Tournedos Mirabeau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •30 cm cast-iron grill pan or heavy skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Small mortar and pestle or sturdy fork
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small saucepan and warmed sauceboat
• •Kitchen twine and tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Make anchovy butter

   Pound the 8 anchovy fillets to a perfectly smooth paste with a mortar and pestle or the back of a sturdy fork. Work in the softened unsalted butter a little at a time until no streaks remain, then press the mixture through a fine sieve if you feel any fibers or bones. You should have about 5 tablespoons (75 ml / 76 g), exactly ⅔ ounce (19 g) for each tournedos. Keep it soft but not melted.

   The butter must taste distinctly of anchovy because it is served apart, not spread thinly through a sauce. Unsalted butter gives you control; the fish supplies all the salt it needs.
2. 2

   Ready the garnish

   Take the tarragon leaves already finished under Blanchings (No. 273) and dry them carefully so they will sit neatly on the meat. Split the 16 garnish anchovies lengthwise to make 32 fine strips, eight for each tournedos, and blot away excess oil. Set out the four olives as well. This mise en place must be complete before the beef cooks because tenderloin will not wait while you search for an olive.

3. 3

   Heat the grill pan

   Tie each tournedos around its middle with kitchen twine so it keeps a compact, even shape. Heat a cast-iron grill pan or heavy skillet over high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until fiercely hot. Pat the beef completely dry, season it evenly with the measured salt and pepper, and brush both faces lightly with clarified butter. Clarified butter is still real butter, but without milk solids to scorch before the thick steaks are cooked.

4. 4

   Grill the tournedos

   Lay the tournedos in the hot pan with space between them and leave them untouched for about 3 minutes, until the first face is deeply bronzed. Turn once and cook the second face for 2 to 3 minutes, then briefly color the edges with tongs. Begin checking early and pull the steaks at 125°F (52°C) for medium-rare; they should finish near 130°F (54°C) as they rest. If the pan loses heat and the beef begins turning gray, lift the steaks onto a rack, heat the empty pan hard again, then return them for 20 seconds per face before they reach their target temperature. Ça se rattrape. Once tenderloin is overcooked, however, no sauce can put its moisture back.

   Do not crowd the pan or keep turning the steaks. Fierce heat, dry beef, one clean turn. The cooking is brief because tenderloin is lean, and that brevity is the dish's discipline.
5. 5

   Rest and dress

   Rest the tournedos uncovered for 4 to 5 minutes, then remove the twine. Lay eight fine anchovy strips over each steak, four in one direction and four crossing them to form the prescribed lattice. Arrange the tarragon leaves around the edge as a green crown and set one large pitted olive at the center. Keep the arrangement generous and legible; these are the Mirabeau garnish, not decoration added at whim.

6. 6

   Half-melt the butter

   While the steaks rest, warm the anchovy butter in a small saucepan over the lowest heat, stirring until roughly half is liquid and the rest remains soft and creamy. It should look streaked, golden, and spoonable rather than like clear oil. If it melts completely, take it off the heat and whisk the saucepan over a bowl of cold water until the butter clouds and begins to thicken again. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Serve at once

   Set each dressed tournedos on a warm plate and pour the half-melted anchovy butter into a small warmed sauceboat, keeping it apart exactly as the dish requires. Allow each diner about 1¼ tablespoons (19 ml / 19 g). Do not pour it over the lattice before serving; the cook presents the garnish intact, and the diner adds the butter. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask for center-cut tenderloin steaks of equal thickness. Their weight matters less than their uniform shape because four uneven tournedos become four different degrees of doneness in the same pan.
• •Oil-packed anchovies are the honest home equivalent for fillets once kept ready in the cold larder. Choose plump fillets, drain them well, and blot rather than rinse; the anchovy must still announce itself against the beef.
• •The source is exact about the garnish: eight fine strips on every tournedos, crossed as a lattice, tarragon at the edge, one olive in the middle. Parsley, capers, garlic, and pan sauce belong elsewhere.
• •Serve pommes château, small potatoes browned in butter, or plain green beans alongside, but keep them off the tournedos so the Mirabeau arrangement remains clear.
• •Pour a fresh, medium-bodied red such as Chinon or a restrained Bordeaux. A heavily oaked, aggressively tannic bottle quarrels with the anchovy; this dish wants structure without shouting.

Advance Preparation

• •The anchovy butter can be made up to 3 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Let it soften before gently half-melting it for service.
• •The anchovy strips and tarragon finished under Blanchings (No. 273) can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered separately in the refrigerator, then dry them again before dressing the beef.
• •Tie the tournedos earlier in the day and refrigerate them uncovered on a rack. Bring them out 20 to 30 minutes before cooking, but season only when the pan is hot.
• •The finished dish cannot be held or reheated without sacrificing the tenderloin. Prepare every component ahead, then grill and serve at the last moment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 175g)