Following on from my last post Pumpkin Veloute and Onion Bhajis, I mentioned I had an inspired main course from Dan Moon of Ston Easton Park. The plate I’d picked out from Dan was horseradish gnocchi, blue cheese and beetroot. I was truly inspired by this, I basically copied his instructions apart from the beetroot. I also thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out my smoked beef fillet I’ve been wanting to make for ages.
We encountered a smoked beef fillet a few years ago in France. It was sublime. Ever since I got my home smoker last year though, nothing is sacred to the effects of some smoke. I have to say, even by my own standards I was blown away by how two minutes of smoke transformed a piece of beef. If you’ve never thought of getting a home smoker, I bet you are now.
In England, one our more illustrious Blue Stilton’s is called Cropwell Bishop. It is a creamy blue stilton with a more rounded blue tang to it. I was going to use this, but then much to my surprise I found that they have begun making a soft blue, Beauvale. It’s basically English Gorgonzola, but obviously not allowed to call it that. I do love a good English cheese and this is another great one.
For the beetroots, the recipe basically had me pickling them, which is fine from raw beetroot, but I wanted a syrupy taste to them to counter balance the blue cheese. To do this I just boiled them in their skins in mulled wine.
Ingredients
- 4 x 175g Beef Fillet
- 500g Mashed Potato
- 150g Flour
- 1 Eggs
- 2 Tbsp Horseradish
- 50g, grated Parmesan
- 1 bottle Mulled WIne
- 4 Raw Beetroot
- 100g Any blue cheese
- 300g Spinach
Gnocchi
Mulled Wine Beetroot
Directions
- To make the gnocchi, mix all the ingredients together. Take large spoonfuls and add to simmering water. Once they float to the top remove and set aside on a floured plate. Set aside in the fridge, uncovered, until ready to eat.
- For the beef, if you have a home smoker, I place them in the smoker with some hickory chips, turned up the heat and closed with the lid. I gave them two minutes and then took them out. To cook I gave them all 30 seconds a side turning them ten times. This meant 5 minutes total cooking time. I set these aside as I now recooked the gnocchi. Heat a frying pan with some oil a little butter, cook the gnocchi for 1 minute a side until golden.
- For the beetroot, simmer the beetroot in the mulled wine and extra water to cover, for 2 hours. Once cooked, peel and chop into segments. Boil down the mulled wine and add a little honey until syrupy.
- Wilt some spinach and you are ready to serve.
I love each part of this dish! Even just one part of your dish separate would be delicious but combing it together is even more divine!
It actually started out as a veggie dish. The flavours were just calling for a piece of beef though.
You boiled the beetroot in mulled wine? OMG that’s fantastic! I love beetroot any way you can present it but that’s outstanding and that steak is over the top perfect. I would sit and pat my stomach for 20 minutes after this meal.