Chef Juliette
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Filet de Bœuf Clamart
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1048, Filet de Bœuf Clamart, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Beef fillet roasted rosy, with pea-filled tartlets and crisp potato quoits alternating around the platter, plus a lightly thickened pan gravy served separately: classical order made workable for one careful cook.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
45 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Filet de Bœuf Clamart (roast beef fillet with buttery pea tartlets and crisp potato quoits) teaches orchestration. The one true thing to know before you touch the pan is that the garnish must be ready first: tenderloin has a brief, perfect rosy interval, and it will not wait while you fill tartlets.
The original entry assumed a larder able to lard the fillet, an entremetier tending peas and potatoes, a saucier beside stock never off the fire, and a hot station where a salamander could restore a crust at service. At home, a chilled skewer replaces the larding needle, good prepared stock supplies the gravy, and one oven reheats the finished garnishes while the beef rests. Parallel hands and holding pans are brigade scaffolding and can go. The internal larding, the alternating tartlets and potato quoits, and the lightly thickened gravy served separately are the dish, so they stay.
Done properly, the fillet arrives deeply bronzed and evenly rose within, its platter bright with green peas and butter-gold potatoes, the gravy gleaming in its own boat. One cook, one stove, one evening. Before the beef meets the heat, have every shell, finished garnish, and measure of stock waiting.
Filet de Bœuf Clamart belongs to the Parisian classical table, and its name points southwest of Paris to Clamart, whose market gardens supplied peas prized in the capital. In the canon, à la Clamart signals a green-pea garnish, here held in tartlet shells and alternated with potato quoits around a roast fillet. The name has nothing to do with clams; it preserves a food-growing place in the working language of the grand kitchen.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
center-cut beef tenderloin roast
Quantity
1 roast, 2 lb (900 g)
evenly trimmed
dry-cured unsmoked pork back fat, sold ready to eat
Quantity
3 oz (85 g)
cut into 6 to 8 long batons and chilled firm
fine sea salt
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g)
clarified butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
divided
small baked savory tartlet crusts
Quantity
8
about 2½ inches (6 cm) across
Petits Pois à la Française
Quantity
1½ cups (350 ml / 340 g) Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193)
fully prepared with the cooked lettuce ciseled and folded through
Pommes de Terre Macaire
Quantity
8 small quoits, about 12 oz (340 g) total, Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228)
fully prepared and browned
unsalted beef or veal stock
Quantity
1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 9 g)
softened
all-purpose flour
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 6 g)
water (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| center-cut beef tenderloin roastevenly trimmed | 1 roast, 2 lb (900 g) |
| dry-cured unsmoked pork back fat, sold ready to eatcut into 6 to 8 long batons and chilled firm | 3 oz (85 g) |
| fine sea salt | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) |
| clarified butterdivided | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| small baked savory tartlet crustsabout 2½ inches (6 cm) across | 8 |
| Petits Pois à la Françaisefully prepared with the cooked lettuce ciseled and folded through | 1½ cups (350 ml / 340 g) Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193) |
| Pommes de Terre Macairefully prepared and browned | 8 small quoits, about 12 oz (340 g) total, Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) |
| unsalted beef or veal stock | 1¼ cups (300 ml / 300 g) |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 9 g) |
| all-purpose flour | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 6 g) |
| water (optional) | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Narrow metal skewer or larding needle
- •Slim chopstick
- •Kitchen twine
- •Heavy shallow metal roasting pan
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Long warmed serving platter
- •Sauceboat
Instructions
- 1
Stage the service
Take the beef from the cold 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the center. Have the tartlet crusts on one end of a baking sheet, the finished Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) on the other, and the finished Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193) in a small saucepan. Measure the stock and set out the long platter and sauceboat. This mise en place is not fussiness; the fillet will be ready before a scattered cook is.
The linked pea and potato preparations must be complete before this recipe begins. They are finished components here, exactly as the book intended. - 2
Lard and tie
Make 6 to 8 evenly spaced channels lengthwise through the fillet with a narrow metal skewer, widening each only enough with a slim chopstick to accept one chilled baton of back fat. Push the fat through while it is firm, then tie the roast at 1½-inch (4 cm) intervals so it holds an even cylinder. If a baton softens and buckles, stop and chill it again; if a channel breaks through the side, use two shorter batons inserted from opposite ends. Ça se rattrape. Season the entire surface with the salt and pepper.
