Filet de Bœuf Petit Duc

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy lidded ovenproof pan fitted closely to the beef fillet
• •Slender metal skewer and clean wooden chopstick for larding
• •2 3/4-inch (7 cm) and 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) round pastry cutters
• •Rimmed baking sheet with wire cooling rack
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Two small saucepans and a small sauté pan
• •Pastry brush
• •Long warmed serving platter and warmed sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Bake the patties

   Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Roll the cold puff pastry to about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, then cut sixteen 2 3/4-inch (7 cm) rounds. Set eight rounds on a parchment-lined tray. Cut 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) centers from the other eight to make rings, keeping the centers as lids. Mix the egg with its water, brush the bases lightly, and set a ring over each one. Brush only the tops, never the cut edges, where egg would glue the layers shut. Chill for 10 minutes, then bake the cases and lids for 18 to 22 minutes, until deeply golden and crisp. If a center balloons into the cavity, press it down gently with a spoon while hot. Ça se rattrape. Cool the empty cases on a rack.

   If the pastry grows soft while you cut it, stop and chill it. Cold layers rise cleanly; warm butter leaks before the flour can build the case.
2. 2

   Lard the fillet

   Keep the fatback batons very cold. From each end of the fillet, push a slender metal skewer lengthwise through the meat to make six evenly spaced channels, widening each carefully with a clean wooden chopstick. Feed a fatback baton into every channel. If a long baton tears, insert two shorter pieces from opposite ends; the purpose is an even thread of fat, not a feat of needlework. Tie the fillet at 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) intervals, then season it with about half the salt and all the black pepper. The skewer is the honest home equivalent of a larding needle, but the larding itself stays because tenderloin has almost no internal fat.

3. 3

   Poële the fillet

   Place the larded fillet into the ready Poëlings (No. 250) preparation and carry that preparation through its final coloring stage exactly as its own method directs. Begin checking the center after 22 minutes. Remove the meat at 118 to 122°F (48 to 50°C) for a medium-rare finish of about 126 to 129°F (52 to 54°C), or at 125°F (52°C) for medium. If the center is ready while the exterior remains pale, take the fillet out; the glaze will supply its final lacquer, and overcooked tenderloin cannot be called back.

4. 4

   Butter the artichokes

   While the fillet cooks, melt the artichoke butter in a small sauté pan. Set the bottoms in concave-side up, add the measured water and a pinch of the remaining salt, then cover and warm gently for 5 to 8 minutes. Uncover and let the water evaporate, turning the bottoms through the butter until they gleam and a knife enters without resistance. Hold them warm, but do not add the truffle yet. Hard heat toughens the edges and spends the truffle's perfume before the platter reaches the table.

5. 5

   Bind the asparagus

   Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and season it with most of the remaining salt. Blanch the asparagus tips for 2 to 3 minutes, until vivid green and just tender, then cool them promptly in cold water and dry them well. Melt the cream-sauce butter in a second saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook this pale roux for 1 minute without coloring. Whisk in the milk gradually and simmer for 3 minutes, then add the cream and white pepper. Reduce gently until the sauce naps the back of a spoon. If it lumps, take it off the heat and whisk firmly; if it tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of milk. Ça se rattrape. Keep the sauce and asparagus separate until service so the tips stay green and the pastry stays crisp.

6. 6

   Glaze the fillet

   Transfer the cooked fillet to a rack and let it rest for 8 minutes. Warm 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the light meat glaze in the smallest saucepan until it is glossy and lightly tacky, then brush a thin coat over the beef. Wait a minute and brush on a second coat, giving the surface time to set instead of flooding it. If the glaze runs straight off, reduce it briefly and try again; if it becomes sticky rather than supple, loosen it with a few drops of water. Rest the glazed fillet for another 5 to 7 minutes.

7. 7

   Mount the meat glaze

   Warm the remaining 5/8 cup (150 ml) light meat glaze over gentle heat. Take it completely off the burner and whisk in the 4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (60 g) cold butter in four additions, letting each melt into the glaze before adding the next. This keeps the source proportion of butter to glaze exactly at home scale. Do not boil it once mounted. If the sauce separates into greasy beads, whisk a teaspoon of cold water in a clean warm pan, then add the broken sauce back a spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape. Taste for salt and pour it into a warmed sauceboat.

8. 8

   Fill and arrange

   Return the empty pastry cases and lids to the 400°F (200°C) oven for 3 to 4 minutes. Rewarm the artichoke bottoms gently and lay overlapping truffle slices inside each one. Bring the cream sauce just to a simmer, fold in the asparagus tips, and spoon them immediately into the crisp pastry cases, setting the lids slightly ajar. Place the whole glazed fillet down the center of a warmed long platter and alternate the eight patties with the four truffled artichoke bottoms around it. Send the buttered meat glaze separately and carve the fillet at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for the even center section of the tenderloin, not the thin tail or the bulky head. An evenly shaped roast cooks at one speed and gives four handsome portions without sacrificing half the meat to trimming.
• •Use only fully cured, ready-to-eat salt fatback for larding a fillet that will remain rosy inside. Raw pork fat is not the home equivalent here. Chill it hard enough to hold its shape as it passes through the meat.
• •Frozen artichoke bottoms are the honest preserved choice when good fresh globes are absent. If canned bottoms are all you can find, rinse and dry them, then warm them for only 2 or 3 minutes so they do not collapse.
• •Fresh black truffle is splendid when the season offers it, but a good preserved whole truffle is preferable to a tired fresh one. Slice it thinly and add it at the end. Truffle oil does not reproduce the texture or aroma the garnish requires.
• •The buttered glaze keeps the source ratio: 60 g butter to 150 ml light meat glaze. Taste the glaze before mounting it because reduction concentrates salt. We don't apologize for butter; here it softens the glaze, gives it shine, and turns a concentrated stock preparation into a sauce.
• •Pour a red Bordeaux with moderate tannin, especially one from the Médoc or Graves. Tenderloin is delicate, while truffle and meat glaze want a wine with earth and structure rather than sheer weight.
• •Store leftovers as separate components for up to two days. Reheat the beef gently, re-crisp the empty pastry, and warm the buttered glaze over very low heat with a teaspoon of water if it has set.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the empty puff patties up to one day ahead. Cool them completely and keep them airtight at room temperature, then re-crisp them just before filling.
• •Blanch and dry the asparagus up to 6 hours ahead. Make the cream sauce base at the same time, press parchment directly against its surface, and chill the two separately.
• •Prepare the Poëlings (No. 250) component and lard and tie the fillet up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the beef covered in the refrigerator, then take it out 30 to 45 minutes before cooking.
• •The artichoke bottoms can be buttered earlier in the day and reheated gently. Slice and add the truffle only at service.
• •Have the light meat glaze measured before the fillet enters the oven, but mount it with the cold butter only at the end. A finished butter emulsion waits poorly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)