Steak St-Juéry
Some cookbooks find you at exactly the right moment. A Table in the Tarn by Orlando Murrin found me at my dear friend Anne’s home in France.
Orlando and his partner left London to transform Le Manoir de Raynaudes, a dignified old manor house near the small town of St-Juéry, into one of the finest gastronomic destinations in the Midi-Pyrénées. This book has been in my possession for almost ten years and has earned its place many times over — I even made the appetisers from it for my wedding.
A beautifully cooked steak with a reduced wine sauce, blue cheese butter made with Bleu d’Auvergne, chopped walnuts and parsley. I stay fairly true to Orlando’s original, with one exception. I make considerably more sauce. Because with a sauce this good, more is always better. For James and myself, we use the same quantity as the recipe below for four.
4
servings15
minutes15
minutes30
minutesIngredients
50 grams butter
1 Tablespoon butter
50 grams Bleu d’Auvergne
2 shallots chopped finely
3 tablespoons Marsala/Port
150 ml beef stock
2 Tablespoons double cream or crème fraîche
4 fillet steaks
1 Tablespoon of butter plus 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
salt/pepper
handful toasted walnuts chopped
handful chopped parsley
Directions
- Mix 50 grams of butter with the cheese and divide in 3 pieces. Put in fridge. Start this an hour before you begin cooking.
- Fry shallots in 1 tablespoon of butter till opaque. Add Marsala and reduce liquid. Add stock and reduce again till syrup. Put aside.
- Season steaks with salt and pepper. Heat oil plus 1 tablespoon of butter in pan.
- Fry steak 3 minutes on both sides. Set aside keep warm under some kitchen foil. Warm your dinner plates.
- Finish off sauce. Bring to boil, lower temperature and whisk butter/cheese mixture slowly into the sauce. Finally add the cream or crème fraîche.
- Slice each steak diagonal in 3 slices and pour over sauce. Garnish with nuts and parsley.
