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Sunday Supper: Seared Beef Filet with Horseradish-Spiked Mashed Potatoes and Horseradish Cream

Posted by Ed Levine, January 6, 2008 at 11:15 AM

On Sundays when I was growing up we would frequently have grilled steak and pizza for dinner. I have no idea what my mother's rationale was for serving such an unlikely but delicious combination, but I have to tell you that is one mighty fine Sunday dinner menu.
What could be bad when you're getting red meat, crust, tanginess, and creaminess in at least every other bite. You get the same combo in tonight's Sunday Supper recipe, Seared Beef Filet with Horseradish-Spiked Mashed Potatoes and Horseradish Cream, from Nancy Silverton's excellent but seemingly unappreciated book, Twist of the Wrist.

Seared Beef Filet with Horseradish-Spiked Mashed Potatoes and Horseradish Cream

Adapted from A Twist of the Wrist by Nancy Silverton

-serves 4 -

Ingredients

For the horseradish cream:
1/4 cup grated peeled fresh horseradish (from 1 2-inch piece)
2 tablespoons crème fraîche (or sour cream)
1 heaping tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
10 drops Tabasco sauce
2 drops Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

For the potatoes:
16 canned or jarred potatoes (from 2 12-ounce jars or 2 15-ounce cans)
1/2 cup cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large garlic cloves, grated or minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons crème fraîche (or sour cream)

4 six-ounce beef filets (about 3/4 inch thick)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canola oil (or other neutral-flavored oil)
Peeled fresh horseradish, for grating
30 fresh chives

Procedure

1. To prepare the horseradish cream, stir the grated horseradish, crème fraîche, prepapred horseradish, kosher salt, Tabasco, Worcestershire, and freshly ground black pepper together in a small bowl.

2. To make the mashed potatoes, break the potatoes up into 1-inch pieces. Combine them in a medium saucepan with the cream, butter, garlic, and salt. Put the pan over high heat and bring the potatoes to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer potatoes 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat; use a handheld immersion blender to purée the potatoes 10 to 15 seconds, until they're mashed but still slightly lumpy (or mash them with a potato masher or purée them in a food mill). Stir in the crème fraîche and cover.

3. Season both sides of the steaks with kosher salt and black pepper. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the oil's almost smoking (you will begin to smell the oil at this point). Place steaks in the skillet and sear them on one side for 2 minutes if you want them medium-rare, 4 minutes for medium. Flip the steaks, turn off the heat, and let them sit in the skillet until the skillet goes quiet, about 3 minutes.

4. Spoon the potatoes onto each of four plates, dividing them evenly and smashing them down slightly to create a bed for the steak. Grate about 1 tablespoon of fresh horseradish and use scissors to snip about 1 tablespoon of chives over each serving. Lay the steaks on the potatoes first-cooked side up, dollop 1 tablespoon of the horseradish cream on each steak and serve with the remaining horseradish cream on the side.

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Tags: A Twist of the Wrist, beef, horseradish, mashed potatoes, Nancy Silverton

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