CookEat Recipe
Beef Tournedos Imperial
Beef-tenderloin tournedos on round croutons with plain and tomato Béarnaise and a thin truffle slice.
Method
Steps
Step 1
For the tomato sauce, dice the four ounces lean raw ham, slice two carrots and two onions, and chop one leek, two parsley branches, one celery branch, one green pepper and one garlic clove. Melt two ounces butter in a large saucepan. Add the ham and these vegetables with two cloves, one teaspoon whole peppercorns, half a bay-leaf sprig, half a thyme sprig, one tablespoon salt and one light tablespoon icing sugar. Cook over brisk heat for about twelve minutes, stirring, until lightly browned.
Step 2
Stir the four tablespoons flour into the sauce pan and cook for five minutes. Add the two quarts fresh ripe red tomatoes cut into quarters and one quart cold water. Mix, cover and simmer very gently for one and a half hours, stirring occasionally. The diced ham must be thoroughly cooked; check that its centre reaches 70°C for two minutes.
Step 3
Press the sauce through a sieve and then strain through clean food-safe cheesecloth. Measure the actual finished sauce portion needed below and keep it hot for immediate use. Divide the unused sauce into small shallow containers, cool rapidly and refrigerate at 40°F or colder within two hours; freeze for longer storage.
Step 4
Measure one actual gill of the finished tomato sauce into a small saucepan and reduce to one-quarter of that actual volume, stirring to prevent catching. Keep briefly warm.
Step 5
For the Béarnaise, peel and finely chop the four small shallots and wash and chop the one fresh tarragon branch. Freshly crush whole white peppercorns and measure one teaspoon freshly crushed white pepper for the sauce. Put these in a small saucepan with the two tablespoons white-wine vinegar and reduce gently by half. Press through clean food-safe cloth into a second small saucepan.
Step 6
Gently melt the two and a half ounces butter without browning and keep hot. Add the two commercially pasteurized egg-yolk equivalents to the warm strained reduction and whisk briskly over very gentle heat for about four minutes without boiling. Gradually whisk in the hot melted butter, mixing continuously over gentle heat. Add the one saltspoon salt and half a saltspoon cayenne, mix for a minute, then stir in the half teaspoon freshly chopped parsley. Keep briefly warm without boiling and serve promptly; avoid a prolonged lukewarm hold.
Step 7
Divide the complete finished Béarnaise into two equal parts. Gently mix all the concentrated tomato sauce into one half and keep both sauces briefly warm for immediate serving.
Step 8
Cut the well-trimmed two-pound intact beef tenderloin into six equal pieces and gently flatten. Season with the separate one teaspoon salt and two saltspoons white pepper. Gently melt butter and measure the separate one tablespoon melted butter into a frying pan. Add the beef side by side and fry briskly for about three minutes on each side, until every thickest centre reaches at least 145°F. Transfer to a clean warm dish and rest for three minutes.
Step 9
Have six plain round ready-to-eat bread croutons the same size as the tournedos warm and ready. Put one rested tournedos on each. Spread plain Béarnaise over half of each beef surface and the tomato Béarnaise over the other half, sharing both complete sauces among the six. Put one very thin ready-to-eat preserved black-truffle slice on each and serve promptly.
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