lift them out before they soften enough to break, set one on each tartlet, and finish with a thin slice of truffle.

9. 9

   Arrange and carve

   Set the whole glazed fillet on a warm oval platter and arrange the four tartlets around it. Carve with a sharp slicing knife into four thick portions, wiping the blade between cuts so the foie gras and truffle center remains distinct. Send the Périgueux sauce to the table separately in a warm sauceboat, allowing each person to spoon it beside the beef rather than burying the lacquer. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for a thick, evenly cylindrical center cut of tenderloin, not four steaks tied together. The fillet must have enough depth to leave a half-inch wall after hollowing, and an uneven tail section cannot do that job.
• •Keep the foie gras and processor cold. Technique first: costly foie allowed to soften on the board will melt into grease, while cold foie binds cleanly into the farce and keeps its richness inside the beef.
• •Fresh black truffle gives the studs enough firmness to enter the meat cleanly. If it cannot be had, use good whole preserved black truffles, drain them thoroughly, and accept that their aroma will be gentler. Truffle oil has no place here.
• •Périgueux sauce is not decoration. The reduced poêling liquor must enter it, because that is how the roast and sauce become one preparation rather than two rich things sharing a plate.
• •Pour a mature, structured red with enough freshness for the foie gras and truffle, such as Saint-Émilion or Pomerol. Serve modest glasses; the sauce should remain the loudest voice at the table.

Advance Preparation

• •The Périgueux sauce and the linked elements required for the Poëlings (No. 250) preparation can be made ready a day ahead and chilled separately. Reheat them gently while the stuffed fillet cooks.
• •The fillet may be hollowed, filled, studded, covered with bacon, and tied up to six hours before cooking. Keep it covered in the cold, then let it stand for only fifteen minutes while the oven heats.
• •The tartlet shells can be blind-baked a day ahead and kept airtight. Cook the noodles in cream and sauté the foie gras only while the fillet rests, because both lose their proper texture when held.
• •Leftover fillet keeps for two days in the cold. Reheat thick slices gently under foil with a spoonful of sauce; strong heat dries the farce before the center warms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)