Food with JP passion: Peppered Fillet of Beef & Potato Fondants
By JP Kennedy
I fancied a real treat for last week’s Sunday Roast and after I watched Mary Berry making the fillet of beef on her show one evening a few nights ago my mind was made up!
My brother Barry is a huge fan of beef, especially fillet of beef, and I knew this would be his last Sunday dinner with me for a few weeks so I wanted to cook something special.
The potato fondants I came across on another food bloggers page last week and I was immediately drawn to the recipe which is a different and delicious take on a roast potato but requires no par boiling first!
This is a real treat as Fillet of Beef is expensive but every now and then it’s nice to treat ourselves and push the boat out. Both these recipe are incredibly simple and quick to make but oh my do they taste out of this world. I can’t wait to make these again!
Ingredients: (Feeds 4)
- 1 Fillet of beef (about €45 in monies worth)
- 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
- Lots of cracked black pepper & sea salt
Potato Fondants
- 8 medium / large potatoes
- 300ml hot chicken stock
- 100g unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon of garlic granules
- 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Method:
1. Take the fillet of beef out of the fridge and allow to rest and come to room temperature for an hour.
2. Lather the beef generously with the Dijon mustard and then cover liberally with crushed black pepper corns and some sea salt – to get ahead you can do this the night before and then just take it out of the fridge for an hour before popping into the oven.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees / Gas Mark 6 then prepare the potato fondants.
4. Peel the potatoes and cut each end off to make a flat surface on both ends. Melt the butter in a large oven proof frying pan on medium- high heat and brown off each end.
5. Add the chicken stock, garlic granules and fresh thyme, and using a spoon pour the melted butter and stock over each potato and pop into the oven for 35 – 40 minutes.
6. The fillet of beef only needs 30 minutes for medium rare and can be popped into the oven underneath the potato fondants.
7. When the beef is cooked leave covered in foil for 10 – 15 minutes to rest. This will allow all the juices to flow which will ensure you have the most tender meat.
8. Serve with spring vegetables and beef gravy – enjoy!
These dishes went down a real treat at this week’s Sunday dinner table. You know it’s good when there is silence followed by the occasional oooooo and ahhhhhh!
The potato fondants are a different take on a roast potato but cooked in butter and stock adds incredible flavour, with crispy ends and fluffy on the inside – just heavenly!
These are the perfect two recipes for when you want to serve up a real treat for your family and friends and particularly for Sunday’s when we have a little more time to potter about in the kitchen. I can’t wait to make it again!
Contact JP On:
Twitter: @JPKCooking
Email: JPKCooking@gmail.com
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