Slow Cooked Fillet of Beef

This is a Maggie Beer sourced recipe, but she cites that the original idea came from from Kylie Kwong. An Asian influenced Australian dish maybe?

The beef cooks very slowly and is divine. You have to be careful you do not leave it longer than recommended (unless you like your beef medium or well done) It is important to marinate it overnight in the fridge if you can.  This recipe worked perfectly for us as – surprise, surprise I found a large Hunter Valley beef fillet in Coles in Katoomba (think Tesco/Sainsbury equivalent for UK) and the juniper berries in a health food store sold for herbal tea!. Luckily all the herbs grow in our garden.  Serves 8 as a main or if you are very hungry and love beef (like us) it serves 2 for 3 days! I served this with roasted veg and roast potatoes.

Foodstuff you will need: 

1x1.8kg beef fillet – trimmed (40cm long, 6cm wide)

1 tbsp juniper berries

4x20cm stems of rosemary leaves stripped and chopped

4 tbsp roughly chopped thyme

2 tbsp orange zest – long thin strips

sea salt

125ml extra virgin olive oil plus extra for rubbing

8 fresh bay leaves

¼ cup vino cotto

Vinaigrette

Reserved beef resting juices

60ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp vino cotto

Equipment:

Sharp Kitchen knife and chopping board

Oven

2 Large roasting tins for marinade and for cooking

Plastic film

Kitchen string

Zester

Measuring cups/jug

Tablespoons

Meat thermometer

Large heavy based frying pan

Large baking dish

How to throw it together

Day before:

Trim the sinew off the beef fillet and tuck the skinny tail end under the fillet, securing with kitchen string. Tie the rest of the fillet at 4cm intervals to form a compact shape; this helps the beef cook evenly.

Mix the juniper berries, rosemary, thyme and orange zest, 1 tbsp of salt and the olive oil in a baking dish. Add the beef fillet then rub the marinade mix all over the beef. Top with bay leaves, slipping them in a row underneath the string. Cover with plastic film and leave to marinade overnight in the fridge (turning occasionally)

On the day

Remove the beef from the fridge and leave to come to room temperature (about 1 hour)

Preheat the oven to75C fan or 90C conventional.

Pat the beef dry and place in a roasting tin, then roast for 3-3.5 hours (turning half way through cooking) or until it feels soft when pressed with a finger and gently springs back into shape.  The beef fillet should register 60C on a meat thermometer when it is ready.

Remove from oven.

Rub a little salt and splash of olive oil all over the fillet.

Heat a large heavy based frying pan over a high heat, then add the beef and sear for 6 minutes, turning until evenly browned on all sides.

Transfer the beef to a large clean baking dish, the pour vino cotto over and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes; the beef should be pink all the way through.

To make the vinaigrette, mix the resting juices from the beef with the olive oil and vino cotto.

Cut the beef into thick slices and serve warm or at room temperature with the vinaigrette.