Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Early Christmas Dinner


Every year at about this time, my family gets together for Christmas in New York. We all dread travelling over the holidays and so we meet, have a big dinner and exchange presents...it is wonderful to have Christmas "over" three weeks before the actual event, making the actual day of Christmas much less stressful. So, why am I telling you all this? Because we had about a foot more snowfall in New York than we had in Maine, and I got stuck there and couldn't get back here, where my pipes froze and my furnace quit on me (Luckily, Greg stayed behind with the mutts and was able to remedy the situation!)

My mother has finally relinquished her kitchen to me completely. There was a turning point in our food relationship when she called me on Thanksgiving day to find out how I made my mashed potatoes instead of me calling her. So, she told me that "Christmas dinner" was all mine to make....of course only after she bought the food (I went out later and bought the things I really needed) I wanted to share my Roasted Beef Tenderloin in green peppercorn sauce with you:



Trim and prepare your tenderloin in a roasting pan.
and marinate in the green peppercorn mixture:

In a blender, puree:
4 tablespoons green peppercorns (rinsed if pickled)
4 cloves garlic
1/2-3/4 cup red wine
dash of olive oil
pinch of thyme if you have it

pour over the tenderloin (you might need to double the recipe of your tenderloin is larger), cover in plastic wrap and set in refrigerator for at least three hours.

before cooking, bring tenderloin to room temp. take off plastic wrap, baste meat with sauce from pan and place in a preheated 500 degree oven for 10 minutes. lower temp to 350 and roast for another 25 to 30 minutes depending on how you like your tenderloin. Let rest covered for 20 minutes on a cutting board.


Place roasting pan with juices on stove burner medium high and add two tablespoons butter when melted wisk in two tablespoons flour until smooth and then add 1/2 cup heavy cream wisking constantly, if sauce starts to boil , reduce temp and keep wisking until desired thickness. Sauce will be quite zesty. cut beef in slices and add a bit of sauce over the top. Serve with:

Baby carrots and asparagus tips sauteed lightly in two tablespoons butter, dash of white wine, and fine herbs

Enjoy!,
Seth