TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Tournedos Rossini
- Total
- 49 min
- Difficulty
- ★★★★☆
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Prep 20 min
- Cook 29 min
This beef tenderloin steak is said to have originated in Paris. A pink-centered steak, foie gras cooked through and slices of black truffle are stacked on a butter-fried bread round, with Madeira and veal-stock sauce poured around it.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
100Authenticity- Intact beef tenderloin steaks4 steaksAbout 110 g each and 2 cm thick, cut from an intact tenderloin. Ask for meat that has not been formed or mechanically tenderized.
- Raw frozen duck foie gras slices4 slicesEach portion about 50 g and 1.5 cm thick. Thaw in the refrigerator according to the package directions before starting; keep chilled until searing. Select or trim the portions by weight; a nominal 2 oz retail slice is not automatically 50 g.
- Fresh black winter truffle20 gCut into 8 thin slices. Reserve the liquid if jarred; many jars contain summer truffles, a different species with a weaker aroma than winter black truffles
- Thick-sliced white sandwich bread4 slicesCut 2 cm-thick slices from a plain white sandwich loaf; each must fit one 8 cm round.
- Unsalted butter55 g25g for the bread, 20g for the beef, 5g for the truffle and 5g for the beurre manié
- Plain cake flour5 gFor the beurre manié. Use plain soft-wheat cake flour without added starch or leavening.
- Medium-dry Madeira80 mlFortified wine; different from Madeira-style cooking wine
- Prepared unsalted brown veal stock200 mlMeasure 200 ml from the prepared liquid stock. Make ahead: allow about 70–80 minutes of active work, 6–8 hours simmering, and cooling/chilling overnight. From thawed bones to chilled stock, allow an estimated 12 hours 20 minutes–23 hours 40 minutes; if frozen, also allow 24–48 hours in the refrigerator until no frozen center remains. For a 1,500 ml batch: 900 g raw unseasoned veal bones (knuckles and some meaty bones, saw-cut 4–6 cm), 100 g peeled onion, 40 g trimmed carrot, 40 g trimmed celery, 10 g tomato paste without added salt, 5 ml neutral oil, 5 g parsley stalks, 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, 2,000 ml water, plus hot water as needed. Cut the vegetables into 2 cm pieces. Use a heavy roasting pan suitable for stovetop deglazing, a 6-liter stockpot, fine sieve, heatproof measuring jug, fat separator or skimming ladle, and shallow containers with an ice-water bath. 1. If frozen, put the packaged bones on a tray in the refrigerator until separated pieces have no frozen centers. Weigh 900 g thawed raw bones; pat dry. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). 2. Toss the bones with 5 ml oil and spread in one layer in a heavy metal roasting pan. Roast for about 60 minutes, turning once. During the final 10 minutes, coat the bones lightly with 10 g tomato paste and finish roasting. 3. Transfer the bones to a 6-liter stockpot and add 1800 ml cold water. Heat toward a gentle simmer. While it heats, brown the onion, carrot and celery in the roasting pan’s remaining fat over medium heat. Pour off excess clear fat. Add the reserved 200 ml water and scrape the browned pan deposits into the stockpot with the vegetables and tied herbs. 4. Bring just to a simmer and skim the initial foam. Reduce the heat to maintain occasional small bubbles. Simmer for 6–8 hours, with the lid slightly ajar. Add hot water as needed to keep the bones just submerged, and skim excess surface fat. 5. Lift out the large bones. Strain through a fine sieve into a heatproof vessel without pressing the solids. Use a fat separator or skim off the visible floating liquid fat. Measure the defatted liquid. If above 1500 ml, simmer the strained stock until 1500 ml remains. If below 1500 ml, add enough hot water to reach 1500 ml. Measure again after any adjustment. 6. Divide the measured stock between shallow heatproof containers. Cool rapidly in an ice-water bath, stirring the stock occasionally, then refrigerate. Keep refrigerated until the next day’s cooking. It may set into a soft gel. If gelled, warm gently until pourable before measuring the recipe portion. Do not add salt to this stock.
