Filet de Bœuf Moderne

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy lidded oval casserole sized closely to the fillet
• •Food processor with metal blade
• •Narrow paring knife and straight metal skewer
• •4 straight-sided 3-ounce (90 ml) ramekins
• •Small deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Two medium saucepans and one wide sauté pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve and fat separator
• •Long warmed serving platter, at least 16 inches

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the mousseline

   Chill the food-processor bowl and blade for 15 minutes. Pulse the cold chicken with ½ teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper until it becomes smooth and tacky. Add the egg white and pulse just until absorbed. Hold back 2 tablespoons of the cream, then add the remainder in a thin stream while pulsing, stopping as soon as the mousseline is glossy and cohesive. Poach a teaspoon in barely trembling water, taste, and correct the seasoning. Reserve four rounded tablespoons for the quenelles and keep everything cold. If the mixture turns loose or greasy, stop processing. Ça se rattrape: set the bowl over ice for 10 minutes, then pulse briefly while adding the reserved cream a spoonful at a time.

   Cold is the structure here. Warm chicken fat and cream separate under the blade, while a properly chilled mousseline holds a smooth, light emulsion.
2. 2

   Braise the vegetables

   Blanch the shredded cabbage in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, drain it, cool it enough to handle, and squeeze it firmly in a clean towel. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a wide pan, add the cabbage and ½ cup of the stock, season lightly, cover, and braise gently for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until no free moisture remains, then press the cabbage beneath a small plate while it cools. In a second pan, melt 1½ tablespoons of butter, lay in the lettuce halves cut-side down, add the remaining stock, season, cover, and braise gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender but still intact. Hold them in their liquor. Wet cabbage makes the chartreuses slump; if it still glistens with liquid, return it to the pan uncovered and dry it patiently.

3. 3

   Cook the colour

   Bring one saucepan of well-salted water to a boil and cook each vegetable according to its nature. Simmer the carrot and turnip batons separately until just tender, blanch the green beans until vivid and flexible, then cook the peas only until sweet and tender. Cool each promptly in cold water, drain thoroughly, and spread them on towels to dry. Toss the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. They must bend enough to line a mold without becoming soft; if a baton breaks under its own weight, keep it for the center and use a firmer piece on the wall.

4. 4

   Build the chartreuses

   Brush four 3-ounce ramekins generously with the remaining 1½ tablespoons of butter and chill them for 5 minutes. Lay one truffle slice across most of each base. Stand alternating carrot, turnip, and green-bean batons against the walls, pressing peas into the small gaps to make a coloured mosaic. Spread a thin veil of cold mousseline over the vegetables, using the back of a teaspoon and taking care not to disturb the pattern. Pack the centers firmly with the dry braised cabbage, leaving a narrow rim, then seal with another thin layer of mousseline. Cover and refrigerate. If the pattern slides, the vegetables or mold are too warm; chill both for 5 minutes, pat the vegetables dry, and reset them.

5. 5

   Lard the fillet

   Simmer the bacon batons in water for 2 minutes, then drain, dry, and chill them until firm. From one end of the fillet, push a narrow paring knife lengthwise through the meat to form eight evenly spaced channels around the center. Widen each gently with a straight metal skewer, then thread in the four bacon and four tongue batons, alternating them around the fillet. If a baton buckles, chill it again rather than forcing it. Tie the roast at 1½-inch intervals so it keeps an even cylinder, then season it with the remaining salt and white pepper.

6. 6

   Poële the fillet

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Cook the larded fillet according to Poëlings (No. 250), scaled to this piece and using a heavy covered casserole only just large enough to hold it. Follow the referenced covered butter cooking and final uncovered colouring, adding no liquid while the meat itself cooks. Begin checking the center after 22 minutes; a fillet of this size generally needs 28 to 35 minutes. Remove it at 122°F to 125°F (50°C to 52°C) for a medium-rare finish, transfer it to a rack, and tent it loosely for 15 to 20 minutes. If the vegetables beneath begin to darken before the beef is ready, lower the oven to 300°F (150°C) and move the casserole higher, but do not pour in stock. Moistening now changes poëling into a braise.

