Veal Tenderloin au Poivre, Morel Mushrooms, Horseradish Potatoes, and Truffle-Shallot Butter
Chef Rogers creates a lighter more contemporary version of Steak au Poivre by using veal tenderloin. The truffle butter he uses is commercially available at fancy gourmet shops, as are the imported fresh black French truffles. The porcini truffle puree is hard to find and is composed of porcini mushrooms and white Italian truffles. You may substitute an equal amount of white truffle oil, which is much more readily available at gourmet specialty shops. The chef uses two kinds of potatoes–horseradish mashed potatoes and deep-fried gaufrette potatoes sliced on a professional mandoline. We suggest you use one of the inexpensive Japanese-made slicers, or else simply thinly slice peeled Idaho potatoes and deep-fry the slices. Lastly, the chef sears the veal tenderloins in morel oil. Mushroom-infused oils are available at specialty gourmet shops, but you may substitute extra virgin olive oil.
Ingredients
- Veal Tenderloins - 4 four- to five-ounce
- Freshly ground black pepper - 4 tablespoons
- Cracked black peppercorns - 3 tablespoons
- Salt - to taste
- Morel oil - as needed (alt. extra virgin olive oil)
- Gaufrette - 12, deep fried (alt. thinly sliced peeled Idaho potatoes)
- Whipped Horseradish Potatoes (recipe follows)
- French Green Beans - 1 pound, blanched (see Cooking Basics)
- Unsalted Butter - as needed
- Truffle-Shallot Sauce (recipe follows)
- Black Truffles - 4, thin slices, fresh
- Fresh Herb Sprigs - (chervil, rosemary, chives, thyme) garnish
- Truffle-Shallot Sauce
- Red Wine - 1/4 cup
- Shallots - 1 tablespoon, minced
- Black Truffles - 2 teaspoons, diced, fresh
- Morel Mushrooms - 6, cleaned, chopped
- Demi Glace - 1 cup demi glace (see Cooking Basics), or frozen, defrosted demi glace
- Porcini Truffle Puree - 1 tablespoon (alt. white truffle oil)
- Truffle Butter - 3 tablespoons
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
- Idaho Potatoes - 4 large
- Milk - 1/2 to 1 cup, as needed
- Horseradish - 2 teaspoons, freshly grated (alt. prepared fresh horseradish)
- Butter - 2 tablespoon
- Salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Truffle-Shallot Sauce
- Red Wine - 1/4 cup
- Shallots - 1 tablespoon, minced
- Fresh black truffles - 2 teaspoons, diced
- Morel Mushrooms - 6, cleaned, chopped
- Demi Glace - 1 cup (see Cooking Basics), or frozen, defrosted demi glace
- Porcini truffle puree or white truffle oil - 1 tablespoon
- Truffle Butter - 3 tablespoons
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
- Idaho potatoes - 4 large
- Milk - 1/2 to 1 cup, as needed
- Freshly grated horseradish, or prepared fresh horseradish - 2 teaspoons
- Butter - 2 tablespoon
- Salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
Season the tenderloins on all sides with ground and cracked black pepper. Season very lightly with salt. In a large, 12-inch sauté pan, heat morel oil or extra virgin olive oil, and sear tenderloins on all sides, turning to brown evenly. Place in a 350 F oven until the veal is cooked to desired degree of doneness, about 10 to 15 minutes for rare to medium rare.
While veal is roasting, heat blanched green beans in unsalted butter in a sauté pan. Keep warm. Remove cooked veal from oven. Remove tenderloins from the sauté pan and keep warm. Make truffle sauce in the sauté pan.
To serve: Divide the horseradish mashed potatoes and place a portion on the center of each of four warmed dinner plates. Divide the green beans into four portions. Divide each portion into three bundles and place one at 12 o’clock, 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock around the mashed potatoes with the ends pointing out to the plate rim. Spoon a little Truffle-Shallot sauce into each of the three spaces between the green beans. Slice each tenderloin and shingle the slices on top of the sauce. Stick three gaufrette or fried potato slices upright in the mashed potatoes at the beginning of the green bean bundles. Garnish the mashed potato with one black truffle slice and garnish with two sprigs of fresh herbs of your choice. Serve immediately.
Truffle-Shallot Sauce
After the roasted veal tenderloin has been removed from the sauté pan, over high heat, deglaze the pan with the red wine. Add the shallots and cook until translucent. Add the fresh black truffles and chopped mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are tender and have released their juiced. Add the demi glace and porcini truffle puree or white truffle oil, and cook until sauce is reduced and coats the back of a spoon. Add the truffle butter and season to taste. Set aside. Keep warm.
Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
Cook potatoes in salted water to cover until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain and when potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove all skin. Mash potatoes with potato masher, then whisk to desired consistency with milk, horseradish, butter, salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm by setting pan in a skillet of barely simmering water.
