Margarita's International Recipes

ELIZABETHAN

Roast Fillet of Beef This recipe for roast beef with an herb sauce, comes from Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook, first published in 1660. It's a fairly straight recipe, though it's pretty general so how it turns out will depend on what herbs you use. I used a lot of parsley, as that's what I had in hand, as well as chives and some rosemary. The one thing I would caution would be the orange peel. Mine turned out to be too bitter. I think the recipe would be better if you skipped it or used orange juice instead. This recipe requires a roasting pan and a small saucepan Roast Fillet of Beef Ingredients 2 lbs beef tenderloin or sirloin 3 Tbsp butter, melted 3/4 cup beef broth 1/4 cup vinegar 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped 1 bunch chives, chopped 2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, chopped or 1/2 tsp. dried 1/4 tsp. dried thyme sliced peel of one orange or 2 Tbsp. orange juice (optional) 1 tsp. salt black pepper to taste 2 egg yolks, whisked Instructions Preheat oven to 375°F. Bring the roast to room temperature. Put the roast in a roasting pan and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 125deg;F., about 30 minutes. Baste frequently with melted butter. Remove, cover and reserve the pan juices. Meanwhile, put a small sauce pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the broth, vinegar, parsley, chives, rosemary, thyme, orange peel or juice, salt and pepper. Mix well, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks and cook over low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Add the reserved pan juices and simmer for 5 more minutes. Original Recipe Take a fillet which is the tenderest part of the beef, and lieth in the inner part of the surloyn, cut it as big as you can, broach it on a broach not too big, and be careful not to broach it through the best of the meat; roast it leisurely, and baste it with sweet butter, set a dish to save the gravy while it roasts, then prepare sauce for it of good store of parsley, with a few sweet herbs chopped small, the yolkes of three or four eggs, sometimes gross pepper minced amongst them with the peel of an orange, and a little onion; boil these together, and put in a little butter, vinegar, gravy, a spoonful of strong broth, and put it to the beef. Elizabethan Recipes | Best Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail