Filet de Bœuf au Madère et aux Champignons

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3 to 4 quart heavy lidded casserole sized closely to the fillet
• •Narrow boning knife and smooth 1/4-inch metal skewer, the home equivalent of a larding needle
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •1 quart heavy saucier
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Fine-mesh sieve and shallow measuring jug
• •Oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Lard and tie

   Chill the fatback batons until quite firm, about 15 minutes. Dry the beef, then use a smooth metal skewer to open six evenly spaced channels lengthwise through the roast, always working on the board and away from your hand. Follow each channel carefully with the tip of a narrow knife, then push a fatback baton through and trim it flush. If a baton softens or tears, don't widen the hole. Rechill it and feed shorter pieces from opposite ends. Season the beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) salt and all the pepper, then tie it at 1-inch (2.5 cm) intervals into an even cylinder.

2. 2

   Poêle the fillet

   Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Carry out Poëlings (No. 250) exactly as its own formula directs, using a heavy covered vessel that holds this fillet snugly. Its butter-rich aromatic bed, frequent basting, and final uncovered coloring remain intact; most critically, add no liquid while the beef itself cooks. Begin checking the center after 20 minutes. Uncover near 125°F (52°C), then baste and color until the center reaches 137 to 140°F (58 to 60°C). A larger brigade fillet had time to bronze before its center was done; this smaller one may not. If the meat reaches temperature while still rather pale, stop cooking. The final glaze supplies the color without drying the beef.

   Because fatback has been inserted into the roast, let carryover cooking bring the center to at least 145°F (63°C), then hold it there for a three-minute rest. If it falls short, return the roast to a 300°F (150°C) oven for a few minutes before glazing.
3. 3

   Reduce the Madeira

   While the fillet cooks, pour the Madeira into a small heavy saucier and boil steadily until reduced to 1/4 cup (60 ml / about 62 g). The harsh alcoholic smell should give way to a rounded, nutty aroma. If using ordinary stock, bloom the gelatin in 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) of the measured cold stock for five minutes. Add it with the remaining stock, then simmer until the sauce base measures about 3/4 cup (180 ml / 180 g). Do not salt it yet. Reduction multiplies salt as efficiently as flavor.

4. 4

   Turn the mushrooms

   Trim each mushroom stem flush with its cap. With a small paring knife, turn the caps into neat rounded shapes, then cut shallow curved grooves from crown to rim. They needn't resemble military buttons, but they should be even enough to make a proper ring around the beef. Put them in a small sauté pan with the butter, water, lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) salt. Cover and simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until tender. Uncover and roll them through the pan until the water has nearly disappeared and the butter leaves them pale and glossy. Hold them warm.

5. 5

   Clarify the liquor

   Transfer the cooked fillet to a rack and cover it loosely while it rests for 15 minutes. Finish the cooking liquor from Poëlings (No. 250) as that formula directs, allowing its stock the full ten-minute contact with the aromatic butter before straining. Measure 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g), let it settle briefly, and skim off every visible trace of fat. Return it to a clean pan and reduce it to 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g). If the liquor looks emulsified and greasy, take it off the heat for two minutes, then skim again with a shallow spoon or touch the surface lightly with the corner of a paper towel. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Add the reduced, completely degreased poëling liquor to the Madeira and stock base. Simmer for 2 to 4 minutes, until the sauce nappes, or coats, the back of a spoon in a glossy film and yields about 1 cup (240 ml / 240 g). Strain it and taste only now for salt. If it runs thin, reduce it a little longer. If it tightens too far, loosen it a tablespoon at a time with unsalted stock. If grease reappears, let the sauce settle off the heat and skim once more. Do not mount it with extra butter; this particular finish should carry the aroma of the poëling without carrying its grease.

7. 7

   Glaze and dish

   Warm an oval serving platter and a sauceboat. Set the whole fillet on the platter, brush it with a thin coat of the hot Madeira sauce, wait 30 seconds, then brush on a second coat so the surface gleams. Arrange the turned and grooved mushroom caps in a close ring around the beef. Pour the remaining sauce into the sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the dish intends. Carve the fillet crosswise at the table and spoon sauce over each slice. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for the even center section of the beef tenderloin, not its narrowing tail. If the butcher gives you a tapered end, fold it underneath before tying so the roast cooks as one cylinder rather than three different thicknesses.
• •Use Sercial or Verdelho Madeira, dry to medium-dry and fit to drink. Sweet Madeira turns cloying when reduced, while bottled cooking wine contributes salt and very little of the nutty character the sauce needs.
• •The brown veal stock must be unsalted and firm enough to quiver when cold. If yours pours like water from the refrigerator, the optional gelatin restores the collagen body a stockpot once supplied; it changes texture, not flavor.
• •White button mushrooms are correct here because their pale caps show the grooves clearly. Reserve every stem for an omelette, soup, or duxelles. Precision needn't become waste.
• •Pour a Cabernet-led Médoc or Graves alongside. The wine's dark fruit and tannin suit the fillet, while the Madeira sauce brings enough sweetness of its own.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef can be larded, tied, and seasoned up to 8 hours ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then remove it 25 minutes before cooking so the outer chill eases without leaving raw meat out for an extended period.
• •Reduce the Madeira and brown stock base up to 2 days ahead, cool it promptly, and refrigerate it covered. Reheat it gently while the fillet poêles, then finish it only after the fresh cooking liquor is ready.
• •The mushroom caps can be turned and grooved up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Cook them no more than 1 hour before serving, then rewarm gently in their butter without letting them brown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)