Essential · 1 hour · Serves 4
Tenderloin medallions with mushroom and sherry sauce and golden potatoes
The same root as the sous vide tenderloin medallions with mushroom cream and potato pavé: tenderloin with a crust and pink center, mushrooms, sherry and a crisp potato. This version is for a special dinner at home, in the pan, in an hour and with a sauce made in the same pan as the meat.
The twist is to make use of the pan. The medallions are seared hard and finished with butter, and in their juices the mushrooms are browned, deglazed with sherry and a short sauce is bound with cream and mustard. Boiled, crushed and browned potatoes go alongside with their crunch.
Special equipment: cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan; instant-read thermometer recommended
Ingredients
Golden potatoes
- 800 g small or medium potatoes, unpeeled
- 40 ml olive oil
- 20 g butter
- 2 thyme sprigs
- Fine salt and coarse salt
Tenderloin medallions
- 4 tenderloin medallions of 180 g and 4 cm tall
- Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 15 ml neutral oil
- 30 g butter
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 thyme sprig
Mushroom and sherry sauce
- 300 g button or portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 shallot or ½ small onion, finely chopped
- 80 ml dry sherry (fino or amontillado)
- 150 ml beef stock
- 150 ml heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Fine salt and black pepper
Finishing
- Chopped chives or parsley
Method
Golden potatoes
- Boiling. Cook the whole potatoes from cold salted water 18–25 minutes, until a knife goes in without resistance. Drain and let them dry 5 minutes.
- Crushing and browning. Set them on an oiled tray and crush them with the bottom of a glass to 1.5 cm, without letting them fall apart. Brush with the oil and melted butter, add the thyme and salt, and bake at 220 °C (430 °F) for 25–30 minutes, until the edges are golden and crisp. Finish with coarse salt.
Tenderloin medallions
- Tempering. Take the meat out of the refrigerator 30–40 minutes ahead, dry it very well and salt it. If you like, tie it with twine around so it keeps its shape.
- Searing. Heat the pan over high heat with the oil until it barely smokes and sear the medallions 2–3 minutes per side, without moving them, to a dark brown crust; brown the sides too.
- Basting. Lower to medium heat, add the butter, garlic and thyme, tilt the pan and baste the meat with the foaming butter for 1–2 minutes. Remove it when it reaches 52–54 °C (126–129 °F) at the center for a juicy doneness, or 57–60 °C (135–140 °F) for a more cooked one. Rest it 5–8 minutes on a rack, loosely covered with aluminum foil: the temperature rises a few degrees.
Mushroom and sherry sauce
- Mushrooms. In the same pan, without cleaning it, raise the heat and brown the mushrooms in a single layer 5–6 minutes, without stirring at first, until they release their water and brown. Add the shallot 1 minute.
- Deglazing and binding. Deglaze with the sherry, scraping the bottom, and reduce by half. Add the stock and reduce 3 minutes, then the cream and mustard, until the sauce coats a spoon, 3–4 minutes more. Add any juices the meat released during the rest, season and taste: the sherry should be noticeable without the alcohol biting.
Finishing
- At serving. Chop the chives.
The dish
Use hot flat plates. Put a generous spoonful of mushroom sauce to one side and set the medallion on top, whole or cut in half to show the pink center. Arrange 3–4 golden potatoes alongside, crisp side up, and finish the meat with a few crystals of coarse salt and pepper and the chives over the sauce. Final look: a medallion with a dark crust and pink center, the ivory sauce with browned mushrooms and the crushed, crisp potatoes.
Key points
- Dry the meat and sear it in a very hot pan, without moving it.
- Check doneness with a thermometer and let it rest.
- Brown the mushrooms in a single layer before adding liquids.
- Reduce the sherry before the cream.
- Add the resting juices to the sauce.
Pairing
An oaked Malbec or a Cabernet Sauvignon. Without alcohol, red grape juice with sparkling water.