Finishing the dish

Remove the beef from the fridge and set it to one side while you prepare the garnishes. You will need:
Either 4-5 baby carrots per person or 8-10 small chantanay carrots washed of any visible dirt and trimmed where necessary.
10 mange tout per person
50g of smoked lardons per person
150g of maris piper or king edward potatoes per person
3-4 chestnut mushrooms per person

Carrots

Steam the carrots and refresh under cold water. Set aside

Lardons

Place the lardons in a roasting tray or frying pan so that they form a single layer. Place in a preheated oven at 200c for 15 minutes or until they are golden and crisp. You will need to turn them every 5 minutes or so. If you have used a frying pan, remove the lardons to a plate and put the pan with the lardon fat onto the hob on a moderate heat. If you used a roasting pan, decant the fat into a frying pan. Set aside the lardons and resist the temptation to eat them!

Mushrooms

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and put them in the frying pan. The aim is to cook them quickly in the lardon fat before they leach out too much liquid. If you go past that point, reduce the heat a little and let them reabsorb what has leached out. You want to end up with plump, juicy mushrooms with a smoky flavour.

(if you opt to make the dish without lardons, cook the mushrooms in a little oil and butter following the same principle)

Potatoes

I’ve eaten this in Burgundy with small ratte potatoes, dauphinoise and mash. Whilst probably least traditional, my preference is a good creamy mash as it allows you to easily mop up the jus when you eat.

Peel the potatoes and cut them up into similar sized small chunks of about 2.5cm. Place in salted boiling water with a lid on and simmer until they are tender. Drain and pour into a bowl. Put the boiling pan back onto a low heat and add a splash of milk and a knob or two of butter. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer into the milk and butter for a smooth finish. If you don’t have a ricer then put the potatoes back in and mash well with a traditional masher. When the potatoes are mashed or have been ‘riced’ in, use a spatula to mix them into a smooth paste. Don’t overwork them. Fold in as much double cream as they can handle and season well.

Don’t be tempted to add the double cream at the start. It will make the mash very difficult to work and will almost impossible to beat out any lumps. Keep the mash covered and warm.

Heating the beef

Put the beef into a preheated oven (at 150c) when you start to make the mash. Let it warm through without boiling or reducing. After 5 minutes, add the carrots and mushrooms and heat for a further 5 minutes.

Mange Tout

Simply steam the mange tout whilst plating up the beef and mash.

The finished dish

Arrange the mash and beef on plate, scatter over the lardons and a little finely chopped parsley. Serve with the mange tout and a glass or red Burgundy.