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Roast fillet of beef with foie gras and morel mushroom Madeira sauce
Ingredients:
150g-175g (5-6oz) beef fillet tournedos
Olive Oil
Butter
Salt and pepper
Confit potato cakes (recipe below)
Veal jus glace
Thick slice foie gras
Dried Morels (approx 6-8 per portion - large morels, can be cut in half) soaked in cold chicken stock (x 1 pint - 600ml)
Madeira Sauce (recipe below)

Confit Potatoes
Potato Disks
Salted butter to cover
Olive oil
Seas salt flakes
Method:
Warm the potatoes in a roasting tray with the salted butter on top of the stove, just below simmering point. Cover with a cartouche and cook in a pre-heated oven (150C) until tender throughout.

The potatoes can be left to cool in the butter and refrigerated for extended shelf life
Before service - fry the potatoes over a moderate heat in olive oil until well coloured. To finish, bake in the oven a la minute'
Sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt before plating

Madeira Sauce - Makes approximately 1.2litres (2 pints)
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
25g (1oz) unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of fresh thyme
225g (8oz) beef skirt or beef trimmings (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
bottle Madeira
1.2 litres (2 pints) Veal jus or bought alternative
salt and pepper
Madeira Sauce Method:
In a large pan, sweat the chopped vegetables in a little butter. Add the garlic and herbs, allowing them to colour.

In a separate frying pan, heat the olive oil until hot and add the beef trimmings, if using, colouring on all sides. Add the meat to the vegetables.

Pour the Madeira into the frying pan to release any flavours from the trimmings. Scrape and stir, then pour the Madeira onto the meat and vegetables and boil to reduce until almost dry.

Add the veal jus and bring to the simmer; skim off any impurities, then simmer the sauce gently for 30 minutes. Pass through sieve, squeezing all the juices from the vegetable and meat. Check for seasoning and you now have rich, glistening Madeira sauce.

Note: A splash or two of fresh Madeira can be added to the finished sauce for a fuller flavour

Mushroom Cream sauce
3 banana shallots, peeled & sliced
1 kg button mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 pint (600ml) of strained morel flavoured chicken stock (from above)
1 pint (600ml) double cream
100ml Noilly Prat
100ml White wine
Salt and pepper
Knob of butter
Squeeze of lemon juice
To make the sauce
Heat a large frying pan with the butter and fry the shallots, mushrooms and lemon juice until tender.

Add the morel chicken stock, double cream, Noilly Prat & White Wine, bring to the boil & then simmer for 10 minutes.

Season to taste with salt & pepper and strain through a fine chinois pushing all juice from the mushrooms. Discard the mushrooms and reserve the sauce.

Method:
Season the beef fillets and sauté in olive oil and butter to preference
Leave to rest
Warm the softened morels in the Madeira sauce
Heat the confit potato through the oven
Heat a dry frying pan. Season the foie gras and quickly panfry on both sides to a golden brown.

Brush the beef fillet with jus glace and present in a large bowl, placed on the potato cake.

Put the sautéed foie gras on top of the beef, spooning the morels over with a drizzle of the Madeira sauce
Hand blend the mushroom cream sauce to a frothy stage, spooning a little of the froth on top of the beef.

Serve extra Madeira sauce apart

2:52pm Thursday 7th February 2008

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