No. 2289

Hash a la Sheppler-Tenderloin of Beef

Hachis de Filet de Boeuf a la Sheppler

Half a pound of cold tenderloin of beef cut in small three-sixteenths of an inch squares, half a pound of mushrooms cut the same size, an ounce of finely chopped shallots; fry these in butter, then add the tenderloin and the mushrooms, also a little espagnole sauce (No. 414), salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Dish this hash in a circle of noodles cooked and finished with parmesan cheese, and serve.

← No. 2288 Hash a la Sam Ward-Tenderloin of Beef Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2290 Corned Beef Hash →

For the Modern Kitchen

A leftovers dish from Ranhofer's The Epicurean, built on already-cooked tenderloin and dressed up with a brown sauce and a ring of buttered noodles. It comes together in about ten minutes once the sauce is on hand.

The beef is already cookedThis is a use for yesterday's roast or broiled tenderloin. The meat goes into the pan only to heat through in the sauce; a minute or two is enough, and longer will make it grey and dry.
Read the frying order carefullyAs written, the shallots are fried in butter and then the beef and mushrooms are added. Sauté the mushrooms until their water has cooked off and they begin to brown before the meat joins them, or the sauce will thin out.
Three-sixteenths of an inchRoughly a 5 mm dice. The point is uniformity between beef and mushroom so the hash reads as one texture; a sloppy chop shows immediately in a dish this plain.
Espagnole sauceRanhofer's No. 414 is his espagnole, the period's brown sauce built on a brown roux and stock; the page here only cross-references it. A good commercial or homemade demi-glace, loosened with a little stock, stands in for it. Use only a few tablespoons — this is a moist hash, not a stew.
QuantitiesThe recipe calls for equal weights, half a pound of beef to half a pound of mushrooms, plus an ounce of shallots, roughly one medium shallot or two small ones.
The noodle borderBoil egg noodles, drain, and toss with grated Parmesan (the recipe specifies only the cheese), then arrange them as a ring on a warmed platter with the hash spooned into the centre. On a modern plate a nest of noodles per portion does the same work.
YieldA pound of filling total serves two generously as a main course, or four as the light entrée course the book intends.
Seasoning lastEspagnole and Parmesan are both salty. Season after the sauce is in, not before, and add the parsley off the heat so it stays green.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) was Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its Miscellaneous Entrées chapter is thick with hashes named for patrons — this one sits directly beside a Hash à la Sam Ward, Ward being the famous New York gourmand and lobbyist. Naming a dish after a regular or a notable guest was common in the great restaurants of the period, and the names are often the only surviving trace of the person; the Sheppler behind this hash has not been firmly identified. What the recipe really shows is how a luxury kitchen handled its trimmings: cold tenderloin, an expensive cut that could not be sold twice, is diced small, stretched with mushrooms, bound with the house brown sauce and framed with noodles so that it returns to the dining room as a composed entrée rather than a leftover.