Horseradish Crust

Last night, I got home a bit late, after my Zumba class, and wanted to make a quick meal. It was like my "friday" since today is a holiday, and I just wanted to sit back and let dinner make itself. This recipe does pretty much that, Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Crust, from the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites Cookbook. The mise en place is simple, and the hands-on attention is minimal. I gathered a beef tenderloin, olive oil, salt and pepper, horseradish and red wine. That's it!

While my oven was preheating to 450 degrees, I placed my beef into a roasting pan, coated it with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. At this point, I put the meat in the oven to roast for 10 minutes. Once my timer told me that 10 minutes had passed, I pulled the meat out and packed my horseradish on the top of it. I squeezed most of the liquid out of the horseradish to assure it was pretty dry first, and then just kind of pressed it on top. Back in the oven it goes, for the next 25 minutes (although, I had to put mine in longer because it wasn't cooked - but keep a good eye on it.)

Once the timer goes off again (or you feel the meat is cooked to your satisfaction), take it out of the oven and allow it to rest for about 4 minutes. Remember, resting means the meat is still cooking inside, so don't overcook it in the oven and then overcook it MORE by resting.

While the meat was resting, I poured 1/2 a cup of red wine into the pan, and let it sizzle away until it was reduced to a sauce with a beautiful sheen to it.

Once I sliced the beef, and plated the slices along with some Cardamom Creamed Spinach (also from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites), I poured a few tablespoons of the red wine reduction over the top of the meat. Easy meal - comin' right up!