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Filet Steaks with Mushroom and Madeira SauceTournedos Sautes aux Champignons
February 18, 2020 | Updated March 22, 2023 | Laura
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✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽
Julia Child Recipes 68-70 | 458 recipes to go!
✽ Filet Steaks with Mushroom and Madeira Sauce [Tournedos Sautés aux Champignons / Tournedos Sautés Chasseur], p. 297
✽ Brussels Sprouts Browned with Cheese [Choux de Bruxelles à la Milanaise], p. 453
✽ Whole Baked Tomatoes [Tomates Grillées au Four], p. 506
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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 Sautes aux Champignons
✽ Butter Count: +13.5 TB
✽ Cost: $54.64 [~$9.11 per serving]
- Filet Steaks with Mushroom and Madeira Sauce= $38.13 [6 servings]
- Brussels Sprouts Browned with Cheese= $9.53 [6 servings]
- Whole Baked Tomatoes= $6.98 [6 servings]
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!
It’s hard to mess up a filet steak.
Yep, I do think it is true. I think that you could go to the store, buy the cheapest filet steak, cook it however you want, and you will still have a delicious meal. This recipe for filet steaks is no exception.
I bought the cheapest filet steaks I could find (gotta pay off those student loans..), and they turned out fantastic. The mushroom and Madeira sauce really makes this meal special.
As for the Brussels sprouts- As somebody who never cared much for sprouts at all, I would eat all of these Brussels sprouts. All of them. That speaks volumes.
Then there are the tomatoes. I'm not sure I get the appeal of baking whole tomatoes. Perhaps, I'm just not a big enough tomato fan for them. Or perhaps, they really are just there to add color to the serving platter.
Filet Steaks with Mushroom and Madeira Sauce: Questions
✽ What should you serve with filet steaks?
As you can see, I served my filet steaks with cheesy Brussels sprouts and whole baked tomatoes. While I didn't really care for the tomatoes, I found the steak, the delicious mushroom and wine sauce, and the Brussels sprouts made for an excellent dinner.
The cookbook recommends presenting these steaks surrounded by whole baked tomatoes, buttery artichoke hearts, and buttery sauteed potatoes.
As for wine, the cookbook specifically recommends a good red Bordeaux from teh Medoc district.
✽ What is Madeira?
One of the main flavoring components of this steak sauce is Madeira wine. This wine is fortified that is made on the Portuguese Madeira Islands. A fortified wine is a wine that has a distilled spirit added to it which increases its alcohol content. Other fortified wines include sherry and port.
✽ Why do you add cornstarch to the sauce?
Cornstarch is added to the sauce to thicken it. If you don't want your cornstarch to clump up when you add it to the sauce, you must make a slurry. For this recipe, the slurry is simply the Madeira wine mixed together with the cornstarch.
I always whisk the slurry into the hot sauce base to further prevent any clumps from forming. When the cornstarch is warmed up (about 203°F), something called starch gelatinization will happen. The starch will begin absorbing water making the sauce thick. So you must heat the cornstarch slurry in order for it to thicken.
Also, it is possible to heat the cornstarch sauce too much. After the sauce thickens, lower the heat or you may destory the starch molecules making the sauce liquidy again.
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 Canapés
*Find these facts plus lots more on Food Reference*
✽ What is a canapé?
A canapé is a small slice of sauteed bread, cracker, or puff pastry that usually is topped with a savory food such as steak, cheese, or foie gras.
✽ What does canapé mean?
The French word canapé translates to couch in English. Some thought that a small slice of toast with food on top resembled a couch.
✽ When do you serve canapés?
Canapés are usually served as a hors d'oeuvre during a cocktail hour. They are usually salty or spicy to encourage guests to have more drinks.
How to Make Tournedos Sautes aux Champignons
✽ Step 1: Make Canapés
First, you will sauté bread rounds in clarified butter. These will go under the steaks (and are absolutely scrumptious).
✽ Step 2: Sauté Mushrooms
The mushrooms are sautéed in hot butter and oil for a few minutes then green onions and seasonings are added in. If you have read any of my previous posts about mushrooms, you’d know that this simple mixture of mushrooms and onions is one of my favorite things.
✽ Step 3: Cook Steaks
The steaks are cooked just like the steaks in the previous recipes- sautéed a few minutes per side until steaks are medium rare. The only difference is that these steaks are wrapped in a strip of fat (yes, please).
✽ Step 4: Season Steaks
Once the steaks are done, remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
✽ Step 5: Deglaze the Pan
Now, the sauce! Fat should be poured out of the skillet and beef stock and tomato paste are added. The mixture is boiled until reduced to about 2-3 tablespoons.
✽ Step 6: Thicken Sauce & Serve
Next, a mixture of corn starch and Madeira wine (slurry) is added. This will thicken the sauce and make it oh so wonderful. Add in the sauteed mushrooms.
The steak is placed upon the sautéed bread and topped with sauce, mushrooms, and parsley.
How to Make Brussels Sprouts Browned with Cheese
✽ Step 1: Blanch & Braise Brussels Sprouts
As mentioned before, I used to not like Brussels sprouts. They were one of the two foods I would absolutely not eat (the other is American cheese- yuck!). But now that has all changed. They are still not even close to my favorite vegetable, but I actually went back for seconds with this recipe!
These Brussels sprouts are blanched in salt water and then braised in butter.
✽ Step 2: Add Cheese
After they have been taken out of the oven, remove them from the casserole dish and sprinkle a mixture of Swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese into the dish. Add the sprouts back into the dish and top with some more cheese, pour on some more melted butter, and cook at high temperature for about 15 minutes until cheese is browned.
When in doubt- add cheese! These sprouts are so good.
How to Make Whole Baked Tomatoes
✽ Step 1: Prep Tomatoes
Next, I made whole baked tomatoes because Julia says they make an attractive decoration around a meat platter. This is probably the first recipe that I wouldn’t make again.
Sure, they look pretty and add a great amount of color, but, at the end of the day, they are just whole tomatoes sitting on your plate. My husband and I are both not huge tomato fans so this also is playing a huge factor. If you are a tomato-lover then I say go for it!
They are really simple to make. Cut out their stems, sprinkle seasonings into the stem hole, brush with olive oil, and place them in a roasting pan.
✽ Step 2: Bake Tomatoes
They are to be baked for about 10 minutes. They are done when their skins begin to break a little (but make sure they do not burst!).
✽ Step 3: Serve Tomatoes
Right before serving, baste with pan juices, season, and sprinkle the tops with some minced parsley.
Overall, I would definitely make these steaks and Brussels sprouts again. It really was a delightful meal, and I am looking forward to making the next two filet steak recipes.
*This blog, Laura The Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.
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Category: Julia Child, Meat Cuisine: French
Keywords: tournedos aux champignons recipe, beef tournedos julia child, beef tournedos with mushroom sauce, tournedos recipe
✽ Did you make this recipe too?
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More Steak Recipes:
✽ Tournedos Rossini (an extra fancy filet steak recipe with foie gras, truffles, and Madeira sauce)
✽ Tournedos Henri IV (in this recipe the filet steaks are topped with artichoke bottoms and homemade bearnaise sauce)
✽ Steak au Poivre (steak coated in peppercorns and topped with brandy 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 18, 2020 by Laura Ehlers
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