In France, even a tender beef fillet for oven-roasting is wrapped in a strip of white bacon fat. This is done to avoid the drying out of the meat during roasting and reducing the need of basting. So even if you want to have your meat very lean don’t remove this fat before slicing the fillet. I have been to French restaurants which serve the sliced meat with this strip of fat and strings on the plates, up to clients to remove it before eating.

I prefer my beef fillet medium-rare so generally 20 minutes per 500 g meat is sufficient in an oven preheated to 200° C roast. The roasting time also depends on the thickness of the fillet. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.

Serve the fillet with your choice of two vegetables. In the photo, the meat is served with pan fried carrots and quickly boiled green beans. Serve this festive meal with your best red wine.

2 servings

Take the fillet out of the fridge and let stay in room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Start preparing the carrots. Wash and cut them into longer strips. Warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and start sautéing the carrots, turning occasionally. When the carrots are almost soft add the shallots and garlic and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200° C roast.

Place the beef fillet in an oven-proof dish which is not too large nor too small for the cut. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove the meat from the oven onto a cutting board and let res for 20 minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile prepare the sauce and cook the green beans. For the sauce, prepare 200 ml beef stock in a saucepan. Deglaze the roasting dish with 100 ml red wine scraping in all the bits that cling onto the dish. Add this to the stock and cook until reduced by half. Grind in some black pepper.

Slice the fillet and remove the fat strip and strings around it. Place fillet slices on the plates and pour over the sauce. Divide the carrots and green beans on the plates. Decorate with some fresh herbs.

If there are any meat leftovers these can be used in a salad next day or added to a simple pasta sauce.