Tournedos with onion rings, Dauphine potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes and watercress

At the centre of this dish are the tournedos fillet steaks but the garnishes turn it into a complete and gastronomically wonderful dish.  Whilst various of the garnishes can be omitted or substituted, to achieve the full affect, they all need to be included.

The recipe may appear to be daunting, but most of it can be prepared in advance, with just the cooking of the steaks (2 minutes) and the deep frying of the Dauphine potatoes being left to the last moment.

Preparation Time: 30 Mins

Cooking Time: 45 Mins

Total Time: 1¼ Hrs

Ingredients

For 4 servings…

4                    Steaks  - tournedos  

½ tbs             Olive oil    

                      Salt          

70 gms            Butter       

                      Parsley  - chopped    

½                   Lemon  - juice of      

                      Pepper      

To cook the onion rings

2 rings            Onion  - large         

60 ml              Milk         

                      Flour        

                      Oil           

To serve

450 gms          Dauphine potatoes    

4 caps             Mushrooms

2                    Tomatoes  - halved   

1 bunch           Watercress

½ tbs             Vinegar  - wine        

For the Dauphine potatoes

340 gms          Potatoes    

30 gms            Butter       

40 gms            Flour        

2                    Eggs  - beaten        

                      Pepper      

                      Salt          

1 pinch            Nutmeg     

1 tbs               Cheese  - grated      

                      Dripping  - beef       

Method

To prepare the onion rings…

Dip the onion rings in milk and then in flour.  Deep fry until golden.

To cook the steaks…

First grill the mushrooms, cook the tomatoes in butter and prepare the watercress by lightly salting it and sprinkling it with vinegar.  Also cook the Dauphine potatoes.

Sprinkle the steaks with olive oil, season with salt and put them, at the last possible moment, on a very hot griddle and cook them for 1 minute.  Turn them to cook on the other side for 1 minute.

Arrange the steaks on a heated serving dish. On each one put a piece of butter, a little chopped parsley, a little lemon juice and a pinch of freshly ground pepper.  Top with the onion rings.

Garnish with the Dauphine potatoes, mushrooms, tomato and watercress.

To cook the Dauphine potatoes…

Boil the potatoes until they are soft, drain and dry them well and put them through a sieve. 

In a thick saucepan melt the butter and pour on it half a tumbler of water.  Let this boil for two minutes and sieve the flour on to it.  Stir it rapidly until it thickens, now lower the heat and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth (2 or 3 minutes).

Off the heat slowly add the eggs, stirring all the time and, when they have amalgamated, stir in the potato purée, a little at a time.  When the mixture is perfectly smooth and thick, season it with salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheese.

When the time comes to cook the Dauphine potatoes, heat a deep panful of beef dripping and, when it is very hot, but not absolutely boiling, drop in walnut-sized spoonfuls of the mixture - cooking about half a dozen at a time and leaving room for them to swell.  Turn them over very gently once. Once they are golden, lift them out with a perforated spoon and put them on to a piece of kitchen paper.

Wine recommendations

The dish needs a red wine.

Conventional

     Burgundy

Interesting

     Aloxe-Corton

     Bourgueil

Special

     Beaune 1er cru

     Volnay 1er cru