Another Wonderful Dinner Idea: Duca d'Alba (fillets of beef in mushroom sauce)

Just because Valentine's Day has come and gone doesn't mean it's too late to cook something special for the ones you love. I found a recipe for "Duca d'Alba" (fillets of beef in a mushroom sauce) in an old Great Recipes from Great Restaurants cookbook that my grandma gave me ages ago. It's from Frank Zani's French restaurant (though why the name of the recipe is Italian I'll never know), the "Villa Victor." I don't know if the place exists anymore, but this Duca d'Alba is fantastic.

The dinner was surprisingly simple to make. If I hadn't been trying to satisfy a hungry baby, folding fancy dinner napkins, and digging our China out of storage all at the same time, it would have been a very low-key dinner. I served our Duca d'Alba with mashed potatoes, because the sauce is an excellent gravy. The original recipe calls for 1/2 c. Madeira wine, but my husband and I are LDS, so I substituted diluted red wine vinegar and it tasted delicious. So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

Duca d'Alba
Serves 6

6-1/2 tbsp. butter
1-1/2 tbsp. flour
2 c. beef broth
6 fillets (steaks) of beef, cut 1-1/2 inches thick
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 c. red wine vinegar diluted with 1/4 c. water
1 shallot, chopped, or 2 tsp. chopped onions

Melt 1-1/2 tbsp. butter in a small saucepan; blend in 1-1/2 tbsp. flour until brown. Gradually add the broth, stirring steadily to the boiling point. Reduce heat to low; cook on low for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a large skillet. Quickly brown the fillets in the butter and remove. Saute the mushrooms in the remaining butter for 5 minutes. Return the fillets and add the salt, pepper, vinegar, onion, and brown sauce. Cook over low heat until your beef is as rare or well-done as you like it.

And don't feel compelled to tell your family that you didn't slave over a hot stove all day long. :)