There is some controversy over who created
Tournedos Rossini.
The great chef Escoffier is sometimes credited with the dish. However,
there is more evidence that suggesting that they are the creation of Modeste Magney who
owned the popular Restaurant Magney in the rue Mazet in the
Latin Quarter. The Restaurant Magney was frequented by most
of the French literary and artistic society, including Flaubert, George
Sand, Gautier, Turgenev, and the Goncourt brothers.
There is also a
tornado alla Rossini (a round slice of steak, cooked in a casserole with ham,
mushrooms,
parsley and lemon) which is a provincial dish from Pesaro, Italy, Rossini' s
birthplace.
Tournedos are small,
circular slices of beef tenderloin weighing between 3-1/2 and 4 ounces.
Tournedos measure about 2-1/2 inches in diameter compared
to the filet mignon which averages about 2 inches.
Tournedos Rossini ware featured in the
2007 film La Vie en Rose as the dish that
Édith Piaf (brilliantly portrayed by Marion
Cotillard) ordered on her first date with boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre
Martins), in lieu of of the pastrami sandwiches that Marcel initially
ordered.
Don't serve
Tournedos Rossini
if you invite Pope Benedict or Roger Moore (the former James Bond) over for
dinner. They are just two of the thousands of officials and
celebrities who have spoken out against the
cruelty of foie gras forced feeding of ducks and geese. In
2004, California passed a law banning the sale and production of foie
gras effective in 2012, and Chicago banned the sale
of foie gras
from 2006 until 2008. Foie gras production has been also outlawed in the
UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland,
Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Israel. Be sure to pair the
tournedos
with
Rossini's
Ghost (1996).
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6 tournedos,
1" thick
6 slices white bread, 1/4" thick, cut into 2-1/2" circles
6 slices canned foie gras, 1/2" thick
6 slices of truffle
I
tsp cornstarch
* See Appendix A |
4 TB Madeira
4 TB brown glace de viande*
8 TB unsalted butter
2 TB peanut oil
salt &
freshly ground pepper to taste
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1. Sauté bread in 4 TB butter on
both sides in a skillet over medium heat until browned into croutons. set
aside.
2. Marinate foie gras in Madeira
and glace de viande in a covered pan for 1 hour.
3. Warm 1 TB oil and 4 TB butter
in skillet over moderate heat. When foam subsides. sauté each tournedos
3
to 4 minutes per side (3 minutes = rare /4 minutes = medium rare). Remove
from heat. salt and pepper
to taste. Place on a warm platter and place in
a warming oven.
4. While sautéing tournedos,
place pan containing marinade and foie gras over low heat and bring to a
simmer.
5. Remove foie gras and place on a warm platter in a warming oven.
Mix cornstarch and 2 TB of
marinade.
Set aside. Pour remaining marinade in sautéing skillet and bring
to a boil, scraping up bits of meat left from
sautéing tournedos. Add
cornstarch mixture and simmer for 1 minute. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. On a fresh heated platter,
arrange croutons. Place tournedos over croutons and top with foie gras
slices.
Pour sauce over slices and place a sliced truffle over foie gras
slice and serve immediately. |
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