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Filet Steaks with Artichoke Bottoms and Bearnaise SauceTournedos Henri IV
February 27, 2020 | Updated March 29, 2023 | Laura
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✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽
Julia Child Recipes 72-76 | 452 recipes to go!
✽ Tournedos Henri IV [Filet Steaks with Artichoke Bottoms and Béarnaise Sauce], p. 298
✽ Buttered Asparagus Tips [Pointes d'Asperges au Beurre], p. 438
✽ Buttered Artichoke Bottoms, Whole [Fonds d'Artichauts au Beurre], p. 431
✽ Potatoes Sautéed in Butter [Pommes de Terre Sautées / Pommes de Terre Pour Garniture / Pommes de Terre Château], p. 526
✽ Cooked Artichoke Bottoms- Preliminary Cooking [Fonds d'Artichauts à Blanc], p. 430
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✽ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.
✽ You can buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I which contains these recipes here. (affiliate link)
The purpose of this Julia Child section of my blog is to document my journey of learning how to cook. To show my successes, my failures, and what I learned along the way.
Since I didn't create these recipes (if only!), I do not post exact amounts of ingredients or word-for-word instructions. If any of these recipes spark your interest, I highly recommend you buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (affiliate link). It's a great investment and learning tool and contains hundreds of classic recipes.
What you will find on my blog is:
✽ Butter Count & Cost Total
✽ How the Recipe Tasted
✽ Answers to Questions about Recipe
✽ Fun Facts about Recipe or an Ingredient Used
✽ The Recipe Process
✽ Step-by-Step and Final Photos of Recipe
I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts, learn something new, and leave inspired to try a new recipe. Bon appétit!
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Butter Count & Cost: Tournedos Henri IV + Buttered Asparagus + Sauteed Potatoes
✽ Butter Count: +11.5 TB
✽ Cost: $110.70 [~$18.45 per serving]
Check out the total Julia Child butter count & cost here!
→ Looking for a different Julia Child recipe? Here's a list of all of the completed and pending Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes!
Wow! This recipe is INSANE!
The recipe itself is only half a page long, but it directs you to SEVEN other recipes in the book. Despite laying out all of my ingredients and prepping beforehand, this recipe turned out to be a hot mess.
I knew my time management was bad, but this was a whole new level. Fortunately, after all the madness, you will end up with a magnificent meal.
Tournedos Henri IV: Questions
✽ Why is it called Tournedos Henri IV?
Henry IV was one of France's most adored kings reigning from 1589 to 1610. He successfully ended the civil wars and earned the nicknames 'Good King Henry' or 'Henry the Great'.
While Henry IV was married to his second cousin, Margaret of Valois (daughter of Catherine de' Medici and King Henry II of France), he became to love artichokes thanks to his mother-in-law. This probably had less to do with the actual taste of artichokes and more to do with the fact the artichoke was considered an aphrodisiac.
Thanks to Henry IV, artichokes became very popular and eventually, years later, the Tournedos Henri IV recipe was born. It was in the 1830s that Tournedos Henri IV was first served at the La Pavillon Henri IV near Paris.
In addition, Bearnaise sauce was though to be first served at La Pavillon Henri IV as well. The sauce was probably named after the former province of Béarn where Henry IV was born.
This filet steak recipe isn't the only recipe named after Henry IV. There are also several other beef, artichoke, and chicken recipes that have his name.
Henri IV's political goal was to ensure that every peasant had a chicken in their pot every Sunday. This made a huge impact in the country. So much in fact that every stewed or braised chicken dish for almost 200 years was called 'Poulet au Pot Henri IV'.
✽ What is the difference between Hollandiase sauce and Bearnaise sauce?
According to Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Hollandaise and Bearnaise only differ in how they taste and their strength. Hollandaise sauce gets its flavoring from lemon juice while Bearnaise sauce gets its flavoring from a reduction of white wine, vinegar, shallots, and tarragon.
Both Hollandaise and Bearnaise are made in the exact same manner with egg yolks and butter.
✽ What exactly is Tournedos Henri IV?
The dish consists of a filet steak sauteed in butter set on top of a canape. The steak is covered in a wine reduction sauce and topped with an artichoke bottom filled with bearnaise sauce. This fancy steak is to be served with buttery potatoes and asparagus tips on the side.
Looking for more Julia Child steak recipes to read about?
→ Check out all of the meat recipes that I've completed so far!
Fun Facts about Béarnaise Sauce
*Find these facts plus lots more on Kiddle*
✽ What is Bearnaise sauce?
Technically, Bearnaise is an emulsion. An emulsion is when you get two incompatible elements to blend together. In this recipe, butter is emulsified into a white wine and vinegar reduction, flavored with tarragon and shallots, and thickened with egg yolks.
✽ Is Bearnaise sauce one of the five French mother sauces?
No, but Bearnaise sauce is considered to be a 'child' of the one the mother sauces- Hollandaise sauce. The five French mother sauces are Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole, Hollandaise, and Tomato.
✽ What are the Bearnaise sauce variations?
Sauce Choron has tomato puree added to it and is made without tarragon. Sauce Foyot has meat glaze added. Sauce Colbert is like Sauce Foyot with a white wine reduction added. Sauce Paloise swaps the tarragon out for mint.
