Tournedos Tivoli

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet
• •5-quart (4.7-liter) heavy pot for frying
• •Clip-on deep-fry thermometer
• •Mandoline with hand guard
• •Medium heatproof bowl and saucepan for a bain-marie
• •Broiler-safe tray
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Warm oval serving platter and small sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Set the whole service

   Pat the tournedos completely dry, tie them into neat rounds if the butcher has not done so, and season with half the salt and pepper. Leave them at cool room temperature for 30 minutes. Cut the bread rounds just wider than the beef, stem the mushrooms, halve the tomatoes, and set out a warmed oval platter and sauceboat. Once the beef enters the skillet, your attention belongs to it; every supporting part must already be waiting.

   Warm the platter in a 200°F (95°C) oven, then remove and cover it before switching the oven to broil for the mushrooms.
2. 2

   Clarify and reduce

   Melt 1¼ cups (300 ml / 285 g) of the butter gently without stirring. Skim the white foam, then pour the clear golden butter away from the milky sediment; you should have about 1 cup (240 ml) of clarified butter. Reserve ¼ cup (60 ml) for frying and keep the remaining ¾ cup (180 ml) warm for the Béarnaise. In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, wine, shallot, peppercorns, and tarragon stems. Boil until only 2 tablespoons remain, then strain, pressing the aromatics firmly. This sharp little reduction is the sauce's backbone.

3. 3

   First-fry the potatoes

   Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pot, filling it no more than halfway, and heat it to 315°F (157°C). Pare each potato into a smooth cylinder about 2½ inches (6 cm) wide, then use a guarded mandoline to cut crosswise rounds a scant ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. These are the home equivalent of the original ribbon-cut rounds. Rinse away the loose starch and dry every slice thoroughly between clean towels. Fry in uncrowded batches, moving the slices gently through the oil, until they blister and begin to swell but remain pale, about 3 to 5 minutes. Lift them to a wire rack. If they stay flat, stop: either the oil has cooled or the slices are wet. Blot the remaining rounds, restore the temperature, and test a fresh batch; a slice already crisped flat will not inflate later, but the next batch will.

   Use the mandoline guard. A perfectly round potato is not worth a fingertip.
4. 4

   Mount the Béarnaise

   Set a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, making certain the bowl does not touch it. Whisk the yolks with the strained reduction and 1 tablespoon of the cold water until pale, thick, and able to hold the trace of the whisk. Lift the bowl whenever it grows too hot to hold comfortably. Off the heat, add the warm clarified butter first drop by drop, then in a fine stream, whisking constantly until the Béarnaise is glossy and softly mounded. Fold in the chopped tarragon and chervil, then season with salt. If it becomes too thick, whisk in warm water a teaspoon at a time. If it separates, don't discard it. Ça se rattrape: place a teaspoon of cold water in a clean warm bowl, whisk in one spoonful of the broken sauce until smooth, then rebuild with the remainder little by little. Hold the finished Béarnaise over lukewarm water for no more than 45 minutes.

5. 5

   Fry croûtes and garnish

   Heat 2 tablespoons of the reserved clarified butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Fry the bread rounds until crisp and deep gold on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, then drain them on a rack. Brush the mushroom caps with a little of the remaining whole butter, season, and broil until browned and tender, about 4 minutes, turning once. Melt 2 tablespoons of whole butter in the skillet and add the tomato halves cut-side down. Toss and baste them in the foaming butter for 1 to 2 minutes, just until glossy and warmed through without losing their shape. Set the mushrooms and tomatoes on the warm platter.

6. 6

   Sear the tournedos

   Wipe the skillet clean and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of clarified butter until shimmering. Lay in the tournedos with space between them and sear without nudging until a dark bronze crust forms, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn once, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of whole butter, and baste as the second side browns. For medium-rare, remove the beef at 125°F (52°C); it will rise toward 130°F (54°C) while resting. If the butter darkens before the crust forms, lower the heat slightly and add a teaspoon of fresh butter. Rest the tournedos on a rack for 5 minutes, never on the croûtes, which would drink their juices and soften.

7. 7

   Finish the pommes

   While the beef rests, raise the oil to 375°F (190°C). Return the pale potato rounds in small batches. They should balloon into hollow pommes soufflées within 20 to 40 seconds and turn evenly golden; move them gently so both faces color. Drain on a rack and salt at once. If a puffed slice colors unevenly, turn it for another few seconds rather than lowering the heat, because cooler oil makes it greasy.

8. 8

   Build the crown

   Arrange the four fried croûtes in a crown on the warm platter and set one tournedos on each. Place a grilled mushroom cap on every fillet and lean one butter-tossed tomato half against it. Ring the crown generously with pommes soufflées, using the full proportion of one potato per tournedos. Pour the warm Béarnaise into its sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the dish requires. Serve immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Tenderloin is lean, so even thickness matters more than heroic marbling. Ask for four center-cut pieces from the same section and tie them firmly; they will brown and finish together.
• •Mature floury potatoes such as russets or Bintje contain the starch needed for pommes soufflées. The source allows one whole potato per tournedos because some slices will refuse to puff. Make every usable round; the proportion contains its own insurance.
• •This garnish needs a tomato half that can hold its shape, so preservation is not the answer here. Outside the best tomato season, choose firm small plum tomatoes and let the butter supply what the sun could not; canned tomatoes belong in the saucepot, not on top of the fillet.
• •Fresh tarragon is indispensable to Béarnaise. If chervil cannot be found, use another teaspoon of chopped tarragon and accept that the sauce will be slightly more forceful. Dried tarragon tastes dusty here.
• •Serve a structured Médoc or another Cabernet-led red with enough freshness for the Béarnaise. Pour before the final frying begins, because this plate waits for nobody.

Advance Preparation

• •Make and strain the Béarnaise reduction up to a day ahead, then refrigerate it covered. Clarify the butter at the same time and warm both gently before mounting the sauce.
• •Cut the bread rounds, clean the mushrooms, halve the tomatoes, and tie the tournedos up to 4 hours ahead. Keep everything covered and cold, then season the beef 30 minutes before cooking.
• •The potatoes may receive their first frying up to 1 hour before dinner. Hold the pale blistered slices on a rack at room temperature and complete the second frying only while the beef rests.
• •Do not refrigerate or aggressively reheat finished Béarnaise. Make it within 45 minutes of serving and hold it over lukewarm water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)