Ingredients
- 1 x 2kg beef fillet, trimmed and tied to a log shape, skinny tail end trimmed away for another dish
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- sea salt
- For the crushed potatoes
- 10 desiree or nicola potatoes3 tbsp flat leaf parsley, freshly chopped
- 3 spring onions, split and finely chopped, including plenty of the green part
- 100g unsalted butter
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Parmesan cream
- 3 free-range eggs, at room temperature
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- salt
- 2 anchovy fillets, drained of oil and chopped
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
Paint the tied beef with a little of the olive oil. Grind over pepper. Heat a heavy-based pan and using a little more of the olive oil, seal the beef on all sides. Refrigerate until needing to proceed.
For the crushed potatoes
Boil the potatoes in plenty of lightly salted water until tender.
Peel, return to the pot and roughly crush with a potato masher. Cover until needed. (Best not to do this too far in advance as it will take too long to reheat the potatoes and you risk burning the butter.)
When ready to serve, melt butter then add to potatoes. Stir, adding in the parsley and spring onions. Season well. The potatoes will look very buttery and be in small lumps.
For the beef
Roast fillet at 220C for about 10-15 minutes until still very rare. Cover loosely to rest while reheating the potatoes. It is absolutely fine if the beef ends up warm rather than hot.
For the parmesan cream
Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Add eggs, bring back to simmer and boil for exactly four minutes, then run under cold water for a minute. Crack each egg over a small bowl with a sharp knife and scoop out contents (be careful to exclude every fragment of shell). Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth and creamy.
Using the flat edge of a knife, work garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt on a board, then combine with well-squashed anchovies, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar and parmesan and, with processor motor running, add to eggs. Still with motor running, gradually dribble in oil. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.
Store in covered jar until needed.
Transfer to a squeezy sauce bottle for the final drizzling.
To serve
For each person, place a large scoop of crushed potatoes in the centre of a hot plate. Carve three or four 1cm-thick slices from the beef and place around the potatoes. Fill in the gaps with slow-roasted tomatoes (see Stephanie Alexander's recipe on cuisine.com.au). Sprinkle sliced beef with sea salt and spoon over any beef juices from the resting dish. Drizzle the beef with the parmesan cream.
