Fillet of Beef with Crisp Pommes Anna, Wild Mushrooms and Red Wine Jus

⏱ 110 min · Serves 4

A proper restaurant plate at home: blushing pink fillet steak rested on buttery layers of pommes Anna, tumbled with garlicky wild mushrooms and finished with a glossy, deeply savoury red wine jus. It takes a little patience, but every element is straightforward — and the result silences a table.

Per serving: 862 kcal · 48.0g protein · 38.0g carbs · 52.0g fat

Ingredients

• 4 x 180g beef fillet steaks, about 4cm thick, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 30g butter, plus 100g melted butter for the potatoes
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 garlic clove, bruised
• 800g waxy potatoes (Charlotte or Desiree), peeled
• 300g mixed wild mushrooms (girolles, chestnut, oyster, trompette), torn
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 350ml full-bodied red wine
• 2 tbsp port
• 400ml good beef stock (fresh or well-reduced)
• 1 shallot, sliced, for the jus
• 1 sprig thyme, for the jus
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• 20g cold butter, diced, to finish the jus
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan. Butter a 20cm ovenproof frying pan or cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
2. Slice the potatoes 2mm thin on a mandoline. Do not rinse — the starch binds the layers. Toss with the 100g melted butter, plenty of salt and pepper.
3. Layer the potato slices in overlapping circles, pressing each layer down firmly, until the tin is full. Cover with foil, press with a second tin or a weight, and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake a further 20–25 minutes until deep golden and tender to a knife. Rest 10 minutes, then turn out and cut into 4 wedges.
4. Meanwhile make the jus: simmer the sliced shallot, thyme, red wine and port in a small pan until reduced to a syrupy 3 tbsp. Add the beef stock and reduce again by two thirds, until it coats a spoon. Strain, season, add the vinegar and keep warm.
5. Season the steaks generously. Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan until just smoking and sear the fillets 2–3 minutes per side, plus the edges, for medium-rare.
6. Add 30g butter, thyme and bruised garlic, and baste the steaks for 1 minute. Transfer to a warm plate and rest for 8 minutes.
7. In the same pan, fry the mushrooms over high heat until golden, 4–5 minutes. Add the chopped shallot and garlic, cook 1 minute more, season and stir through the parsley.
8. Whisk the cold butter into the warm jus off the heat until glossy. Plate a wedge of pommes Anna, slice or leave the fillet whole alongside, spoon over the mushrooms and pour the jus around. Serve at once.