Marcus Bean's beef fillet is served with wild mushrooms, beef sauce and a delicious herb mash.

Serves: 2 portions

Ingredients

2 x 6 oz fillet of beef
75g fresh wild mushrooms
75g of dried wild mushrooms (soaked over night, don’t discard water)
25g of butter
½ tsp Chopped fresh thyme
2 tsp of freshly chopped chives

Mash
150g of Maris piper or a floury potato for mash
25ml of double cream
25g of butter
½ tsp of chopped thyme
½ tsp of chopped tarragon
1 tsp of chopped chives

Sauce
1 tsp unsalted butter
2 shallots finely diced
½ clove of chopped garlic
½ a carrot finely diced
1 sprig of thyme
400 ml of good beef or game stock
100ml of red wine
25ml of port
1 star anise (optional)
1 tsp of dark brown sugar

Ingredients

  1. First put your diced shallots in a pan with the butter and the chopped garlic, then add the thyme and allow the shallots to soften, now add the red wine & port and allow too reduce for a few minutes. Now add the beef or game stock & reduce by half. One the sauce is reduced by half, strain through a sieve and set aside for later.
  2. To make the mash, peel and cut your potatoes into similar sizes to allow to cook at the same rate. Put into a pan with cold water and bring to the boil and cook until tender, put the point of a knife into the centre of the biggest potato and if it slips in there done. Now strain the mash in a colander, and then put through a potato ricer, add butter and cream and put into a pan and stir until melted together, then add your freshly chopped herb, season and set aside until later.
  3. To cook your beef get a frying pan on the heat and wait until hot, season your beef with a little salt and pepper, add a little oil to your pan and add the beef, cook for 3-4 minutes on one side until browned then turn over and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Once done on both side turn the heat down and add a tsp or two of butter and glaze the beef. Now remove and set aside in a warm place to rest for a few minutes.
  4. Use the same pan as the beef then add some butter, your freshly chopped wild mushrooms and your chopped soaked mushroom and a tbsp of the liquid. Now add your thyme and chives, sauté until cooked then season with a little salt and pepper.
  5. To serve the beef, place your mash on the plate, put your mushrooms on top then place your beef on top and serve the sauce in a jug so they can pour themselves.