Today's recipe from Chef Jane Coxwell at HALL Wines (St. Helena, CA) jazzes up beef fillets with a morel and wine based cream sauce.  Served with parsley Fingerling potatoes and HALL Napa Valley Merlot Chef Jane has created a wonderful meal that is great for entertaining or when scaled down as a wonderful romantic mid-summer dinner date!

Fillet of Beef with Morels and Parsley Fingerlings   

From HALL Winery's resident chef, Jane Coxwell

Serves Six

• 6 seven oz beef fillets
• 2 tbsp of fresh sage, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp of fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 2 cups of morels, roughly chopped (Dry are a perfectly good substitute if you can't get hold of fresh. If using dry ones, they need to be re-hydrated in some boiling water. Drain them when ready for use.)
• 1 cup of HALL Napa Valley Merlot
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ red onions finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 lbs Fingerling potatoes
• Handful of fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1) Rub the beef fillets with the sage and thyme and set aside.

2) In a pot, sweat down the garlic and onion over a low heat until soft and translucent looking. Add the morels and the Merlot.  Turn up the heat to softly boil the liquid uncovered and reduce by about a half. Allow to cool slightly.  Blend in the sour cream and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3) Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium-high flame.  Add a tbsp of olive oil.  Place the beef fillets in the pan and sauté them for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. (This will cook them to medium, so feel free to add or take time away so that they are cooked to the temperature you prefer.) Allow the meat to rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

4) Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and add the fingerling potatoes. (It's difficult to give a time with this one because they vary in size so much, but I'd say about 10 minutes.) When they are cooked to tender but not overly so, drain them and put them back in a large metal bowl.  Coat the potatoes with a good lug of olive oil, the Italian parsley, salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To Serve:  Arrange the potatoes on a plate with the filet on top. Spoon the sauce over the beef before serving and garnish with a big sprig of Italian parsley.

About HALL 2004 Merlot Napa Valley

Hall's 2004 Merlot offers bright fruit aromas of raspberry and cherry with notes of caramelized wood and brown spices. On the palate, expect generous briar fruit and black cherry with hints of spice, mocha and vanilla as smooth, subtle tannins round out the mid palate, leading to a long, lingering finish. While immediately approachable, this wine has the structure to age well over the next 3 to 5 years.

About HALL Wines

Since first working in her family's Mendocino vineyards, Kathryn Hall dreamed of a place to showcase fine wines alongside expressive art and masterful architecture. Now, Kathryn and Craig Hall are creating an unrivalled destination in the Napa Valley - where wine making excellence meets contemporary design to celebrate life and inspire the senses.  HALL's estate vineyards encompass more than five hundred acres of classic Bordeaux varietals; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc. As winegrowers, the Halls have a strong respect for the environment and a commitment to cutting-edge vineyard technology to yield the highest quality grapes. Through meticulous attention to detail in the vineyards, HALL wines are able to express the unique and diverse character of Napa Valley's soils and climate.