Veal fillet with béarnaise sauce (on fried bread)

About the dish

This is the complete version of the dish; a cut-off version with an ingredient list appears on page 230. The sauce was strained through a cloth in the book and kept lukewarm in a water bath.

How to make it

1. 1

   Prepare the meat

   Dry the meat with a cloth and cut it into finger-thick slices. Pound the slices lightly and rub with pepper and salt.

2. 2

   Fry bread and meat

   Cut the French bread into 1 cm slices without crust and fry them golden brown in 120 g butter. Brown the meat in the remaining 120 g butter and fry 3–4 minutes on each side. Place the meat on the bread slices. Deglaze the pan with the bouillon; it can be used in the sauce.

3. 3

   Make the sauce

   Boil the onion, vinegar, pepper and salt down to ¾ of the volume. Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, then let it thicken over the heat while whisking vigorously. Add the melted, cooled butter little by little. Strain the sauce through a cloth and whisk in the chopped tarragon, cayenne and stock. Warm the sauce in a water bath until lukewarm.

4. 4

   Serve

   Pour the sauce over the meat and garnish the dish with asparagus and a little fresh parsley. Serve at once.

5. 5

   Note

   Note: the egg yolks are only lightly heated; use fresh eggs. If the sauce is heated too much it will curdle.