Preparation:
Trim the fillet of the side 'chain' and tail end so that you have a neat roll. You may need to remove the shiny sinew as well, or ask the butcher to do this. Wrap the fillet tightly in cling film and chill overnight. This helps keep it round. Chop the trimmings roughly and set aside seperately. Have ready the chicken and veal stocks.
Prepare the creamed parsley:
Pick off the stalks from the parsley and spinach, then wash the leaves thoroughly and drain. Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the parsley and spinach for about 4 minutes, adding the parsley first then the spinach 1 minute later. Drain well, but do not refresh in cold water. To dry the leaves thoroughly, place them in a clean tea towel and wrap tightly, squeezing out all the water. In a small saucepan, boil down the cream until reduced by half. Meanwhile, put the parsley and spinach into a food processor and blend into a puree. Add the reduced cream and seasoning to taste. Set aside.
For the glazed baby onions:
Peel the onions and trim the roots. The peeling can be made easier by blanching the onions first in boiling water for one minute. The skins should then slip off readily. Preheat the oven to 180?C/350?F/gas mark 4. In a heavy based, ovenproof frying pan, heat the butter and oil, add the onions and shake the pan well to coat them. Sprinkle over the salt, add the bay leaf and thyme, then saute the onions over a medium heat until they aquire a pale golden colour. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and cover with a butter paper or a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper. Transfer to the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes?lifting the paper and turning the onions every 5 minutes or so? until the onions are tender in the centre and beginning to caramelise. Remove the bay leaf and thyme. Set aside.
Next make the red wine sauce:
Boil down the bottle of red wine until reduced to about 100ml (31/2fl oz). Meanwhile, in a seperate saucepan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and saute the shallots, the reserved beef trimmings and the peppercorns, thyme and bay leaf, until the shallots are nice and caramelised. Deglaze the pan with the sherry vinegar, stirring until evaporated. Pour in the reduced red wine syrup, all the chicken stock and one third of the veal stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 20 minutes or until reduced by one third, skimming a few times in between with a ladle to remove any scum. Pour through a sieve lined with wet muslin or a clean tea towel at least twice to remove all the particles. Check the seasoning and set aside.
Prepare the Potato Rosti for the garnish, and set aside, uncovered, in a warm place. They will remain crisp:
Clarify 2/3 of the butter. To do this, melt the butter slowly in a small pan, leave to stand off the heat for 2 minutes then carefully pour off the clear fat into a bowl, leaving behind the milky deposits, which can be thrown away. Cool. Using a mandolin or the julienne cutter disc on your food processor, grate the potatoes into long thin julienne strips. Dry the strips by putting them into a clean cloth and squeezing hard. Transfer to a large bowl. Season with salt to taste, then mix in the clarifeid butter. Leave to cool slightly to make the mixture easier to handle. Heat a heavy?based frying pan until hot, then stand one or more plain metal cutters inside it. Press a quarter of the potato mixture down inside each cutter to make a neat round shape. As each potato rosti cooks, slide a little knob of the remaining butter down the side. When the underside is golden brown, about 2 minutes, remove the metal cutter and flip over the rosti with a palette knife. Cook the other side for a further 2-3 minutes or until crisp. Repeat with the remaining mixture and butter. Transfer the rosti to kitchen paper towels and keep warm.
Reheat the Glazed Baby Onions and the Creamed Parsley making sure the latter is light and creamy. Reheat the Red Wine Sauce.
In a saute pan heat half the butter for the garnish until it just stops foaming and quickly saute the mushrooms until lightly cooked. Set aside and keep warm. Then blanch the spinach leaves for about 1 minute or until just wilted, then drain and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel. Reheat in a small pan with the cream and season to taste.
You are now ready to pull all the elements together for serving: Remove the wrapped fillet of beef from the refrigerator and take off the cling film. Cut the fillet across into four equal rounds of steak. Heat a tbsp of oil in a heavy based frying pan, add the 15g of butter and, when it starts to foam, add the steaks and pan fry them according to taste. In the restaurant we prefer them to be medium cooked.
Place each potato rosti on a small mound of creamed spinach in the centre of each large warmed plate. Put a steak on each potato rosti, shape the creamed parlsey into quenelles and place one on each steak. Arrange the glazed baby onions and sauteed mushrooms around the steak. Drizzle the red wine sauce over the steak. Serve in triu |
