This is probably the most advanced recipe on my website, so far. It's got 3 different components (the beef, the sauce and the filling) and requires a variety of interesting techniques, from butterflying and pounding the steak, to making a "duxelles" and finally, thickening and fortifying the sauce with a little butter!
In the end, the flavors are incredible, deep and rich. The presentation is outstanding. Serve this for any gathering and you'll have a hit on your hands!
Butterfly Video: One of the trickiest aspects to this is the butterflying of the flank steak. This woman does a quick job of
butterflying a flank steak.
Tying a Roast Video: Here's a great video that shows how to
tie a roast. Many people tie it in sections, but this is the method I use. I rarely do the underside, as I don't think it's necessary, but it's nice to see how it's done. This method uses a long single string and allows you to tighten and adjust the twine, as you go.
Buerre Monté Video: This video shows
how a sauce is thickened with butter. In the video, she does it with only water! In my recipe, the gravy is a reduced beef stock, with tomatoes, which is thickened with butter, at the end. YUM!
Finally,the
definition of "Duxelles": Duxelles is a finely chopped
(minced) mixture of mushrooms or mushroom stems, onions, shallots and herbs sautéed in butter, and reduced to a paste
(sometimes cream is used, as well). It is a basic preparation used in stuffings and sauces
(notably, beef Wellington) or as a garnish. Duxelles can also be filled into a pocket of raw pastry and baked as a savory tart
(similar to a hand-held pie).
More ... >
The duxelles I'm using has the addition of carrots and celery, at the last minute. This gives a little sweetness, color and texture.
I have to say, I love that this way of eating allows for these big, beefy and buttery dishes! No more skinless chicken breasts and whole wheat pastas for me! :)