- Fine salt4 g3g for the beef and 1g for the foie gras
- Coarsely ground black pepper1 g
Method
Temper and tie the beef, cut the bread and slice the truffle
- 1 Take the beef tenderloin out of the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut four 2 cm-thick slices from a plain white sandwich loaf, then cut one round 8 cm across from each slice and cut 20 g black truffle into 8 slices 1–2 mm thick. If jarred, reserve the liquid.
- 2 Wrap kitchen twine 1 time around the side of each steak and tie to form a round shape.
- 3 Preheat the oven to 80°C.
- 4 Keep the foie gras refrigerated until just before cooking.
Ready when
Continue when the steaks are even cylinders 2 cm thick and you have 4 bread rounds.
Tips
As foie gras warms, fat melts from the cut surfaces and it becomes more likely to break apart during cooking.
Brown the bread in butter and keep warm
- 1 Melt 25g unsalted butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the bread rounds for 1–2 minutes on each side.
- 2 Place on a rack and keep warm in the oven at 80°C.
Ready when
Continue when both sides are evenly golden and the bread is dry and firm to the edges.
Sear the beef in butter and rest with a pink center
- 1 Season both sides of the beef with 3g salt and black pepper.
- 2 Melt 20g unsalted butter in a skillet 24cm across over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the beef and cook for about 2 minutes.
- 3 When red juices appear on top, turn and cook for another 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
- 4 Transfer to a plate fitted with a rack, cover loosely with foil and rest in the oven at 80°C.
Ready when
Continue when pink droplets of juice appear on the first-seared side and the meat springs back when pressed.
Deglaze with Madeira and reduce with veal stock
- 1 Discard the fat from the beef skillet and turn off the heat before adding 80ml Madeira. Return to medium heat, scrape the bottom with a wooden spatula and reduce by half.
- 2 Add 200ml veal stock, made from veal bones and meat, and any reserved jarred-truffle liquid; reduce to about 100ml.
- 3 Work 5g unsalted butter and 5g cake flour together into beurre manié, a butter-flour paste. Add while stirring and cook for 1 minute.
- 4 Add the truffle slices and 5g unsalted butter, warm for 30 seconds and take off the heat.
- 5 MeanwhileOnce the sauce begins reducing, start cooking the foie gras in step 5 in another skillet.
Ready when
Continue when the sauce is glossy and lightly coats the back of a spoon.
Caution
Pouring Madeira into a pan while it is still over the heat can cause flames.
Sear the foie gras in a nonstick skillet and cook through
- 1 Season both sides of the foie gras with 1g salt.
- 2 Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat without oil. Add the foie gras and cook for 1 minute, absorb the released fat with paper towels, then turn and cook for 1 minute.
- 3 Reduce to low heat, cover and cut into a thick part to check. When hot throughout with no redness in the center, transfer to paper towels to drain.
Ready when
Continue when both sides are well browned and the cut surface has no redness and is hot to the center.
Caution
Foie gras releases a large amount of fat that can splatter.
Tips
Cooking through gives a firmer texture than the partly cooked center of the traditional French presentation.
Stack bread, beef, foie gras and truffle, then add sauce
- 1 Cut and remove the kitchen twine from the beef.
- 2 Place a bread round on each warmed plate, stack beef and foie gras on it, then put 2 truffle slices on top of each.
- 3 Pour the sauce around the stack.
Ready when
The dish is ready when the 4 layers of bread, beef, foie gras and truffle are aligned and surrounded by sauce.
About this dish
The composer Rossini was also known as a gourmet. He lived in Paris from 1824 to 1836, then again from 1855 until his death in 1868. This steak uses a tournedos, a thick slice from the center of the beef tenderloin. Rossini is said to have explained its preparation to the chef of the Café Anglais on the Boulevard des Italiens.
One story connects the name tournedos, “turn your back,” with a headwaiter so surprised by the order for foie gras and truffle that he served the plate from behind the guest.
Raw foie gras sells particularly well during the year-end festivities. Escoffier included this dish in a December lunch menu.
Bring the full course home next weekend.
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