Braised Filet of Beef Stuffed with Foie Gras and Truffles
Here is a magnificent recipe for an important dinner, and it is not a difficult one in spite of the luxury of its details. We have chosen braised filet because it is more unusual than roast filet. Everything except the actual cooking of the meat may be done in advance as indicated by the asterisk in the recipe. Braised lettuce and potato balls sautéed in butter would go beautifully with this, and you should accompany it with a fine chateau-bottled red Bordeaux from the Médoc district.
Servings
8
Servings
8
Ingredients
The braising vegetables (matignon)
The foie gras stuffing
Braising the filet
Sauce and serving
Instructions
  1. Cut the truffles in quarters. Place in a small bowl with juice from the can and the Madeira. Cover and marinate while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
The braising vegetables (matignon)
  1. Cook the vegetables, ham, seasonings, herbs, and butter slowly together in a small covered saucepan for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not browned. Then pour in the wine and boil it down rapidly until it has almost entirely evaporated. Set aside.
The foie gras stuffing
  1. Cook the shallots or onions slowly in butter for 3 minutes in a small saucepan without browning them. Scrape into a mixing bowl. Beat in the foie gras and other ingredients. Correct seasoning.
  2. Cut a deep slit down the length of the least presentable side of the filet, going to within ¼ inch of the two ends and to within ¼ inch of the other side, or top. Season the interior of the slit lightly with salt and pepper, and spread it with the foie gras mixture. Insert the truffles in a line down the center of the filled slit—reserve their marinade for later. Do not stuff the filet so full that the slit cannot be closed.
  3. Lay the pork fat or bacon strips the length of the closed slit. Tie securely but not too tightly with loops of white string at 1-inch intervals.
Braising the filet
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Brown the filet lightly on all sides in the casserole in hot butter and oil. Discard the browning fat. Season the meat lightly with salt and pepper. (Insert meat thermometer, unless you are using the “instant” kind.) Spread the cooked vegetables over the filet.
  3. (*) May be prepared in advance to this point.
  4. Pour in enough stock, bouillon, or sauce to come half way up the sides of the filet. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Lay foil over the meat. Cover the casserole and set in lower third of pre-heated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Regulate heat so liquid remains at a very slow boil. Baste the meat with the braising stock 3 or 4 times during its cooking. The filet is done at a meat-thermometer reading of 125 degrees for rare beef, or 135 for medium rare, and if, when you press the filet with your finger, it offers a slight resistance in contrast to its soft, raw state.
  5. Place the filet slit-side down on a hot serving platter after removing the trussing strings and pork fat or bacon. The meat should cool for 10 minutes or more before carving, so that its juices will retreat back into the tissues.
Sauce and serving
  1. Skim the fat off the braising juices. Pour the truffle marinade into them, and rapidly boil down this liquid until it has reduced to about 2 cups and its flavor is rich and concentrated.
  2. Beat in the starch mixture (unless you have used the brown sauce) and the optional truffles. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then correct seasoning. The diced matignon vegetables remain in the sauce.
  3. Decorate the platter with whatever vegetables you have chosen. Pour a spoonful or two of the sauce and diced vegetables over the meat, and pass the rest of the sauce in a bowl. The filet is carved into crosswise slices about ⅜ inch thick.