Châteaubriand en Terrine

By corlear

"The juice of the Châteaubriand , mingled with the wines and the vegetables, will give forth the most wonderful aroma when you finally open the dish.

"You can, if you like, accompany the meat with a very light purée of potatoes.

"I can assure you," says Albert Chevallier, the author of this recipe, "that kings and princes have feasted like gods on this dish, although it is a simple, bourgeois household dish, albeit a gourmet household."

A persuasively written recipe — but not one to be taken too literally. Fillet steak cooked for 2 hours, even in the slowest of ovens, will be reduced to rags. Best, therefore, to simmer the sauce with its carrots, onions tomatoes and wines for at leasi an hour before putting in the beef. After its initial browning, 45 to 50 minutes with the terrine or casserole placed low down in the slowest possible oven will then be sufficient.

Ingredients

• glass of dry white vin ordinaire
• glass of Madeira
• liqueur glass of brandy
• 2 or 3 small onions
• 2 or 3 carrots
• butter for sautéing
• 1 1/2 to 2 lb beef filet
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 chopped shallot
• a suspicion of garlic
• 4 fine tomatoes, peeled

Preparation

Step 1

Into an earthenware terrine with a lid pour a glass of dry white vin ordinaire, a glass of Madeira, and a liqueur glass of brandy and put this to heat gently on a low flame.

Now slice 2 or 3 small onions, the same number of carrots, and sauté them very lightly in a little butter. In the same butter sauté on each side your beef; which should be a fine piece of filet, thick and in one piece, weighing 1 1/2 to 2 lb, seasoned with salt and black pepper.

By this time the contents of the terrine should just be beginning to simmer; place the beef in this liquid, cover it with the carrots and onions, and add a chopped shallot, a suspicion of garlic, 4 fine tomatoes, peeled, and each cut into 8 pieces.

Now cover the terrine and seal the lid with a flour and water paste. Place the terrine in a very slow oven (Regulo 1 or 2) for 2 hours. Serve in the dish in which it has cooked.