Port Smoked Fillet Steak

You need the whole fillet for this recipe, which is then port-smoked in a covered barbecue. So you will also need some smoking chips but don't use hickory on this occasion. Just about any other kind will do fine.

I've suggested 1.5kg (just over 3 pounds) to serve six. You may want to vary that but the rest of the recipe would stay the same unless you are cooking for a lot of people. In that case, the only things to stay the same would be the last two ingredients.

You need:

• 1.5kg whole beef fillet
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 60mls good port wine
• 2tbs chopped oregano
• 250g smoking chips
• An extra 250mls port wine

Put the beef in a food-safe plastic bag, such as a roasting bag, and add the olive oil, garlic, 60mls of port and the oregano. Turn the beef to coat it thoroughly and refrigerate for 24 hours or at least overnight.

On the day you intend to cook the beef, remove it from the fridge two hours beforehand and at the same time combine the extra port wine and smoking chips in a bowl. Discard the marinade. Fire up the barbie.

Remember the beef has been in a marinade and this slows down the browning proces, so the first thing to do is sear it all over using direct heat. Don't burn it, just cook off the surface liquid. Then place it on a rack in a pan and put beside it the drained smoking chips in a smoke box. NOTE - do not put the port wine in the barbie, just the chips.

Close the barbie lid and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes for medium rare. Allow the beef to stand in a shallow dish, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before carving into individual steaks. The dish will collect any juices that run out of the meat, which you can then spoon back over the steaks or stir into any sauce you may have made.

print this beef recipe