The undisputed king of any festive celebration! I believe there is no dish more celebratory, or a better way to treat your friends (unless they are vegetarian!), than a perfectly cooked beef fillet. This is not a dish that should cause you any stress, as long as you follow a few simple steps, the result will be fantastic. You can sear the beef several hours in advance, prepare the wonderful porcini mushroom sauce, and then roast it in the oven about an hour before serving. Simply perfect!
Beef fillet with porcini mushrooms
The undisputed king of any festive celebration! I believe there is no dish more celebratory, or a better way to treat your friends (unless they are vegetarian!), than a perfectly cooked beef fillet. This is not a dish that should cause you any stress, as long as you follow a few simple steps, the result will be fantastic.
Ingredients
For the beef fillet
- 1 whole beef fillet approximately 1.5–2 kg
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1 heaped tablespoon dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
For the sauce
- ½ cup dried porcini mushrooms
- ½ cup water
- 60 grams unsalted butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 Tbsp flour
- ½ cup Commandaria
- ¼ cup brandy
- ½ cup beef stock
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 Tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 –3 Tbsp heavy cream
Instructions
- Take the thinner end of the beef fillet and fold it underneath so that the fillet becomes shorter and more compact. Tie it with kitchen twine (see Note 1), or ask your butcher to do this for you.
- Place the tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of porcini mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of peppercorns in a small spice or coffee grinder. Grind until you have a fine powder.
- Place the beef fillet on a tray and rub it with a little of the olive oil. Coat it thoroughly on all sides with the mushroom seasoning. It may seem like a lot, but it isn’t. Make sure you use all of it.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the beef fillet. Sear for 1–2 minutes on each side, until a crust forms and the meat develops a deep brown colour. Transfer it to an ovenproof tray, cover with aluminium foil and set aside until ready to roast, up to 4 hours in advance (see Note 2).
- To prepare the sauce, first soak the ½ cup of dried porcini mushrooms in ½ cup of hot water until softened. Drain them, reserving the soaking liquid, and finely chop the mushrooms. Set aside until needed.
- Using the same pan in which we seared the beef, prepare the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter. Once melted, add the onion. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the chopped porcini mushrooms and flour. Sauté, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Pour in the Commandaria, brandy, beef stock and reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Bring to a boil and add the thyme. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed. Allow it to simmer until it thickens and develops a richer consistency (see Note 3).
- Add the parsley and cream. Bring the sauce to a gentle boil, then remove from the heat. We can prepare the sauce up to 4 hours in advance. Keep it covered and reheat it just before serving.
- One hour before serving, preheat the oven to 220°C (fan-assisted). Transfer the tray with the beef fillet, uncovered, to the preheated oven. Roast for 20–30 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, the beef will be medium-rare, after 25 minutes medium, and after 30 minutes medium-well done. Personally, we prefer to roast it for 20 minutes, unless we know that some of our guests prefer their meat more thoroughly cooked. In that case, we roast it for 25 minutes. Never 30! Of course, this depends entirely on your personal preference.
- Remove the beef from the oven (the outside will be very dark, and that’s exactly how it should be) and loosely cover it with aluminium foil. Allow it to rest for 20–30 minutes. This is very important, so don’t rush to serve it. The meat needs this resting time to retain its juices.
- Next, remove the kitchen twine and transfer the beef to a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, slice the fillet and serve with the delicious porcini mushroom sauce.
- A classic, elegant and truly magnificent dish!
Notes
Note 1: There is a particular way to tie a beef fillet with kitchen twine, which, we must admit, we learned from YouTube! However, if you prefer a simpler method, instead of using one continuous piece of twine, cut several shorter pieces of approximately equal length. Lay them parallel to one another on your work surface, about 3–4 cm apart, and place the beef fillet on top. Then simply lift the ends of each piece of twine and tie them into knots.
Note 2: We can sear the beef more than 4 hours in advance, provided we store it in the refrigerator, especially during warm weather. However, we should take it out of the fridge approximately 2 hours before roasting, allowing it to come to room temperature.
Note 3: If we want to make the sauce thicker, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and cook, stirring continuously, until the flour develops some colour and begins to darken. Immediately add this mixture to the sauce while it is gently simmering, stirring well to combine.
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