I get the magazine Bon Appétit at home. It is one of the few print publications I still read. At least once an issue, I’ll see something that I become obsessed to make. This month’s obsession was the Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad. The picture in the magazine was spectacular (unlike mine, gosh I wish I was a better photographer). The salad looked bright, fresh, vivacious and beautiful. I could taste all those flavors blending in my mouth. Well, I couldn’t just eat that salad, so I threw in the old filet mignon and baked fries.
I loved this meal. The steaks I get from The Fresh Market are always outstanding. I also really like making fries like here and here. Baked fries are healthier and less messy. Plus I don’t have a fryer. 
The salad was as tasteful as it was beautiful. I tweaked it ever so slightly (because I can’t resist) by created a vinaigrette and marinating the onions and fennel in it. This muted the flavor of the fennel and onion a bit which I liked. I also couldn’t find the golden beets so I doubled up on the red ones. I would absolutely do this salad again. Except for doing the supreme on the oranges and the mess that is roasting beets, it was quite easy.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 filet mignon
- 3-4 large potatoes
- 4 medium red beets
- 3 blood oranges
- 1 navel oranges
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 small fennel bulb, thinely sliced with mandolin
- 1/4 red onion thinely sliced with mandolin
- 1 tablespoon citrus champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Cilantro for garnish
- Salt and pepper
- Set steaks out to come to room temperature.
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Wash beets but don’t dry them. Wrap each in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for approximately 1 hour. Remove the beets and allow to cool. Under a slow stream of cool water, remove skins and set aside.
- Increase the heat of the oven to 450 degrees.
- Peel and slice potatoes into strips however you like. I used my mandolin for this. Place fries into a large bowl of cool water and swoosh around until most of the starch is removed from the outside of the potatoes. Thoroughly dry. Toss the potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper until coated. Either spray a baking sheet with non-stick or I prefer to use the new non-stick aluminum foil. Bake until the fries are golden brown to your liking (we like them extra crunchy), flipping them once. About 40 minutes.
- With a paring knife, remove the peel and pith from all the oranges. Over a large bowl, supreme or segment (watch a video on how to supreme) one of the blood and the navel orange. Squeeze the juice from the remaining membrane into the bowl. Slice the remaining oranges into thin rounds.
- In a separate bowl, add the orange, lemon and lime juice. Add Dijon mustard, citrus champagne vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk and slowly stream in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil depending on how much juice you had. Toss the fennel and onion slices in the viniagrette and toss to coate. Set aside.
- Heat a skillet to medium high heat. Season the room temperature steaks with salt and pepper. Sear both sides of steak until brown and place in the oven. Cook to your prefered doneness, I like them VERY rare.
