Seared Beef Fillet Topped with a Cherry Port Sauce

Cherries, Jenny Morris

  • This is a delicious dinner party dish. The cherry sauce can be made upfront and heated when you are ready to serve. I love to serve this with buttery crushed new potatoes and a pile of baby green beans.
  • Serves 4

Ingredients

The Fillet

  • 4 x 200g fillet steak or the steak cut of your choice
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • Salt and coarse ground pepper to taste

For the Cherry Port Sauce:

  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves crushed garlic
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 cup ruby port
  • 1 cup beef stock
  • 1 cup pitted cherries, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup whole pitted cherries
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Rub the steaks with olive oil and season well with cumin, salt and lots of pepper.
  2. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil and the butter and allow the butter to melt.
  3. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté until soft, around 3 minutes.
  4. Add the port, beef stock and halved cherries, balsamic vinegar and sugar to the saucepan.
  5. Bring to a boil then lower heat to medium-low and then add the whole cherries.
  6. Simmer until the sauce has reduced by half, about 10 to 15 minutes
  7. Taste and adjust the seasoning
  8. Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan and cook the fillets the way you like them.
  9. Serve spooned over the steaks and enjoy.

TIP: You could serve the fillet whole, topped with the delicious cherry sauce and carve at the table.