Larding puts fat inside this exceptionally lean cut, protecting and seasoning it as it roasts. Barding the outside is easier, but it is not the method this entry calls for. - 3
Roast it rosy
Set the fillet in a shallow metal roasting pan and coat it with 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter. Roast for 10 minutes, until the surface begins to bronze. Reduce the oven to 400°F (200°C), turn the fillet, baste it with the remaining clarified butter and the pan juices, then roast for another 12 to 18 minutes. Pull it at 122°F (50°C) in the center for medium-rare; it should rise to about 128 to 132°F (53 to 56°C) as it rests. If the narrow end colors or cooks too quickly, cover only that end with a small piece of foil.
- 4
Rest and make gravy
Transfer the fillet to a board with a rim, cover it loosely, and rest it for 15 minutes. Lower the oven to 375°F (190°C) and put the Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) in to reheat and regain their crisp surfaces. Pour loose fat from the roasting pan but leave every brown trace of fond. Set the pan over medium heat, add the stock, and scrape until the fond dissolves, then simmer until reduced by about one quarter. Work the softened butter and flour together into a beurre manié, a kneaded butter-and-flour paste, and whisk it into the gravy a small piece at a time. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, stopping when the gravy reaches a light nappe and just coats the back of a spoon. If it lumps, whisk firmly and strain it; if it grows too thick, add stock or water one spoonful at a time. Ça se rattrape. Taste, then send the gravy to a warm sauceboat.
- 5
Warm the garnishes
Turn the Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) after 4 minutes and give them 8 to 10 minutes in all. Add the tartlet crusts to the oven for their final 3 minutes. Meanwhile, warm the Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193) over very low heat, folding gently so the cooked lettuce, ciseled into fine short ribbons, remains evenly distributed. Do not boil the peas. If their butter has tightened in holding, add 1 tablespoon of the water and swirl until they turn glossy again. Fill each warm tartlet only when everything else is ready, or the crusts will soften.
- 6
Build the platter
Remove the strings and set the whole fillet lengthwise on a warm platter. Arrange the eight tartlets of Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193) and the eight quoits of Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) alternately around it, keeping the pattern generous and clear. Carry the fillet whole to the table, carve it into four thick portions there, and pass the lightly thickened gravy separately. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for the center section of the tenderloin, even in thickness from end to end. A tapered tail gives you three degrees of doneness on one roast, which is useful only when three guests are arguing.
- •Use unsmoked, dry-cured back fat specifically sold ready to eat, since the beef is served rosy. If it is difficult to find, ask a trusted butcher to supply and lard the fillet with an appropriate product. Smoked streaky bacon changes the clean flavor of the dish.
- •For Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193), fresh young peas are splendid in season, but frozen petits pois are the honest choice when fresh pods are starchy or tired. The classical pantry has always understood preservation.
- •A mature Médoc or red Graves suits the fillet, peas, and buttered potatoes without bullying them. Serve the gravy generously, but keep it in its sauceboat so the tartlet shells remain crisp.
Advance Preparation
- •Bake the tartlet crusts one day ahead and keep them airtight once completely cool. Refresh them briefly in the oven before filling.
- •Prepare the Petits Pois à la Française (No. 2193) and Pommes de Terre Macaire (No. 2228) according to their own entries earlier the same day. Cool them separately, then reheat only during the fillet's resting time. Their preparation time is separate from the timing given here.
- •The fillet can be larded and tied in the morning. Keep it covered in the cold, then bring it out 30 minutes before roasting and season it just before it enters the oven.
- •Measure the stock and make the beurre manié several hours ahead. Keep the paste covered in the cold, then soften it while the beef roasts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 440g)
Calories
970 calories
Total Fat
61 g
Saturated Fat
28 g
Trans Fat
2 g
Unsaturated Fat
31 g
Cholesterol
220 mg
Sodium
1800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
47 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
58 g
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