My grandmother‘s Fillet Steak withshitake and tomato sauce

This recipe is one of my favourites. My grandma “Vó Quinita” used to make it for us whenever we visited her in Salvador, after an eight-hour drive. The starter was always a prawn and potato salad, followed by her Malassado dish. It’s a very simple recipe to prepare. The most important things: first, don’t overcook the meat, and second, make sure the sauce is rich enough. I like to serve it with rice and/or potatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 chateaubriand (around 300g to 350g) or 350g of fillet steak (Chateaubriand is the top side of the fillet steak loin. That was my grandmother’s tradition, but any fillet steak is fine)
• 1 large onion – thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves – crushed
• 2 large peppers (red or yellow) – thinly sliced
• 15g of parsley
• 1 400g tin of peeled tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of tomato purée
• 150g of shitake mushrooms – cut in halves
• 4 tablespoons of Worcester sauce
• 1 tablespoon of English mustard
• 300ml of Beef stock
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Olive oil

Method

1. Season the beef with salt and black pepper. For 350g of beef I normally use 2 teaspoons of salt.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a very heavy, nonstick frying pan. Leave the pan to get very hot over a high heat. Add the beef when piping hot. Sear the sides, 2 minutes on each side. Add the Worcester sauce and remove the beef. Turn the heat to medium.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and add the onion and pepper. Fry for 2 minutes and add the garlic. Fry for 1 minute and add the shitake. Fry for a further minute and add the tomato purée. Cook for 2 minutes and add the mustard and peeled tomatoes. Cook for a further 2 minutes and then add the beef stock. When the sauce starts to reduce add the parsley and return the beef to the pan. Keep the beef basted and cook on all sides. “Malassado” means rare beef. Of course, if you don’t like your meat rare ensure you cook it longer. The idea is to create a crust around the beef, whilst the inside remains relatively rare. I cook it in the sauce for 5 minutes. Remove it from the pan to rest and reduce the sauce to half. Taste the sauce and season if needed. Cut the beef in half and serve with the sauce and vegetables on the top.
4. Serve with rice or potatoes.
5. Bon appetit!

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