7. 7

   Cook the chartreuses

   As soon as the beef comes out, raise the oven to 375°F (190°C). Set the ramekins in a small roasting pan and pour boiling water halfway up their sides to make a bain-marie, a hot-water bath that keeps the mousseline gentle. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the filling is just firm and reaches 165°F (74°C). If it has not reached that temperature, give it another 2 minutes; colour is no guide because the mousseline remains pale. Lift the molds from the water, dry their bases, and hold them for unmolding.

8. 8

   Poach the quenelles

   Keep a saucepan of salted water at about 175°F (80°C), with only an occasional tremble at the surface. Shape the reserved mousseline into four round quenelles with damp spoons or lightly wet hands, press a tongue diamond onto each, and lower them into the water. Poach for 7 to 9 minutes, turning once, until firm and cooked through to 165°F (74°C). Lift them onto a buttered plate. If the water begins boiling, add a splash of cold water and lower the heat immediately; hard boiling toughens the outside before the center cooks. Warm the lettuce halves gently in their reserved braising liquor, then drain them well.

9. 9

   Bind and glaze

   Complete the liquor stage of Poëlings (No. 250) while the beef rests. Keep its stock in contact with the butter and aromatic vegetables for the full prescribed 10 minutes before removing the fat, because that contact carries the meat's aroma into the liquor. Strain, degrease thoroughly, and return 1 to 1½ cups to a clean saucepan. Stir the arrowroot into the cold water, then whisk in only enough slurry to give the simmering liquor a light, pouring body. Cook for no more than 30 seconds. If it tightens beyond a thin coating, loosen it with a spoonful of stock; if it forms specks, strain it again. Brush the fillet twice with the liquor, then pass it under the broiler for 20 to 30 seconds, watching without blinking. The aim is a lacquered gloss, not further cooking.

10. 10

    Arrange the showpiece

    Set the glazed fillet whole along the center of a warmed long platter. Run a thin knife around each chartreuse, invert two along either side of the meat, and lift the ramekins straight upward. If one clings, tap the base firmly and let gravity work; never dig through the vegetable pattern. Curve the braised half-lettuces around both ends of the fillet, then place the four tongue-decorated quenelles between the lettuce and chartreuses. Pour the remaining liquor into a warm sauceboat and send it separately. Carve the fillet at the table so every slice shows its alternating threads of bacon and tongue. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask a butcher or charcutier for a small piece of cooked salted beef tongue. Thin deli slices won't make stable larding batons, but they can decorate the quenelles if a whole piece is unavailable.
• •A good preserved black truffle is the honest classical-pantry choice when fresh truffles aren't in season. Drain and dry it carefully; wet slices slide from the buttered mold and blur the mosaic.
• •The hexagonal molds belong to brigade presentation. Small straight-sided ramekins preserve the chartreuse's layered construction, which is the part that matters, and they unmold more reliably at home.
• •Use a thermometer for both beef and mousseline. The fillet is too costly for guesswork, and the pale chicken mixture gives almost no visual sign when its center is cooked.
• •Pour a composed red Bordeaux, such as a Médoc with softened tannins, or a restrained red Burgundy. The fillet is tender and the liquor is light, so a massive wine would flatten the careful garnish.

Advance Preparation

• •Braise and press the cabbage, braise the lettuce, and cook the coloured vegetables up to one day ahead. Refrigerate each separately and bring the cabbage just to cool room temperature before assembling.
• •Make and test the chicken mousseline up to 6 hours ahead, keeping it covered over ice or in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
• •Assemble the chartreuses up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered and thoroughly chilled, then cook them directly from the refrigerator in the bain-marie.
• •Lard and tie the fillet earlier the same day. Refrigerate it uncovered for a dry surface, then take it out about 20 minutes before cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 610g)