Filet de Bœuf Montmorency

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Slim boning knife or butcher's larding needle
• •Butcher's twine
• •Heavy covered ovenproof vessel sized closely to the fillet
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Pastry brush
• •Long warmed serving platter
• •Sauceboat

Instructions

1. 1

   Lard and tie

   Chill the back-fat batons until firm enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Season the beef with the salt and pepper. Working from both cut ends with a slim boning knife held parallel to the board, make four narrow lengthwise pockets through the fillet and slide a fat baton into each. If a baton buckles, chill it again rather than widening the pocket; if one emerges through the side, trim it flush and begin another channel nearby. Tie the fillet at 1½-inch (4 cm) intervals so it cooks as one even cylinder.

   A butcher can lard and tie the fillet for you. Ask for unsmoked back fat, not bacon or salt pork; smoke and cure would crowd the cherries and Madeira.
2. 2

   Reduce the Madeira

   Combine the Madeira and brown stock in a small heavy saucepan. Bring them to a lively simmer, then reduce steadily until 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (225 ml) remains, about 25 minutes. The bubbles will become slower and the liquid will lightly coat a spoon, but it should not yet resemble syrup. Keep this base warm over the lowest heat. The original kitchen reached for finished Madeira sauce; this small reduction is its honest home equivalent, made while the fillet cooks.

   Pour the reduction into a measuring jug when it looks close, then return it to the saucepan if necessary. A mark guessed against a wide pan is rarely the mark you think it is.
3. 3

   Poële the fillet

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Set the larded fillet into the prepared Poëlings (No. 250) and follow that preparation as written, using a covered heavy vessel just large enough to hold the meat. Add no liquid while the beef cooks. This is poëling, butter-rich roasting over its aromatic foundation, not braising; moisture added now would wash away the distinction. Begin checking after 25 minutes and uncover as directed so the surface colors, removing the fillet at 118 to 120°F (48 to 49°C) for a rosy medium-rare after glazing and resting, usually 30 to 40 minutes. If the vegetables threaten to scorch before the beef is ready, lower the oven by 25°F (15°C) and baste with the butter already in the vessel, never stock.

4. 4

   Recover the liquor

   Transfer the fillet to a rack and rest it loosely covered. Complete the prepared Poëlings (No. 250) through its finished poëling liquor exactly as directed in its own entry. Do not discard that liquor or substitute plain stock now; it contains the joined savor of beef, butter, and the poëling aromatics. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml) for glazing, then measure ¼ cup (60 ml) into the Madeira reduction. The sauce base now measures about ½ imperial pint (285 ml), the exact half-scale needed for the book's proportions.

5. 5

   Prepare the cherries

   While the beef rests, cover the cherries with the tepid water for 7 to 8 minutes, precisely as the source directs. Drain them thoroughly just before they enter the sauce. Grate the fresh horseradish finely, then chop it once more with a knife so it disperses without fibrous strands. Don't soak the cherries early; they should plump and soften at their edges, not collapse.

6. 6

   Glaze under broiler

   Preheat the broiler fully. Boil the reserved tablespoon of poëling liquor in the smallest saucepan until it becomes glossy and lightly syrupy, then brush it over the fillet. Set the meat about 4 inches (10 cm) beneath the broiler for 30 to 60 seconds, rotating once, until the surface takes a dark bronze lacquer. This is the home salamander. Watch without looking away. If the glaze begins to catch, remove the meat immediately; a second brush of warm liquor restores the sheen, and no guest needs to hear the story.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Bring the Madeira reduction and poëling liquor to a bare simmer. Whisk in the red-currant jelly until no streaks remain, then add the drained cherries and finely grated horseradish. Warm them gently for 1 to 2 minutes without a hard boil, which would split the cherries and drive away the horseradish's clean bite. The sauce is ready when it naps the back of a spoon in a glossy layer. If it remains thin, lift out the cherries and reduce the liquid alone; if it tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of unsalted stock. Return the cherries once the texture is right. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Carve and serve

   Let the glazed fillet settle until it has rested for 12 to 15 minutes in total, then remove the strings and cut it crosswise into thick slices. Arrange the slices on a warmed long platter, overlapping them only enough to show their rosy centers and lacquered rims. Taste the sauce for salt, then send it to the table separately in a warmed sauceboat, cherries distributed through it. Each guest spoons it over the beef at the table, just as the entry intends. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use sweetened dried tart cherries, preferably Montmorency, as the practical equivalent of the moderately sweetened preserved cherries in the source. Bright cocktail cherries are too sugary and carry the wrong flavor entirely.
• •Fresh horseradish is not negotiable here. Prepared creamed horseradish brings vinegar, dairy, and stabilizers the sauce never asked for; grate the root at the last moment, then chop it finer as the book directs.
• •Choose stock that sets softly when chilled. That gelatin is what lets reduction create a gleaming sauce without flour or starch. If your stock pours like water from the refrigerator, reduce it separately before measuring.
• •The proportion is deliberate: 15 cherries, 1½ tablespoons red-currant jelly, and 1 tablespoon horseradish for ½ imperial pint of sauce. More fruit makes compote, more jelly makes glaze, and either one buries the beef.
• •Pour a mature red Bordeaux or another structured, dry Cabernet-led wine. The sauce already supplies sweetness, so the glass should bring freshness and tannin, not more fruit sugar.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef may be larded, tied, and seasoned up to 1 day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then let it stand out for 35 to 45 minutes before poëling so the chill leaves its surface.
• •The Madeira and stock can be reduced to 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (225 ml) up to 2 days ahead. Chill it covered and reheat gently while the beef cooks.
• •Count the cherries and measure the jelly in advance, but soak the cherries and grate the horseradish only while the beef rests. Early soaking makes the fruit soft, and grated horseradish loses its authority as it waits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)