Tournedos aux Champignons

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch heavy stainless-steel skillet
• •2-quart saucepan with lid
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Kitchen twine
• •Warm oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Shape and dry beef

   Tie each tournedos around its middle with kitchen twine if it isn't already compact and round. Pat every surface thoroughly dry, then leave the meat at cool room temperature for 20 minutes while you prepare the mushrooms. Do not season yet. Salt sitting briefly on the surface draws out moisture, and wet beef steams where it should brown.

   A tournedos should be thick enough to take a proper crust before its center overcooks. Ask for center-cut tenderloin medallions about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) thick.
2. 2

   Make mushroom cuisson

   Put the sliced mushrooms in a 2-quart saucepan with the water, 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) of the butter, and 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g) of the salt. Cover and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring once, until the mushrooms have softened slightly and released their juices but still hold their shape. Strain them over a bowl without pressing. This liquid is the cuisson de champignons, the mushroom cooking liquor, and it must all be reserved for the pan.

3. 3

   Reduce mushroom sauce

   Pour the stock into the saucepan and boil it steadily until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. It should lightly coat a spoon rather than run from it like water. Return the drained mushrooms and simmer for 2 minutes, making a compact mushroom sauce that can wait while the beef cooks. Cover and hold it off the heat. If the stock remains watery after reducing by half, keep reducing before the mushrooms go back in; a weak stock needs more concentration, not flour or cream.

4. 4

   Butter-fry the tournedos

   Warm an oval serving platter. Season the tournedos on every side with the remaining salt and the pepper. Heat a heavy 12-inch stainless-steel skillet over medium-high heat, then add 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) of the butter. When the foam subsides and the butter smells nutty, lay in the beef with space between the pieces. Cook without disturbing for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, until the undersides wear a dark bronze crust. Turn, add the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter, and baste as the second side cooks for another 2 to 3 minutes. For medium-rare, remove the tournedos at about 125°F (52°C). Arrange them in a crown on the warm platter and rest them loosely covered.

   If the butter turns black before the beef is ready, lift out the meat and wipe the pan carefully. Return it with the reserved fresh butter and continue. Ça se rattrape. Black butter makes a bitter sauce; dark hazelnut butter does not.
5. 5

   Deglaze the fond

   Pour the cooking butter from the skillet into a heatproof bowl, leaving the brown fond attached to the pan. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add all the reserved mushroom cuisson. Let it hiss, then scrape the pan floor with a wooden spoon until every mahogany-colored speck has dissolved. Add the warm mushroom sauce and any juices collected beneath the resting tournedos. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes, exactly as the original method asks, until the sauce is glossy and coats the spoon. If it tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of water. If it remains thin, lift out the mushrooms and reduce the liquid alone, then return them. Do not keep boiling the mushrooms into submission.

6. 6

   Fill the crown

   Remove the twine from the rested tournedos. Taste the sauce, correcting the salt only if needed, then spoon the mushrooms and their sauce into the middle of the crown rather than blanketing the beef. The crust stays visible and crisp at the edges, while each diner can take as much sauce as desired. Serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use plain white button mushrooms, the champignons de Paris of the classical kitchen. Their cooking liquor is delicate but distinct, and the closed caps keep their shape in the finished sauce.
• •Choose an unsalted stock with enough natural gelatin to set softly when cold. The original sauce station had this foundation ready at all times; a good refrigerated or frozen veal stock is the honest home equivalent. If yours is light, reduce it further before judging it.
• •Use stainless steel or seasoned cast iron, not a nonstick pan. You need the beef to leave a proper fond behind, because the fond you build is the dish.
• •Serve with pommes château, a plain potato purée, or buttered green beans. A medium-bodied red Bordeaux has enough structure for the beef without trampling the mushrooms.

Advance Preparation

• •The mushrooms can be cooked and the stock reduced several hours ahead. Refrigerate the mushroom cuisson separately from the mushrooms and reduced stock, then reheat the mushroom sauce gently before searing the beef.
• •The tournedos can be portioned and tied earlier in the day. Keep them uncovered in the refrigerator so their surfaces dry, then set them out for 20 minutes before cooking.
• •Do not cook the beef ahead. The final sear and pan sauce require about 10 minutes, which is precisely why this dish belongs at a dinner party: the preparation waits, the tournedos do not.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)