Boeuf Robespierre

Today I was trying to study the french revolution for my next week exams, when I read the name of Robespierre, whos head was chopped off on the guillotine in 1794. I then strangely rememberd the night I had dinner with friends in a beautiful italian 1900 Brussel art nouveau restaurant on Boulevard Anspach, "the Rugantino". That night we all ate "boeuf Rossini", wich is in that restaurant a beef carpaccio, lightly cooked in the oven with rosemary, olive oil, then served with parmesan cheese and bread. "Boeuf Rossini", in France, is a steak cooked with a slice of fois gras on the top. My good friend Patrick, who knows everything, really, told me that the carpaccio we were eating was called in Milano "Robespierre", obviously because of what happened to that poor Robespierre.  I know I'm making a short story long, but I love to explain where I get my inspiration from....

So here is my version of the "Boeuf Robespierre"...

I asked my butcher to cut me some nice tender fillet. I took half of the meat and grilled it very, very lightly, the other half is going to rest in a marinade until tommorow, or the day after. I sliced very thinly the fillets, put it in plenty of extra virgin olive oil, rosemary and garlic for a couple of hours. Just before serving I put the slices of beef in plates that can resist the oven on a high temperature, topped it with  rosmary, olive oil  and cooked it for five minutes. I served the beef with bread and roasted potatoes. Great! Even a lot better than the Rossini or Robespierre, call it what you like, we had in Brussel. But no food, as good as it is, can top the souvenirs I have of that special night. I only tried to recreate the memory of that fabulous dinner, like the madeleine of Proust brings back memories, a whole world...