Roast beef fillet with abergine sandwich

i was watching Barefoot Contessa the other day and saw taken by her beef fillet sandwich it seem so simple to make except that she had horseradish something something. well for us Malaysian we can hardly find horese radish anything (not in my town anyway) so with her method i tweeked the
recipe to suit our taste or rather ingredient availability...

and as for abergine or eggplant part...i just thought that it'll be a great addition to a sandwhich so WHY NOT?why not throw that it while we're at it? i know it might sound odd putting abergine in a sandwhich, us Malaysia only use it in a curry based dish but never on a sandwhich...but it works! abergine is a very 'meaty' vegetable i can asure you that you'll love it...even a non vege eating person will love it coz its so good that you don't even think that its vegetable...am i over exagerating things here? well that's how i feel and true enough my non eating vegetable son LOVES it and he's a picky picky eater! so its worth a try...(anything to make the kids eat veges huh?)

you can see Ina Garten version of recipe here. her version have nothing to do with abergine and she had arugula or rocket as her greens...but i don't have that... looked at coldstorage last night and they were out...so i settled for lettuse but look for a good crunchy ones avoid those that turning yellow or mushed leaves (pssst check the bottom of the packaging and see if it is any good, don't just look on the surface or you might be fooled)

anyway here's my version of it... you need:-

Roast Beef fillet with abergine sandwich:-
2-3pound of fillet of beef trimmed and tied
1tsp corse Dijion mustard
2tsp fresh coarsly grounded blackpepper
2tsp of kosher salt or sea salt (this seem alot but its the only flavor the beef will have ;) )
a table spoon of butter - room temp
a set of sliced sandwhich bread lightly toasted. - i use wholemeal rustic bread
1 round abergine
lettuse or arugula
alfalfa
a slice of cheddar cheese or any cheese you like... ^_^

the beef fillet once rubbed with butter and dijion mustard mixture

already seasoned with salt and pepper

20minutes later....you can see how juicy it is. its still slight under cook which is good...a touch of pink in the middle...at this point, let it rest for another 15-20 minutes (the beef will keep cooking while resting and then the beef will be nice and tender and juice mmmm mmmm~)

mix butter and dijon mustard well then rubb it on the beef fillet (pat it dry first before rubbing it in, this will ensure that the butter sticks) then season it with salt and blackpepper. and roast it in the oven for about 20 minutes in a 190C preheated oven.

then the most important step in beef roasting is to let it REST for another 15-20minutes, oh don't forget to cover it with aluminium foil when resting it.

meanwhile...for the abergine:-

slice a round abergine thickly about 1/2 an inch or you can do it thicker. then rub it with salt let it sit for a minute or two, this will draw the slight bitterness of the abergine out. then rinse it and then pat it dry. spread the leftover mustard butter mixture and start grilling. a couple of minutes each side then season it with a bit of salt and we are done.

Sandwhich dressing:

1tbs plain yogurt
1tbs sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
1tsp smoked powdered paprika
1tsp honey
a pinch of salt and b/pepper.

just combine all and ready to use. don't worry about the paprika it'll just give you a hint of heat.

isn't it gorgeous..i wish that you can smell this...

Assemble your sandwich, starting with spreading butter on your toast. this will prevent the toast being soaked by the dressing later. then layer in the cheese then the abergine then the cheese again then the lettuse/arugula (arugula taste A LOT better than lettuse). drizzle in the dressing....(my mouth is literally watering right now) then the sliced beef...i like to slice it rather thin so that i can have more than 3 slice in a sandwich plus its easier to eat but you cut it any how you like... then top it with alfalfa and drizzle in the dressing again and end it with another toast. Ahhh~ that's a handful of sandwich and though its seem simple but it is as filling as it should be. have it with corn on a cob on the side or a simple potatoe salad and you are set...

Assembling the sandwich....mmm yummy!

tah dahhhh~