Tournedos Lili

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •3-inch (7.5 cm) round cutter
• •Rimmed sheet pan with wire rack
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Large warm oval platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange the service

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Set the beef on a rack at room temperature for twenty minutes, keeping the foie gras cold. Put the truffle slices, artichoke bottoms, butter, sauce, and warm serving pieces within reach. Warm the platter for the final five minutes only if it is oven-safe; otherwise fill it with hot water, then empty and dry it just before assembly. Do the same with the sauceboat. Once the beef enters the pan, there is no useful pause.

2. 2

   Warm the potato rounds

   Set the prepared Pommes de Terre Anna (No. 2203) on a wire rack over a sheet pan and warm them uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, until their edges glisten with butter and their undersides remain crisp. If necessary, stamp them first with a round cutter matching the diameter of the tournedos. Never cover them; trapped moisture softens the crust this dish depends upon.

3. 3

   Butter the artichokes

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the unsalted butter in the heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the dried artichoke bottoms, season them with a small pinch of the measured salt, and turn them gently in the butter for 3 to 4 minutes, until hot through and lightly glazed without browning hard. Transfer them to a warm plate, concave sides up, and keep them warm.

4. 4

   Reduce and mount sauce

   Pour the sauce Périgueux into a small saucepan and bring it to the barest simmer. Reduce it to about ¾ cup (180 ml / about 180 g), until it coats the back of a spoon in a glossy layer. Remove it from the heat. Monter au beurre (mount with butter) by whisking in 2 tablespoons of the cold unsalted butter, a small piece at a time. If shiny fat begins to bead on the surface, the pan is too hot; whisk in 1 teaspoon of cold water off the heat until the sauce closes again. Ça se rattrape. Hold it warm without simmering.

   Butter gives the reduced sauce its final body and gleam, but boiling after the butter goes in splits that emulsion. Warm, not fierce.
5. 5

   Sear the tournedos

   Pat the tournedos completely dry and season them all over with the remaining salt and pepper. Heat the 12-inch (30 cm) skillet over high heat until properly hot, then add 2 tablespoons of clarified butter. When the butter shimmers, set in the tournedos with space between them and fry without moving for about 2½ minutes. Turn and cook the second side for 2 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and baste for 30 seconds. For medium-rare beef, remove it at 122 to 125°F (50 to 52°C); give it another minute for medium. Rest on a rack for 5 minutes. If the butter blackens before the crust forms, lift out the beef, wipe the pan carefully, add the reserved clarified butter, and resume. A scorched pan can be reset; burnt bitterness cannot be reduced away.

   Fillet is lean and tender, so colour must come from the pan rather than long cooking. Dry beef, fierce heat, short contact. That is the grammar.
6. 6

   Toss the foie gras

   While the beef rests, pour away the used fat and wipe the skillet. Let it cool for half a minute, return it to medium-high heat, and add the final tablespoon of unsalted butter. When the foam subsides, add the chilled foie gras roundels and toss them in the butter for 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until their faces take a light bronze sheen and their centers soften. If they begin shedding fat rapidly or losing their shape, lift them out at once; foie gras needs colour, not a long stay in the pan.

7. 7

   Build the crown

   Remove the strings from the tournedos. Arrange the four crisp potato rounds in a loose crown on the warm platter, then set one tournedos squarely on each. Top every tournedos with an artichoke bottom, concave side up, nestle a buttered foie gras roundel inside it, and finish with one truffle slice. Pour the sauce Périgueux into its warm sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the dish requires. Keeping the sauce apart protects the potato crust and lets each guest spoon it at the table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for four center-cut tournedos of the same diameter and thickness, then have them tied. Equal pieces cook together and sit neatly on their potato foundations; uneven tail pieces do neither.
• •Frozen or canned artichoke bottoms packed in water are an honest choice outside their season. Avoid marinated bottoms, whose vinegar and oil fight the foie gras and truffle, and dry them thoroughly before buttering.
• •A good whole preserved black Périgord truffle is preferable to a fresh truffle with no perfume. Truffle oil does not replace it; this garnish needs the quiet aroma and firm slice of the truffle itself.
• •Serve a structured red Bordeaux, such as a Médoc, with enough freshness to meet the foie gras and enough depth for the sauce. Pour modestly at first. This plate is generous.
• •Finished stacks do not keep well because the potato softens beneath the meat. Refrigerate leftover beef and sauce separately, then reheat the sauce gently without boiling.

Advance Preparation

• •The listed one-hour timing begins with the finished components ready. Prepare the Pommes de Terre Anna (No. 2203) earlier that day, stamp out the rounds once the potato cake is firm enough to cut cleanly, and reheat them uncovered at service.
• •The sauce Périgueux may be prepared and chilled a day ahead. Reheat and reduce it gently, but wait to mount it with cold butter until just before serving.
• •The artichoke bottoms can be rinsed, trimmed, and dried several hours ahead. Keep them covered in the cold, then butter them shortly before the beef is seared.
• •Slice the truffle and portion the foie gras ahead, but keep the foie gras thoroughly chilled. Cook both the beef and foie gras only at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)