BEEF TENDERLOIN & Horseradish Sauce

Happy New Year!

From a tiny BEACH kitchen:

New Year’s Eve is our favorite night to stay home.   The following dinner entree post was my contribution to the 2012 kick off meal.  We cooked the tenderloin in the oven, but this could have just as easily been done on a grille.  The accompanying horseradish sauce was a big hit!- as was the ’96 Chateau Souverain from Alexander Valley ~ thanks to Brian and Ellen Russo.  Friends relaxing in front of a roaring fire with Dan and Amy playing guitar and fiddle in our living room made it a special night to remember.

Ingredients:

Mustard Horseradish Sauce:

• 3/4 cup good mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 1/2 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• Kosher salt

Simply mix well and refrigerate up to a day ahead of serving.  This sauce is also wonderful served on a roast beef sandwich with crusty bread, arugula, tomato and thinly sliced red onion.

For the BEEF:

• 2 to 3 pounds fillet of beef, trimmed and tied
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Place the beef on a baking sheet and pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Mix the unsalted butter and mustard together in a small bowl and spread the mixture over the beef with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for exactly 15 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 375 and cook beef to 140 degrees for medium rare or 150 degrees for medium.  An instant read thermometer is perfect for this.

Remove the beef from the oven, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the fillet thickly.

Note: This recipe was adapted from Barefoot Contessa, one of my favorite Food TV chefs.

~Sheryl