Beef, It's what's for Christmas dinner, Tenderloin recipes.

I'm going to be doing a Turducken and 3 beef tenderloins this Christmas. I am looking for recipes for the tenderloins including marinades. I am looking for something new and different. Any ideas? Thanks

My father used to make an amazing tenderloin with a sauce that included ground beef, mushrooms, onion, and wine. IIRC he said the recipe was from an old Morrison Wood cookbook.

Wait, I found the recipe online here: http://whgourmetclub.tripod.com/id7.html

During the summer, I'll make it on the grill, but this time of year. Even on a not too nasty winter day, I'll still use the grill.

My recipe for tenderloin is simple and lets the taste of this luxurious beef stand out. I'm a believer that good cuts of meat like tenderloin and standing rib roast need little except some salt pepper and maybe some garlic.

I crack a little fresh ground pepper and spread it out on some wax paper with some garlic salt. I then roll the tenderloin through it making sure that the entire roast is covered in the garlic salt and pepper. Then, I roast in on a rack at 400 degrees for 55 minutes. Let it rest for ten more minutes and the tenderloin will be a perfect medium rare. I like to slice it thin and serve it with some horseradish sauce and some crusty french rolls. Simple and delicious.

I'm not a huge fan of tenderloin and because of its lack of fat, it's definitely one of the most unforgiving cuts. For that reason, I think that preparing a successful tenderloin is more about method than recipe.

Season the roast with kosher salt, black pepper and some rub of your choice (perhaps some of G Wiv's BBQ Rub). This can be done up to 2 days before you intend to cook it (or directly beforehand with slightly lesser results). Place the seasoned roast on a rack on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan, cover it with foil and store it the fridge. Remove the roast from the fridge and let it come to room temperature before you cook it.

Pre-heat the oven to 250 F. Using your hands, gently pat a light coating of olive oil all over the roast, so that you don't remove the seasoning. Place the roast on its rack/pan in the oven and reduce the oven temperature 200 F immediately after you put the roast in. Cooking at this temperature allows the roast to cook evenly from edge to edge without any bullseye effect. Also, cooking at 200 F greatly reduces the amount of carry-over cooking that will occur. With a tenderloin, this a particularly good method because it keeps the roast especially juicy and moist.

When the roast gets to about 5 degrees below the desired finished temperature, remove it from the oven. Crank the oven up to 450 F/convection. After the oven reaches temperature, put the roast back in the oven for 5-8 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees halfway through. This final blast will develop a light crust on the exterior of the meat. After those few minutes, remove it from the oven, let it rest briefly and slice it.

=R=

We made the 21st Century Wellington from the Gourmet cookbook that came out a year ago.
Instead of pate, it has a pesto of blanched spinach (1.5 lbs), cilantro (1.5 bunches), and parsley (1 bunch), walnuts (we used pine), cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, a couple eggs, and a dollop of honey, with a sour-cream pastry crust.

Awesome.

YourPalWill wrote:My recipe for tenderloin is simple and lets the taste of this luxurious beef stand out. I'm a believer that good cuts of meat like tenderloin and standing rib roast need little except some salt pepper and maybe some garlic.

I crack a little fresh ground pepper and spread it out on some wax paper with some garlic salt. I then roll the tenderloin through it making sure that the entire roast is covered in the garlic salt and pepper. Then, I roast in on a rack at 400 degrees for 55 minutes. Let it rest for ten more minutes and the tenderloin will be a perfect medium rare. I like to slice it thin and serve it with some horseradish sauce and some crusty french rolls. Simple and delicious.

How long do you leave the roast sit out before putting in the oven? I would think that cooking at that high a temperature it would need to be at room temperature throughout before placing in the oven. I cooked one once that was too cold in the middle and even though it looked perfectly cooked, the pink part was tasteless and dry. I've become a big fan of very low temperature (as low as the desired internal temp of the meat) cooking of beef to retain internal juicyness and flavor. Quick browning can be done separately before or after in a skillet or very hot oven.

I'll take a different slant than some others upthread: because tenderloin is so much milder than other cuts of beef, I think it lends itself very well to big-flavored sauces and marinades. I am particularly fond of asian flavors with tenderloin. Spicy red wine and hoison sauce (1 cup to 1 tablespoon proportions) with some grated ginger and black pepper is terrific. After marinating, reduce the concoction way down to make a syruppy, intense sauce, then season with salt.

Ronnie:

What finishing temp do you shoot for?

dukesdad wrote:Ronnie:

What finishing temp do you shoot for?

I like 128-130 F or so but that's strictly a preference. I'd say that's somewhere between rare and medium rare.

BTW, I like Kenny's approach, too. Tenderloin definitely goes swimmingly with a well-crafted sauce.

=R=

imsscott wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:My recipe for tenderloin is simple and lets the taste of this luxurious beef stand out. I'm a believer that good cuts of meat like tenderloin and standing rib roast need little except some salt pepper and maybe some garlic.

I crack a little fresh ground pepper and spread it out on some wax paper with some garlic salt. I then roll the tenderloin through it making sure that the entire roast is covered in the garlic salt and pepper. Then, I roast in on a rack at 400 degrees for 55 minutes. Let it rest for ten more minutes and the tenderloin will be a perfect medium rare. I like to slice it thin and serve it with some horseradish sauce and some crusty french rolls. Simple and delicious.

How long do you leave the roast sit out before putting in the oven? I would think that cooking at that high a temperature it would need to be at room temperature throughout before placing in the oven. I cooked one once that was too cold in the middle and even though it looked perfectly cooked, the pink part was tasteless and dry. I've become a big fan of very low temperature (as low as the desired internal temp of the meat) cooking of beef to retain internal juicyness and flavor. Quick browning can be done separately before or after in a skillet or very hot oven.

Yes, I let the roast come to room temperature before roasting it at such a high heat. At 55 minutes it will come our rare. After resting, it will end up medium rare- a nice darker pink.

I'm a big fan of the low and slow method for prime rib.