A tender cut of beef is a little roasted quails of luxury and this is the perfect main course to cook for a gathering of friends. Rub the fillet of beef with plenty of salt and pepper and the oil. Heat a large frying pan until very hot.

Fry the fillet on all sides until browned. Place the fillet in the centre of the roasting tin, arrange the whole garlic bulbs around the fillet and drizzle with a little oil. When the beef is cooked, remove from the oven, cover with aluminium foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Serve hot or you can leave it to cool, and then wrap in more foil and place in the fridge to cool completely. To make the sauce, cut the roasted garlic bulbs in half horizontally and squeeze the garlic paste from each single clove into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, crème fraîche and sugar. Blend to a smooth purée using a blender or food processor.

Chill until ready to serve alongside the beef. Carve the beef into thin slices just before serving. If you want to get ahead, carve the cold beef an hour or two before serving then reassemble as a whole joint and wrap it tightly in cling film. Unwrap and arrange on a platter just before serving as the beef will loose its lovely pink colour if left exposed to the air for too long.

It is important to ask for a middle-cut piece of fillet as you want the beef to be of even thickness the whole length so that it cooks evenly. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. What should you be cooking this month? There are few things more comforting than making a real French onion soup – slowly cooked, caramelised onions that turn mellow and sweet in a broth laced with white wine and Cognac. The whole thing is finished off with crunchy baked croutons of crusty bread topped with melted, toasted cheese.