Beef Fillet with Red Cabbage Pesto

 with chef Nguyễn Ngọc Quyên from Movenpick Hotel Hanoi

A traditional winter vegetable with a distinct deep-red hue and surprisingly sweet edge gives this pesto dish a real punch, almost springlike.

Red Cabbage Pesto
- 50g pine nuts
- 150g red cabbage
- 25g frozen blackberries
- 1 clove of garlic
- 25ml olive oil
- 25g Parmigiano Reggiano 
- Sugar, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

chef Nguyễn Ngọc Quyên

Instructions
1.    Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden brown. Remove from the pan immediately once done.
2.    Peel and coarsely chop the garlic.
3.    Finely slice the cabbage and purée together with the frozen blackberries and the other ingredients – except the olive oil – in a food processor until well combined. Add the olive oil and continue blend until a fine paste forms.
4.    Finely grate the cheese and stir into the mixture.
5.    Add sugar, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Beef Fillet                            
-    4 x 160g beef fillet steaks
-    4 tbsp rapeseed oil
-    1 tbsp butter
-    4 shallots 
-    4 cloves of garlic, peel on
-    4 sprigs of rosemary
-    100ml Glace de Viande
-    800ml cooking cream 25 per cent
-    400ml double cream 35 per cent
-    Sea salt, freshly ground Kampot pepper 

1.    Peel and finely chop the shallots.
2.    Tie the fillet steaks neatly with kitchen string so that they keep their rounded shape while cooking. Season with salt and pepper and sear in a hot pan with rapeseed oil, cooking for 2 minutes on each side.
3.    Reduce the temperature, add the butter, letting it melt before adding the garlic and rosemary.
4.    Continue to cook the meat for another 3 minutes, basting frequently by spooning the fat from the pan over the top of the steaks. 
5.    Add the shallots, Glace de Viande and double cream to the pan, bring to a boil and allow to reduce for about 5 minutes. Finish with a splash of whipping cream.
6.     Add salt and pepper to taste.
7.    Serve with the garlic and rosemary.

Side dishes: Blue potatoes, baby spinach, radishes, cream cheese
Per person: approx. 100g blue potatoes, boiled in salted water. 100g baby spinach, wilted in a pan with a small knob of butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. Keep the radishes raw, finely slicing them and scattering the slices over the top of the dish. Add cream cheese to taste, about 30g per person.

GOOD TO KNOW: The unpeeled garlic cloves cooked with the meat transform into something truly special: the peel encases the clove, sealing in the flavour as it cooks. The clove slowly caramelises and softens, like a sweet just waiting to be unwrapped. 
You can sample the dishes as part of the Pesto, Pistou menu, which is available from VNĐ 150,000++ until November 2019 at Mangosteen Restaurant in Movenpick Hotel Hanoi, 83A Lý Thường Kiệt Street.