Celebrity recipes: Jodi Brown

Silver Fern Jodi Brown. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Christmas holidays are as much about great food as they are about presents and unwinding at the beach. The Herald has asked high-profile Kiwis for recipes to inspire you this festive season.

About four years ago, when I became a responsible adult and started cooking proper Christmas meals for my family, I came across a fantastic recipe for beef fillet which has become a bit of a feature on our Christmas menu.

I have no idea where the recipe came from. I have a funny feeling I got it from a friend, who, knowing I'm a big steak lover, thought I might appreciate it and sent it through to me.

It's a beautiful recipe and it was a bit of a hit with everyone, so we have been having it every Christmas for the past few years now.

There are a few ingredients in it that are quite expensive and wouldn't normally be on the shopping list, so it is nice to have something that we save for a special occasion and we look forward to having it.

It is quite a fiddly recipe and can get technical in parts, but it is definitely worth the effort when you eat it.

Luckily, my husband Markham is the one that is responsible for cooking it, I try to help him out a little bit with the preparation, but I am just a kitchen hand at best.

The big thing with it is it needs to be cooked just right, so it can be high-stress getting the timing right to take it out of the oven.

We prefer to have it cooked medium - I don't like it too blue, but if you overcook it, it's a disaster.

We tend to rotate our Christmases, one year we'll have it with my family in Wanganui, the following year we spend it with Markham's family in Dunedin.

It doesn't matter where we go, there are always lots of kids around.

We have a big extended family so Christmas Day is always a busy affair with lots of noise - mainly from my kids, Kiana and Aria.

Jodi's Christmas beef fillet

1kg piece of eye fillet silverskin removed
250g spinach
15g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
50g feta cheese
1 tbsp pine nuts or chopped walnuts
salt, pepper
oil

Tomato sauce:
15g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
100g mushrooms, cleaned, sliced
4 large tomatoes, peeled, chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
salt, pepper, pinch of sugar
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Beef fillet
Wash spinach, remove stems and chop roughly. Blanch in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Press to dry spinach, then chop.

Melt butter, saute onion and garlic. Combine with spinach, nuts and chopped feta.

Make a tunnel through the centre of the fillet using a long, thin-bladed knife, cutting in from each end. Fill with spinach mixture. Tie with string. Brush meat with oil and season with black pepper.

Roast beef at 200C for 25-30 minutes (rare), 30-35 minutes (medium rare). Remove meat from oven, cover with foil. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Tomato sauce
Cook onion in butter until soft. Add mushrooms, cook 2 minutes, add tomatoes and tomato paste.

Simmer 10 minutes.

Season and add fresh basil.

Carve beef; serve hot with tomato sauce and vegetables, or cold with salads.