No. 2439

Tenderloin of Beef, Grenadins Rochambeau

Filet de Boeuf, Grenadins Rochambeau

Prepare twelve tenderloins into half-heart shapes, each one weighing four ounces; lard one-third of them with larding pork, cut as represented in No. 3, Fig. 52, another third with truffles, and the last third with salted unsmoked tongue; braise them in a mirepoix stock (No. 419), and glaze, then cool and pare. Dress them in a circle on a round dish, alternating the various lardings, and fill the center with some foies-gras scooped from a terrine with a spoon; arrange chopped jelly around, surrounded by a border of jelly croutons.

← No. 2438 Tenderloin of Beef a la Violetta The Cold Service No. 2440 Tenderloin of Beef with Croustades Macedoine →

For the Modern Kitchen

A cold buffet centerpiece from Delmonico's kitchen: twelve larded, braised beef medallions glazed and set in a ring around foie gras, with aspic as the finish. Nothing here is difficult, but almost every step assumes a professional larder.

GrenadinsA grenadin is a thick medallion cut from the tenderloin, larded on top and braised rather than grilled. Ranhofer wants them cut into half-heart shapes at four ounces each: twelve of those is three pounds of finished meat, so you need a whole trimmed tenderloin plus an allowance for whatever the shaping wastes.
LardingThe three lardings are the whole point of the dish: strips of back fat, truffle and tongue drawn through the surface of the meat with a larding needle so the cut face shows a pattern. Without a needle you can chill the fat hard, cut narrow batons, and insert them into slits made with a thin boning knife, though the result is coarser. Fig. 52, No. 3 refers to one of the original book's illustrations, not to any instruction you are missing.
Salted unsmoked tongueThis is beef tongue cured in brine and boiled, not smoked. Supermarket tongue is usually sold fresh; a brined "corned" or "pickled" tongue from a Jewish or Eastern European butcher is the right thing. Cook and peel it, then chill it firm before cutting lardons.
Mirepoix stock, No. 419Ranhofer's cross-reference is to a braising base along the lines of diced carrot, onion, celery, ham or salt pork, thyme and bay moistened with wine and stock. A good brown veal stock with a mirepoix sweated into it does the same job. The medallions want to braise gently, covered, until just tender -- not an all-day braise -- since tenderloin has no connective tissue to break down.
GlazingTo glaze here means to reduce the strained braising liquid to a syrupy glace and brush it over the meat repeatedly as it cools, building a lacquered coat. It is not a broiler step. Pare means to trim the cooled, set medallions to a clean uniform shape before dressing them.
Foies-gras from a terrineThe center is simply cooked foie gras terrine lifted out in spoonfuls, ideally with a hot spoon dipped between scoops so each one is smooth. A good duck-liver mousse or parfait behaves the same way and is far easier to buy.
Chopped jelly and jelly croutonsBoth are clarified aspic: strong, well-seasoned stock clarified with egg white and set with enough gelatin to cut cleanly, about 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons of powdered gelatin per cup if your stock is not naturally gelatinous. Set it in a shallow tray, chop part of it roughly for the scatter and cut the rest into small triangles or diamonds for the border.
Serving and holdingTwelve four-ounce pieces will serve twelve as a plated cold course or a buffet platter. Assemble it cold and return it to the refrigerator until the last moment the aspic will slump and the foie gras will weep at room temperature within the hour.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty years at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry belongs to the long chapter of cold buffet work that a restaurant of that scale turned out for balls, banquets and club suppers. The garnish name honors the Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French expeditionary force in the American Revolution, and it sits comfortably in a book full of dishes named for patrons, presidents and Franco-American occasions a Parisian-trained chef flattering New York with its own history in French. The construction itself uniform larded medallions braised, glazed, and ringed around a rich center under aspic is pure nineteenth-century garde manger, where the visual logic of alternating white fat, black truffle and pink tongue on a cut surface mattered as much as the flavor. Cold service on this scale largely disappeared with the brigades and the ice rooms that supported it.