Beef Tenderloin à la Rossini

About the dish

The Rossini tenderloin is one of the most luxurious dishes in Erken's meat chapter, with truffles, foie gras, and Madeira. The gratinated cheese sauce over the tenderloin shows how Norwegian gentry kitchens around 1914 followed the classic French cuisine.

How to make it

1. 1

   Lard the tenderloin

   Cut out and clean the tenderloin, and lard it with long, narrow slices of truffle.

2. 2

   Marinating

   Place the tenderloin in a deep dish, pour over the Madeira, and let it sit for 1 hour, turning it now and then.

3. 3

   Roasting

   Cover the tenderloin with the pork fat slices, tie it with cooking twine, place it in a pan together with the wine, and roast it in a hot oven (200 °C (390 °F)) until done. Remove the pork fat.

4. 4

   Base sauce

   Stir the butter and flour together, thin with the boiling milk, and bring it to a boil.

5. 5

   Browning

   Cut the veal small and brown it in 20 g butter together with the onion. When the meat is nicely browned, add it to the white sauce along with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

6. 6

   Simmering

   Let the sauce simmer gently over very low heat for 1 hour. Add the pan drippings from the tenderloin and let it simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

7. 7

   Glazing

   Pour the sauce over the tenderloin, cover with the grated cheese and the melted butter, and put it in a strongly heated oven (250 °C (480 °F)) until a lightly browned crust quickly forms.

8. 8

   Macaroni gratin

   Boil the macaroni, cut it up, and mix in the grated cheese, butter, truffle in strips, and foie gras in cubes.

9. 9

   Plating

   Place the tenderloin on a warm oblong platter with lettuce and cress around it. Serve the macaroni gratin separately.