{"id":1055,"date":"2010-12-24T10:20:08","date_gmt":"2010-12-24T18:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2011-01-27T14:18:48","modified_gmt":"2011-01-27T22:18:48","slug":"boeuf-de-noel-french-cooking-recipes-simple-pleasures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chefmorgan.com\/engine\/boeuf-de-noel-french-cooking-recipes-simple-pleasures","title":{"rendered":"B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl"},"content":{"rendered":"

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B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Every year a number of home-cooks try their hand at creating the French classic<\/span> B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00ebl<\/span> <\/span><\/em>(also known as the Yule log or Christmas log).\u00a0 The <\/span><\/span>B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/em>\u00ebl<\/span><\/em> signifies the European tradition of placing a Yule log on the fire during the Christmas holidays.\u00a0 The <\/span><\/span>B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/em>\u00ebl<\/span><\/em>, an edible rendition of a yule log, is a g\u00e9noise sheet cake covered with buttercream. \u00a0 The cake is then rolled, \u00a0creating a swirling pattern of cake and buttercream visible from the sides.\u00a0 The rolled cake is covered with frosting, scored to create tree bark appearance, and decorated with marzipan mushrooms and sometimes marzipan holly leaves. \u00a0 This week\u2019s simple pleasure takes the theme and techniques of a <\/span>B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/em>\u00ebl <\/span><\/em>and applies them to the savory side.\u00a0 Instead of a dessert, we are making the main course.<\/span><\/p>\n

B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl<\/span> <\/span><\/em>(not a French tradition but my own play on words) is a beef tenderloin, butterflied to a thickness of one inch, covered with a delicate chestnut and fresh herb stuffing, rolled, and then enclosed and roasted in puff pastry dough.\u00a0 You can dress up the dish by adding foie gras or wild boar sausage to the stuffing.\u00a0 Truffles can be also added (either to the stuffing, the sauce, or sliced and saut\u00e9ed and served with the mushrooms); \u00a0 however, the recipe is written with just the basic ingredients (but if you have these specialty items on hand, use them!)\u00a0 The idea is similar to France\u2019s r\u00f4ti de boeuf en cro\u00fbte (roasted beef in pastry) or England\u2019s Beef Wellington (a popular dish in the 1960\u2019s), except this recipe uses the French preparation technique of <\/span>roulade<\/span><\/em> (basically stuffing and rolling a food) as well as the <\/span>en cro\u00fbte<\/span><\/em> method (to enclose a food in dough) and it resembles the <\/span>B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/em>\u00ebl<\/span><\/em> <\/span><\/em> in spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the woodsy flavors (sage, thyme, chestnuts), this main course looks like a yule log.\u00a0 The puff pastry is scored to create the appearance of bark.\u00a0 You can also add \u201ctree limbs\u201d by rolling smaller bits of puff pastry and attaching them to the \u201ctrunk\u201d (let your imagination be your guide for this).\u00a0 When you slice into the tenderloin, there is not only the pastry puff layers (the \u201cbark\u201d), but the swirling patten of the stuffing and the meat, resembling the tree\u2019s rings.\u00a0 Instead of marzipan mushrooms, saut\u00e9ed whole small brown mushrooms (combined with wild mushrooms if you like) are served on the side to complete the yule log.\u00a0 A thyme-port reduction sauce is a perfect compliment to the stuffing, meat, and the pastry.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the dish may sound a little complicated, it is not.\u00a0 Cut.\u00a0 Stuff.\u00a0 Roll.\u00a0 Roast.\u00a0 This is a great dish for a holiday dinner because it is special enough that your guests will not see it every day yet it is simple for the host because the majority of it can be ahead of time.\u00a0 On the day of your dinner, all you have to do is roast the meat and prepare the sauce while the meat is in the oven and then resting.\u00a0 You can make this dish with a less expensive cut of meat (such as a flank steak); however,\u00a0 the tenderloin is the better choice because the delicate, tender cut pairs best with the puff pastry, the smooth sauce, and the fine-textured stuffing.\u00a0 Turkey breast also works, but\u00a0 I imagine most people are tired of turkey after Thanksgiving.<\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of ingredient and production notes.\u00a0 While I usually advocate making everything from scratch, you only need one sheet of puff pastry for this recipe so if you do not have it on hand, it can be purchased\u00a0 in the freezer section of your grocery store or speciality food store.\u00a0 There are actually some decent puff pastry doughs out there (although there are some bad ones too). Buy a quality puff pastry, defrost it in the refrigerator, and make sure that it is not too thick (roll it with a rolling pin if it is).\u00a0 Also, make sure the pastry dough is cold but pliable when you wrap it around the meat.\u00a0 Once you have wrapped the meat, return the entire thing to the refrigerator for about 15 minutes (although you can do this the day before and put it in the refrigerator overnight).<\/span><\/p>\n

