Fillet of beef with Café de Paris butter and deep-fried courgette flowers
The butter feels like a lot of work when you see the list of ingredients but it’s definitely worth the extra effort. It also freezes really well, so it’s worth making more than you’ll need to use at a later date.
45 MINUTES + CHILLING | SERVES 4 | EASY
CAFÉ DE PARIS BUTTER
tomato ketchup 20g
dijon mustard 1 tsp
capers 1 tsp
shallots 2 small, peeled and finely diced
chives a bunch, finely snipped
thyme a small bunch, leaves picked
garlic 1 clove, chopped
anchovy fillets 3
worcestershire sauce 1 tsp
madras curry powder ½ tsp
sweet paprika ½ tsp
lemon 1, zested and ½ juiced
orange 1, zested
unsalted butter 250g, softened BEEF
beef fillets 4 x 200g
olive oil 2 tbsp COURGETTE FLOWERS
‘00’ flour 500g
egg white 1
olive oil 2 tbsp
sunflower oil for deep-frying
courgette flowers 8, halved lengthways
1 For the butter, put the ketchup, mustard, capers, shallots, chives, thyme, garlic, anchovies, worcestershire sauce, curry powder, paprika, lemon zest and juice, orange zest and a pinch of sea salt into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the butter and blitz again until well combined. Tip onto a sheet of foil and wrap the butter up into a long sausage shape. Chill until firm.
2 Season the beef fillets generously all over. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, cook the beef undisturbed for 5 minutes on each of the long sides, and 1 minute on each of the shorter sides. Remove to a warm dish and spoon a tablespoon of the butter over each fillet. Rest in a warm place for 10 minutes to allow the butter to melt into the resting juices.
3 While the beef is resting, prepare the courgette flowers. Tip the flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt, then make a well in the centre using the back of a spoon. Slowly whisk in 700ml of ice-cold water until you have a smooth, lump-free batter. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg white into the batter, followed by the olive oil. Fill a pan no more than a third full with sunflower oil and heat to 180C or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Gently dip the courgette flowers into the batter and fry in batches for 1-2 minutes each until golden brown. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper and season with sea salt flakes.
4 Serve one beef fillet per person on warm plates, with the flowers alongside. Spoon over the butter and serve at once.
PER SERVING 692 kcals | fat 49.3G saturates 23.9G | carbs 17G | sugars 1.7G fibre 1.9G | protein 44.1G | salt 0.7G