Tournedos Alsacienne

Tournedos Alsacienne (grilled beef medallions on tartlets of braised sauerkraut and ham) teaches order. The garnish must be hot, dry, and ready before the beef meets the grill, because lean fillet cooks in minutes and forgives no waiting. The tournedos goes to the garnish, never the garnish to the tournedos.

The original entry assumed prepared tartlet crusts, braised choucroute waiting, and a grill cook able to send every medallion together. Around that plate stood the usual brigade scaffolding, a saucier on staff, a stockpot never off the fire, and a salamander ready for finishing, yet this entry calls for neither sauce, stock, nor gratin. At home, four small tartlet pans, one saucepan, a low oven, and a fiercely heated cast-iron grill pan do the work honestly. The quantities are reduced to four servings, and the work is sequenced for one pair of hands. The oven replaces the holding station; no sauce is invented simply because the brigade had a saucier.

That staging is scaffolding and may change. The construction must not: crisp tartlet, well-drained choucroute, an even roundel of lean ham, and tournedos set on top. Have every tartlet hot and ready, then grill the lean fillet fiercely and quickly. That final timing decides the dish.