You want to make sure the meat is cooked correctly and that the puff pastry is golden brown and and not doughy or soggy.\u00a0 The latter I find to be the biggest trouble spot. \u00a0 According to Harold McGee, about 75% of a meat\u2019s weight is water and as meat cooks, the meat firms up, squeezing out the \u00a0moisture. \u00a0 This water (the juice) has to go somewhere so even a barrier between the pastry and the meat (i.e., prosciutto or p\u00e2t\u00e9) will not eliminate the moisture factor. \u00a0 I find that the best way to deal with this is to minimize it: (1) use a thin layer of quality pastry dough and do not overlap it; (2) score the dough to allow heat to penetrate the pastry dough, (3) bake the log on a wire rack to allow the oven heat to surround the log (I also make some fork piercings in the bottom of the dough as an escape route for cummulative moisture);\u00a0 and (4) start the oven off at a high temperature, even though you have already browned it in a skillet, which will allow pastry to rise better and turn some moisture into steam.\u00a0 \u00a0 Also, if the meat is not too big (if you roast only 1 pound instead of 2), you can turn it on its side \u00a0when it cools so any draining juice will not sit on the bottom of the puff pastry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, the meat should be taken out of the oven when it registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit on a meat thermometer.\u00a0 This will give you medium\/medium-rare meat that is still pink in the middle which is what you want. \u00a0 Normally, I would suggest taking it out at a much lower temperature but the enclosing the meat in pastry artificially raises the temperature of the meat (and also prevents it from cooking as it would without the pastry around it).<\/span><\/p>\n

Serve this dish with simple roast winter vegetables (see companion post) or a creamy winter soup. \u00a0Below I have included the recipe for the thyme-port sauce as well as saut\u00e9ed mushrooms to go with the<\/span> B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Whether you make a <\/span> B\u00fbche de No<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00ebl <\/span><\/em>or a <\/span>B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl<\/span> <\/span><\/em>(or both),\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>je vous souhaite un bon app\u00e9tit <\/span><\/em> et <\/span><\/em> <\/span>je vous souhaite un tr\u00e8s Joyeux No\u00ebl\u00a0 du fond de mon coeur<\/span><\/em> <\/span>(and I wish you a very Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart).<\/span><\/p>\n

LM<\/span><\/p>\n


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B\u0153uf de No\u00ebl<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Serves<\/span><\/span>: \u00a012<\/span><\/p>\n

what you need<\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

tenderloin<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2 pounds beef tenderloin, center-cut, trimmed
\n<\/span>kosher salt (as needed)
\n<\/span>freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
\n<\/span>1 sheet quality puff pastry, chilled
\n<\/span>1 egg, mixed with 1 tablespoon water<\/span><\/p>\n

stuffing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1\/2 cup French bread crumbs, finely ground
\n<\/span>4 tablespoons whole milk
\n<\/span>2 teaspoons Italian parsley, minced
\n<\/span>6 tablespoons shallots, brunoise dice
\n<\/span>2 teaspoons fresh sage, minced
\n<\/span>1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
\n<\/span>1 cup\u00a0 finely chopped chestnuts, boiled (or steamed), shells and skins removed
\n<\/span>1 teaspoon kosher salt
\n<\/span>4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
\n<\/span>1 teaspoon Quatre \u00e9pices*
\n<\/span>2 pinches ground allspice
\n<\/span>1\/2 cup wild boar sausage, casings removed and finely chopped or terrine de foie gras, finely chopped (optional)<\/span><\/p>\n

sauce<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
\n<\/span>2 tablespoons shallots, brunoise dice
\n<\/span>5 fresh thyme sprigs
\n<\/span>1\/4 cup port
\n<\/span>1 cup of quality veal (or beef) stock
\n<\/span>1 fresh bay leaf
\n<\/span>unsalted cold, cubed butter (as needed)
\n<\/span>kosher salt (to taste)
\n<\/span>freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
\n<\/span>fresh lemon juice (as needed)<\/span><\/p>\n

*Quatre \u00e9pices is a combination of ground cloves, nutmeg, black pepper and cinnamon.\u00a0 It can be found in spice stores, some grocery stores as well as online.\u00a0 If you do not have time to get it, substitute an additional 1\/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1\/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1\/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1 click of a pepper mill (set to fine grind).<\/span><\/p>\n

mushrooms<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or rendered duck fat)
\n<\/span>3 dozen small brown mushrooms (and\/or sliced shiitake mushrooms, optional)
\n<\/span>kosher salt (as needed)
\n<\/span>Armagnac (as needed)<\/span><\/p>\n

how to<\/span><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n