Chef Flower's Ambrosial Beef on a Bed of Adorned Trimmings

Ambrosial Beef On Bed Of Mash Potatoes, Spinach And Pancetta, served with a Red Wine Sauce. This is a perfect main meal for every day consumption, special romantic dinner for two or for Valentines Day. Serving Size can change for a larger party. I chose to use filet of beef but you could use any tenderloin section of the beef. It would need a thick cut of about two inches/five cms thick and weights about 8.8 ounce /250 grams each. Made for RSC #11 Contest.

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• Bottom Layer

• 1 1⁄4 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
•  water
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 1  teaspoon butter
• 1  tablespoon asiago cheese or 1  tablespoon parmesan cheese
• 1  pinch white pepper (to taste)

• Middle Layer

• 1  teaspoon butter
• 1⁄2 shallot, sliced
• 2  cups spinach (Baby Spinach Variety)
• 1⁄8 ground cayenne pepper
•  olive oil flavored cooking spray
• 4  slices pancetta

• Top Layer

• 2 (8 7/8ounce)  filet of beef
• 2  teaspoons olive oil
•  salt
•  black pepper, freshly cracked

• Sauce

• 1⁄2 cup red wine
• 1⁄2 cup low sodium chicken broth or 1⁄2 cup low sodium beef broth
• 1  tablespoon flour
• 1  teaspoon butter
• 1⁄2 shallot, finely diced
• 1  teaspoon  raspberry preserves
• 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper, freshly cracked (to taste)

Directions

1. Peel potatoes then cut them in quarters. Place them in a saucepan and cover the potatoes with water. Boil for about 15/20 minutes or until soft.
2. Once potatoes are ready, drain them and place them in a mixing bowl, using a potato masher utensil, mash potatoes, then add milk slowly, add butter, cheese and white pepper, mash until potato is still thick but slightly creamy. Set aside until later.
3. Sauce: In a separate bowl add red wine, stock and flour, mix until flour has mixed into the liquid and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan, add shallots and cook until transparent. Add wine, stock and flour mixture, bring to boil and add raspberry preserves and black pepper, mix well. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or when the sauce has reduced three times it volume, don't forget to mix occasionally.
4. Heat a large griddle pan or frying pan. Rub olive oil on to the beef fillet, then sprinkle salt and pepper and cook until charred and done to your liking.
5. With about three minutes for the beef to be completed, cook pancetta. To do this add a little olive oil spray to the pan (either the same pan as beef or different pan). Cook for about a minute and half each side or until slightly crunchy.
6. With about two minutes for beef to be cooked, cook spinach. First add some butter to the pan (either the same pan the beef is cooking or you could use another pan), once butter has melted add shallots until transparent but not brown, add baby spinach and cayenne pepper, just allow the spinach to slightly wilt.
7. Once everything has cooked, start serving. Serve half of the potatoes in each plate, make sure it is in the centre of the plate. Serve half each of the baby spinach on top of the potato. Then serve two slices each of pancetta on top of the spinach, serve beef on top of the pancetta. Using a spoon serve red wine sauce, either on top of the beef or around the mash potato.
8. Enjoy.