November 2004

Fillet of beef with Wild Mushrooms And Spiced Jus.

This is just a little twist added to the old favorite of a good steak. The meat is a fillet of beef. We used half a whole fillet. We asked the butcher to well trim it but leave it whole. The first thing we did was to cut a long this strip from one side of the fillet. This was kept to one side while we pushed a long, sharp, narrow bladed knife through the middle of the meat. This made a neat slit all the way through. We then pushed our fingers into the cut to increase the size of the hole. This was after we very carefully washed our hands of course. When the hole is about the size of a 50 pence piece we carefully pushed in the saved piece of fillet. This was wrapped in cooked spinach and lightly seasoned with Chinese five spice. The centre piece might be a little loose in some places so we then tied string around the fillet at spaces of about four to five centimeters. This would hold the meat in shape while it was cooked. Before cooking, the meat was left in the fridge for a few minutes.

The meat was then sealed in a hot pan to color the outside edge. It was well seasoned and then put on a baking sheet and placed in a pre heated oven for about thirty five minutes. The oven was set to 180 degrees. We cooked the meat until it was about two thirds cooked. For those of you with a temperature probe, the meat had reached an internal temperature of about fifty degrees. It was then removed from the oven and very carefully wrapped in cling film. This should be tight around the meat. The meat was then left to rest above the oven for about half an hour. We have found over the years that this way leaves the meat a fantastic pink color and keeps all the juices in making it very juicy and tasty.

While the meat is cooking or relaxing we prepared the sauce and garnish. The sauce was made by gently cooking some onion and celery in a little butter. When soft a good sprinkle of Chinese five spice was added and cooked in the butter for about five minutes. A splash of red wine was then added. This is a good way of making sure that nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pan as well as adding some good flavor. We then added a basic gravy. This can either be some beef juice that you saved from the Sunday roast or something like instant gravy. Make sure that it is not too thick. Allow the sauce to gently simmer for a few minutes, remembering to stir from time to time. This can then be either poured through a sieve to remove any bits or lumps, or you could use a hand blender to make the sauce smooth.

I hope you enjoy it.

Paul Vincent, Head Chef.