Peppered Beef Tenderloin
Beef tenderloins are seasoned and stuffed with grilled portobellos and grilled to rare. They are served with a mushroom sauce. Note the number times the sauce is reduced as you make it; each time, the flavors blend further and intensfy.
Ingredients
- Grilled Mushrooms
- Portobello Mushrooms - 2, large
- Garlic Cloves - 3, minced
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Sauce
- Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
- Shallots - 3, chopped
- Marsala wine - 1 cup
- Garlic Cloves - 6, roasted
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Veal Demi-Glace - 3/4 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/4 cup
- Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Morels - 1 cup (alt. button mushrooms)
- Sun-dried tomatoes - 1/4 cup, sliced thin
- Sage - 1 sprig, chopped
- Balsamic Vinegar - 2 tablespoons
- Salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Tenderloins
- Beef Tenderloins - two, 12-ounce, center cut
- Cracked white peppercorns - 1/4 cup
- Salt - 1 tablespoon
- Rosemary Sprigs - leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, minced
- Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
- Basil Sprigs - 4
Instructions
To prepare the mushrooms: Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a small bowl or cup, mix the garlic and olive oil. Brush the mushrooms with the garlic and olive oil mixture and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Place on a rack and roast in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms soften and shrink slightly. Remove and set aside.
To make the sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, then the shallots. Cook, stirring gently, for 1 minute, until softened. Add the Marsala, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until the wine has reduced by three-fourths in volume. Stir in the veal demi-glace and cream and simmer to reduce again by half. In a separate pan, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sage and set aside. Remove the bay leaf from the cream mixture and puree in a blender or food processor. Return the sauce to the pan. Gently stir in the mushroom mixture and heat until it simmers. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside and keep warm; the sauce can be placed in a wide-mouth thermos for convenience.
To prepare the meat: Holding a sharp chef’s knife flat, parallel to the top of the tenderloins, cut the tenderloins through the centers three-quarters of the way through. Open the flaps like a book and season inside with salt and half of the rosemary. Cut the portobellos lengthwise and place inside the tenderloin. Close the tenderloins and run skewers through the edge to hold. Season the outside with salt, peppercorns, and the remaining rosemary. Set aside.
To cook the meat: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Heat an ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, sear the tenderloins on both sides, then place in the oven and roast for 12 to 14 minutes, to an internal temperature of 110 F for rare, or to taste. Remove from the oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Remove the skewers.
To serve: Pool mushroom sauce on each plate. Slice each tenderloin in half vertically and place on the plates, opened slightly to reveal the filling. Garnish with the grilled mushrooms and fresh basil.
