Bearnise hard left

It seemed like I was falling, but in truth I was shattered and as the erratic March Sun glistened through the windows of the back bedroom I passed out and slept for most of the afternoon. I had been lucky with how the year had started as I had set professional records in its first two months and personally I had experienced lots of  fulfilling times.

Often January and February can be tricky months. However I had sailed through them positively and gained lots of wonderful experience, just as I had done with everything that had happened to me since Easter 2018. That meant that by the time it came to March 2019 I felt,perhaps, that I was suffering from imposter syndrome. Sure enough I found that by a weekend in the middle of that month I had hit a wall and realised that in my personal life some sort of reckoning over a few longstanding matters was on the way. 

When I woke up the Dogg jumped on the bed, barked in my face and pawed me in the head. It was time for tea. I felt like something had sucked all my energy away with an enormous hoover. A nutrition expert I had consulted perhaps thought my tiredness was related to a lack of iron in my diet. 

With that in mind I decided to cook some Beef Medallions in Bearnise Sauce with a side of Watercress and Rocket. There was more iron in this recipe than you could shake a stick at. 

On the player was the Rolling Stones' smoothly played 1991 live album "Flashpoint". This record documented the Stones' triumphant 1989 world tour in support of their solid comeback album "Steel Wheels". It was a tour that saw the band hit the road  for the first time in eight years after Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had patched up their differences and the band came back strongly with a quality record and tour. Their situation was one I could learn from in my own life. 

The ingredients of this dish were as follows: 

Four Shallots, peeled, topped and tailed and sliced thinly. 

A tablespoon of chopped Fresh Parsley.

A tablespoon of dried Tarragon. 

A tablespoon of dried Thyme. 

A tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar.

Four ounces of Unsalted Butter. 

A tablespoon of Plain Flour. 

Five tablespoons of unsweetened Soya Milk. 

The first job was to make the Bearnise Sauce. Traditionally this sauce uses several eggs, chervil and some cream. However I substituted the chervil with the Fresh Parsley and the cream with the Soya Milk to help make it more healthy. 

I melted the Unsalted Butter in a sauce pan on a low heat. I then added the Vinegar, Shallots and Herbs and stewed them for about ten minutes to soften them up. Next I added the flour and stirred it in until it had formed a paste. After that I added the Soya Milk and stirred that in thoroughly until I had a thick, flavoursome sauce. I turned off the heat and left the pan of sauce on one side. 

Now it was time to fry the Beef Medallions. If you like your Beef rare then it's worth frying the Medallions on a medium heat in olive oil in a frying pan on both sides for three minutes each side. However if you like it done medium, as I do, then it's better to fry the Beef on both sides for seven minutes each side. 

When the Beef was almost cooked I reheated the Bearnise Sauce and then served the Beef Medallions on a bed of Fresh Rocket and Watercress with a topping of the Bearnise Sauce. The meal revitalised me with plenty of protein from the Beef, iron from the Watercress and Rocket and the rich taste of the sauce. 

The weather over the weekend had, like my mindset, contained a bit of everything. It featured some full force gales, hale, thick snow, rain and wonderful sunshine. Now it had settled and slowly a positive plan was developing in my mind.