Filet de Bœuf Régence

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Snug 4-quart lidded casserole
• •Butcher's twine
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Coffee spoon or two small teaspoons
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Broiler-safe tray
• •Long warmed serving platter
• •Warm sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the fillet

   Set the tied fillet in a snug nonreactive dish and pour over the chilled Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168). Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, turning the beef twice so the wine reaches it evenly. Do not leave tenderloin in the marinade overnight; its delicate exterior will soften long before the centre gains anything useful. If it runs an hour long, pat the surface thoroughly dry and continue. The dish is not lost.

2. 2

   Ready the garnish

   While the beef marinates, fold the chopped tongue evenly through the cold ordinary veal forcemeat. With a coffee spoon dipped in cold water, shape 12 neat quenelles and arrange them on a cold tray; cover and refrigerate. Trim the mushroom heads cleanly. Shape the truffles like large olives with a small knife, reserving every trimming for the sauce. Drain the cocks' combs and keep each garnish separate. This order is not fussiness. The garnish must be waiting for the beef, never the reverse.

3. 3

   Bard the fillet

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Lift the beef from the marinade and reserve every drop of liquid. Pat the fillet lightly, then season it with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon white pepper. Cover the meat evenly with the cooled Matignon (No. 227). Lay the bacon slices in an overlapping rectangle, set the covered fillet across them, and wrap the bacon closely around the meat; secure it with butcher's twine. Set the parcel in a narrow lidded casserole and pour the reserved Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) around it, taking care not to wash away the Matignon.

4. 4

   Braise it gently

   Cover the casserole and bring the liquid just to a tremble over medium heat, then transfer it to the oven. Braise for 30 to 45 minutes, turning the parcel once, until the centre reaches 118 to 122°F (48 to 50°C) for a medium-rare finish after glazing and resting. Use the thermometer, not the clock; tenderloin has very little connective tissue and a hard simmer only tightens it. If it has already passed 130°F (54°C), remove it immediately and skip the broiler later. Brush it with boiling glaze instead. Ça se rattrape.

   For medium beef, take the fillet from the braise at about 135°F (57°C) and use only the briefest glaze. The sauce can wait over gentle heat. The beef cannot.
5. 5

   Strip and strain

   Lift the beef to a broiler-safe tray. Snip away the twine, peel off the bacon, and scrape the Matignon (No. 227) into the casserole. Tent the fillet loosely while you work. Pour the braising liquor through a fine sieve into a wide saucepan, pressing firmly on the vegetables to recover their juices, then discard the solids. Let the liquid stand for a minute and spoon away every visible pool of fat. The bacon and aromatic covering have done their work; leaving them on now would prevent the clean glaze the dish requires.

6. 6

   Reduce the sauce

   Boil the strained liquor from the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) until reduced to about ¾ cup (180 ml), skimming as needed. Add the demi-glace and the reserved truffle trimmings, then simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon in a glossy, wine-dark layer. Taste before adding salt. Reserve ⅓ cup (80 ml) for glazing, then take the remaining sauce off the heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons of cold butter. If the butter floats instead of disappearing, the pan is too hot; whisk in a spoonful of cold water away from the heat. Ça se rattrape. If the reduction is too strong or salty, loosen it with hot water rather than reducing it further.

7. 7

   Poach the garnishes

   Bring 4 cups (960 ml) of the water and ½ teaspoon salt to the barest tremble. Slip in the tongue quenelles and poach for 5 to 7 minutes, without boiling, until they feel lightly springy and reach 160°F (71°C) at the centre. Drain them carefully and keep them plain. If the first quenelle frays, lower the heat and chill the remaining mixture for 10 minutes before continuing. In a second pan, make a cuisson à blanc, a covered white cooking, with the mushroom heads, 1 tablespoon butter, the remaining ½ cup (120 ml) water, the lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, just until tender and still very white. Warm the cocks' combs and truffle olives separately in spoonfuls of sauce so each garnish keeps its shape and identity.

8. 8

   Toss the foie gras

   Keep the foie gras cold until the last moment. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a wide pan until the foam subsides, then add the collops in one uncrowded layer. Toss them gently for 30 to 45 seconds per side, just until their surfaces take a little gold and the centres soften. Season lightly and lift them out at once. If they begin shedding fat before they colour, the pan was not hot enough; remove them, cool the pan, and begin again over brisker heat with the remaining pieces.

9. 9

   Glaze the fillet

   Heat the broiler, the home kitchen's honest equivalent of the salamander. Brush the fillet with a thin coat of the reserved reduced sauce and place it close to the heat for 20 to 30 seconds, only until the glaze sets and darkens. Brush and repeat once or twice to build a bronzed lacquer, watching without interruption because the sweetened wine marinade can catch quickly. If the beef reached its final temperature during the braise, do not broil it. Paint it twice with boiling glaze and let each coat set in the open air.

10. 10

    Build the Régence

    Set the whole glazed fillet on a warm long platter. Arrange the tongue quenelles, foie gras collops, cocks' combs, mushroom heads, and truffle olives around it in distinct heaps, never scattered together. Leave the quenelles plain and spoon only a light veil of sauce over the other garnishes. Pour the remaining sauce into a warm sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the composition requires. Carve the fillet at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a thick, even centre-cut tenderloin and ask the butcher to tie it. The narrow tail cooks too quickly for this treatment; an even cylinder lets the wine, barding, glaze, and thermometer work together.
• •Use a genuinely dry Rhine wine in the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168), such as a dry Riesling. Residual sweetness becomes heavy once the braising liquor and demi-glace reduce.
• •Prepared cocks' combs are the honest home equivalent to cleaning and blanching them yourself. Order cooked white cocks' combs from a specialist poultry butcher or French provisions supplier; their delicate gelatinous bite is part of the Régence garnish, not decoration.
• •Outside truffle season, good whole preserved black truffles are the classical pantry's answer. Shape them as the source requires and put the trimmings into the sauce. Truffle oil supplies perfume without the truffle and does not belong here.
• •Commercial demi-glace varies wildly in salt. Reconstitute a concentrate according to its directions before measuring, choose an unsalted preparation when possible, and taste before the final reduction.
• •Serve a mature red Burgundy or a restrained Bordeaux. The marinade may be white, but the reduced demi-glace, foie gras, and truffles ask for a red wine with depth and composure.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168), Matignon (No. 227), and demi-glace up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate them separately. The marinade and Matignon must be fully cold before they touch the beef.
• •The tongue quenelles may be shaped up to 6 hours ahead, covered, and kept cold. Trim the mushrooms, shape the truffles, and drain the cocks' combs at the same time.
• •Marinate the fillet only 2 to 3 hours before cooking. Tenderloin does not benefit from an overnight bath, and the source's short timing is one of the parts that must stay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 620g)