How to Make Tournedos Henri IV
✽ Step 1: Prep & Blanch Artichokes
First, the artichokes. These will be top the steaks and be filled with béarnaise sauce. Mind blown, right?
The illustrations of the preparing of artichoke bottoms in the book are so useful. I could explain the process in detail, but I think it would just be confusing. Page 429 has everything you need to know.
Basically, you pull the leaves off until you can cut the top of the artichoke off leaving you with just the bottom. The first step is blanching them in salted water, as is the first step of most all of the vegetable recipes.
Except this time, flour and lemon juice are added to the water. This will prevent the artichokes from discoloring. Once the water and flour mixture has simmered for just a few minutes, the artichoke bottoms are added and boiled for about half an hour.
✽ Step 2: Cut Potatoes
While the artichokes were being blanched, I began the potatoes. Now, these are not just any ol’ potatoes. These are boiling potatoes that Julia asks you to cut into elongated olive shapes all the same size.
Well, I tried.. It took forever, and their shapes were all over the place. Some looked okay; some looked not so okay. But at the end of the day, they all taste the same. This is suggested as it allows the potatoes to cook evenly and roll around in the pan. Warning- you might get hand cramps after cutting all these potatoes.
✽ Step 3: Prep & Blanch Asparagus
Next, I prepped the asparagus tips. The tips are cut off to be about 1 ½ inches long and the stalks are diced. The asparagus tips are bundled with string, and it all gets blanched in salted water. The stalks are boiled for about 5 minutes then the tip bundle is added for an additional 5 minutes.
✽ Step 4: Cook Artichokes
About now is when I began to panic. Everything needs to be done at the same time. I would LOVE to watch somebody make this in their kitchen. Though, they would probably have much more grace than I did.
I turned my focus back to the artichokes. Once they are cooled, they are washed under cold water, the choke is scooped out, and they are seasoned.
Next, heat butter in the casserole until it is bubbling, baste each bottom, and place upside down in the dish. This will keep the center moist. Lay buttered paper over them, reheat the casserole, and put into oven for about 20 minutes.
✽ Step 5: Cook Potatoes
For the potatoes, they are dried in a towel (do not wash!). Add clarified butter to a skillet on moderate high heat, and put the potatoes in. They are left alone for just a couple minutes, shaken, and seared on another side for 2 minutes.
This is where my weirdly shaped potatoes did not fare so well. This is continued for a few more minutes until they are a pale golden color. This means a seared, protective film has formed over them, and they will now not stick to the pan.
Sprinkle with salt, lower heat, cover, and cook while shaking pan every 3-4 minutes to insure even coloring.
Now this is when I was doing five other things, and my potatoes got the shaft. Very sad, black potatoes. But I will say that I find slightly burnt sautéed potatoes delicious, and we still ate them.
Pour out the fat, add butter, minced parsley, and pepper to finish.
✽ Step 6: Cook Asparagus
The asparagus stalks are now arranged in a baking dish, seasoned, and topped with melted butter. The tips are then placed on top of the stalks, seasoned as well, and topped with more melted butter. Place paper on top of them, heat on the stove, cover, and place in the oven for about 10 minutes.
✽ Step 7: Make Canapes
Rounds of bread are sautéed in clarified butter to make the canapés.
✽ Step 8: Make Bearnaise Sauce
I began to make the béarnaise sauce which luckily I had already made before so I knew the process.
✽ Step 9: Cook Steaks
Now, FINALLY the steaks. The filet steaks are sautéed in oil and butter (just like in the previous recipe- Tournedos Sautes aux Champignons), seasoned, and placed on top of the canapé.
✽ Step 10: Make Sauce
The fat is poured out of the skillet, Madeira wine and beef stock are added to make a reduction.
✽ Step 11: Arrange Plate & Serve
The sauce is spooned on top of the steak, an artichoke is placed on top, and the artichoke is filled with béarnaise sauce. All served beside the hot potatoes and asparagus tips.
Whew! Just writing about it again made me tired. Honestly, each individual step is fairly simple. But trying to get everything done at the same time, ridiculously hard!
I would love to hear from anybody that has attempted to make this recipe before. At the end, of course, it’s worth it, but the journey is exceptionally tiring.
*This blog, Laura The Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.
Category: Julia Child, Meat Cuisine: French
Keywords: tournedos henri iv recipe, julia child buttered potatoes, tournedos henry iv recipe, julia child artichoke recipe, french steak and artichoke
✽ Did you make this recipe too?
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More Steak Recipes:
✽ Tournedos Rossini (a recipe for a very fancy dinner- steak served with foie gras, truffles, and Madeira sauce)
✽ Tournedos Sautes aux Champignons (filet steaks served with a mushroom and wine sauce)
✽ Bifteck Saute with Bearnaise Sauce (delicious pan-broiled steak coated in homemade Bearnaise sauce)
→ Check out all of the completed Julia Child meat recipes!
✽ You can find this recipe and all the other Julia Child recipes I make in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I (affiliate link).
→ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.
✽ Check out my Julia Child Recipe Checklist to see a list of all my completed and pending recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking!
Bon appétit!
February 27, 2020 by Laura Ehlers
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