Beef Bliss: Spice Rubbed Beef Tenderloin

Anyone who's had the chance to park themselves in a fancy steakhouse are familiar with the terms fillet mignon, tenderloin roast, porterhouse... they all come from the same portion of the bovine anatomy: a rarely used muscle area under the spine that makes it melt in your mouth!

Now, I wouldn't recommend this recipe to the complete culinary novice. Get yourself some practice with the basics before tackling this delicacy. Oh and I might add, the price might make you faint, but if you're a true meat lover, no cost is too high for the best quality. Of course, you could buy the tenderloin whole and untrimmed from somewhere like Costco (like I do) and butcher/trim the slab of brontosaurus-like meat on your own, thus getting much more meat for your dollar, but again - I wouldn't recommend it for the newbies. Heck it takes me about an hour to perform the aforementioned procedure, just to make sure I'm cutting in the right places, so I don't sacrifice any piece of the expensive and tasty meat.


OK, disclaimer time is done... on to the recipe!


Spice Rubbed Beef Tenderloin

- 2 lb. Beef Tenderloin, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all spices together in a bowl and rub on all sides of meat. Place meat in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 35 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 120-125 degrees. Please be sure to check the temperature after 25-30 minutes. Ovens vary, and it would be a party fowl to overcook this meat. For those of you who like your beef well done, you definitely won't reap the benefits of this meat's delicate texture.

Here are some side dishes I suggest for this entree:

Garlic Mashed Potatoes (sorry kids I've never written down my treasured mashed potato recipe, it's all in my noggin)


Sauteed Mushrooms in Red Wine (compliments the beef really nicely when you eat em together)

- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 2 cups Button Mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 Shallots, chopped (you could use 1 medium onion as well, but shallots work better)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup Red Wine

Melt butter in medium frying pan under medium to medium high heat (stove tops may vary). Add shallots and onions and sautee until shallots become translucent and mushrooms reduce in size. Feel free to add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste during sauteeing. Add wine and reduce heat to medium low and let wine reduce to a thicker consistency (pretty much until the liquid is gone). Serve alongside tenderloin medallions. If you'd like to have some red wine with the meal, I encourage you to use the exact same wine in the mushrooms.


A small ceasar salad would go great too, feel free to mix and match!






This is a meal fit for royalty! You're entitled to indulge every now and then ^_~