Tournedos Villeneuve

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) heavy skillet for the tournedos
• •Deep 10-inch (25 cm) skillet or saucepan for frying
• •Deep-fry or instant-read thermometer
• •3½-inch (9 cm) and 1⅜-inch (3.5 cm) round cutters
• •½-inch (1.25 cm) garnish cutter
• •Small sharp paring knife
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Warmed oval serving platter and sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Make chicken salpicon

   Melt the croquette butter over medium-low heat, stir in the roux flour, and cook for 2 minutes without letting it color. This is a roux blond, a pale cooked mixture of flour and butter. Add the milk gradually, whisking smooth after each addition, then add the cream. Cook until the sauce becomes a very thick paste that pulls cleanly from the pan. Fold in the chicken, white pepper, nutmeg, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Remove from the heat, beat in the yolk, then return the pan to its gentlest heat for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Spread the salpicon de volaille, finely cut chicken bound in thick sauce, ½ inch (1.25 cm) deep on a lined tray and chill for 45 minutes.

   The salpicon must hold a sharp furrow when you drag the spoon through it. If the chilled mixture still slumps, ça se rattrape: fold in 2 tablespoons of the measured breadcrumbs and chill it for another 15 minutes.
2. 2

   Shape the quoits

   Cut four rounds from the firm salpicon with a 3½-inch (9 cm) cutter, then remove each center with a 1⅜-inch (3.5 cm) cutter to make little quoit-shaped rings. Patch any cracks with cold salpicon. Coat each ring first in the coating flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs gently onto every edge. Chill the breaded rings for at least 20 minutes so they keep their shape in the oil.

3. 3

   Cut the crown garnish

   Using a ½-inch (1.25 cm) cutter, cut 12 neat roundels from the tongue and 12 from the truffle. Keep them covered separately. Flute each mushroom by drawing the tip of a small knife in shallow curved grooves from the center of the cap toward its edge, turning the mushroom between cuts. Put the mushrooms in a small pan with the mushroom butter, the ¼ cup water, and a pinch of the measured salt. Cover and cook gently for 4 minutes, then uncover and roll them through the reducing butter until tender and glossy. Lift them out and keep them warm. Warm the tongue roundels briefly in the remaining butter off the heat; touch the truffle roundels to the warm pan only long enough to release their aroma.

4. 4

   Ready sauce and platter

   Heat the oven to 225°F (110°C) and warm the serving platter. Warm the prepared Châteaubriand sauce in its own small saucepan at a bare tremble, then cover and keep it beside the heat. Do not boil it. If the butter begins to bead on the surface, take the pan off the heat and whisk in cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until the sauce returns to a single gloss. Ça se rattrape. At this point the croquettes, crowns, mushrooms, sauce, and platter must all be ready; only then should the beef meet the pan.

5. 5

   Fry croquettes last

   Heat the frying oil in a deep skillet to 350°F (175°C). Lower in two croquette rings at a time and fry until evenly deep gold, about 2 to 3 minutes, turning once and allowing the oil to recover between batches. Their centers should be thoroughly hot, at least 165°F (74°C). Drain on a rack, not paper, and hold them on the warm platter in the low oven for no longer than 10 minutes. If a breaded seam begins to open, leave the ring undisturbed until that side sets; if it ruptures, lift it out, press the opening with breadcrumbs, let the oil return to temperature, and refry briefly.

6. 6

   Sear tournedos in butter

   Pat the tournedos completely dry and season them with the remaining salt and the black pepper. Heat a heavy skillet until properly hot, add half the searing butter, and set in the beef when the foam subsides. Sear without moving for 2½ to 3 minutes, turn, add the remaining butter, and cook the second side for another 2½ to 3 minutes while spooning the foaming butter over the meat. Brown the edges for about 30 seconds each. Pull the tournedos at 122°F (50°C) for rare or 126°F (52°C) for medium-rare; they will rise as they rest. If the butter turns black before the crust is bronze, move the steaks to a plate, wipe the skillet carefully, add fresh butter, and continue. Burnt milk solids cannot be wished into a good fond.

7. 7

   Rest and crown

   Rest the tournedos for 5 minutes. Arrange the four hot chicken croquette rings in a circle on the warm platter and set one tournedos squarely on each. Brush the tops lightly with the butter left from the mushrooms. On each tournedos, make a crown of six overlapping roundels, three tongue and three truffle laid alternately, then place one fluted mushroom upright in the center. Work quickly and use warm fingers only where necessary; the geometry should be neat, but this remains food for the table.

8. 8

   Serve sauce apart

   Pour the hot Châteaubriand sauce into a warmed sauceboat and send it separately, exactly as the dish requires. Do not flood the croquettes on the platter, because their crisp shell is part of the composition; each diner spoons sauce beside the tournedos after serving. Bring the platter immediately. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for four tournedos cut to the same thickness and weight. Equal steaks finish together, which matters when the garnish is already waiting and the croquettes have only a short crisp life.
• •A whole preserved black truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer when fresh black truffle isn't in season. Drain and dry it well before slicing. Truffle oil cannot make the alternating roundels the source requires, and its perfume is no substitute for the truffle itself.
• •Buy cooked, peeled tongue from a good butcher or delicatessen and slice it cold for clean roundels. The trimmings and the holes left by the cutter belong in an omelette, a salad, or tomorrow's sandwich.
• •Châteaubriand sauce is a finished preparation here, not a generic spoonful of brown gravy. Make it from its own recipe and keep it whole, then warm it gently at service.
• •Serve a structured red with enough freshness for the sauce and truffle, such as a good Médoc or another Cabernet-led wine. The plate is rich and precise, so the wine should have backbone rather than sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Châteaubriand sauce from its own recipe up to 2 days ahead. Chill it promptly, then reheat it slowly while the croquettes are frying.
• •The chicken salpicon can be made, shaped, breaded, and refrigerated a day ahead. Keep the rings in a single layer and uncovered for the first hour so the coating firms, then cover them lightly.
• •Cut the tongue and truffle roundels earlier on the day of service and keep them covered separately in the refrigerator. Flute the mushrooms at the same time, but cook them shortly before the beef.
• •Do not assemble the tournedos in advance. The croquette softens beneath the meat, the truffle loses perfume, and the beef continues cooking while it waits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)