Recipe: Beef with blue cheese sauce

After a few weeks on the road I was hankering for a home-cooked meal when we got back on Thursday. Just one problem, I had to do the grocery shopping. It’s one of my favourite parts of going on holidays: coming home to a mountain of washing and an empty fridge. Soooo much fun. I bolted to the supermarket and piled the trolley high with fruit, veg, marinated goat’s cheese and Lindt 85% (I figured if I was going on a diet on Monday, I might as well go out in style.)

I had my heart set on steak with mustard, as blogged on Friday in The Only Way To Travel, until I discovered one of the housesitters had left a wedge of blue cheese behind (thank you, whoever it was), so I decided to whip up a blue-cheese sauce to accompany it. Then, because I’m not the most confident steak cooker, I decided to go with a roast beef fillet instead. As mentioned in Spice-rubbed beef fillet with parsnip mash, beef fillets aren’t cheap, but you’ll have enough left over to make beef fritters the next night for dinner. It stings less spread over two nights.

BEEF FILLET WITH BLUE CHEESE SAUCE

1kg beef fillet

125 stilton or other blue cheese

1 tsp salt

olive oil

125ml cream

1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

1 tsp worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

METHOD: Remove the beef fillet from the fridge and let it return to room temperature. Preheat oven to 200C. Rub beef fillet with olive oil  and salt. Heat a heavy pan and sear the beef fillet until it’s brown all over. Place beef fillet in a baking dish and roast for 30 minutes. While it’s roasting, put the cheese, cream, dijon, worchestershire sauce and cayenne pepper into a blender and zizz until smooth. Let beef fillet rest while steaming your favourite vegies. Serve with generous dollops of blue cheese sauce.

NOTE: I like roast potatoes with my beef too. I usually cut them into chunks and steam until tender in the microwave. Pat dry, toss in oil and add to the oven dish with the beef. Roast until golden.

PS The beef looks a little bloody in the photo because I was running late with dinner and the Sprogs were going to eat me if I didn’t hurry up. It still tasted awesome. Soooooo tender.