Roasted Herb Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Ragout
Ingredients:
Serves 4-6
2 lb beef tenderloin roast
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp finely minced fresh garlic
1 tsp each of dried oregano, thyme and basil
Mushroom Ragout
1/2 lb each of white button mushrooms and shiitake mushroom
2-4 Tbsp butter
1/2 small white onion, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
1/2 cup Madeira or white wine
1/3 cup heavy cream
3-4 fresh thyme leaves for garnish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Heat a large oven proof sauté pan over medium high heat. Add oil to the pan and heat then add the butter and swirl the pan until melted. Season beef with salt and pepper and add to the pan, searing on all sides until brown, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer pan to the oven and roast for about 20-25 minutes for medium rare (125(F on an instant read thermometer) or until desired doneness. When done transfer to a cutting board and cover very loosely with foil. Let rest for 10-15 minutes. When ready to serve slice on the diagonal.
Prepare the ragout by cleaning the mushrooms and trimming the ends off the white mushrooms and removing the stems from the shiitakes. Coarsely chop and add to a bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and increase heat to high. Let cook until they brown shaking the pan occasionally to turn them over. Add additional butter during cooking if pan seems too dry. Continue to cook until browned all over. Add the onion and cook until softened about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme. Remove pan from heat and stir in the Madeira or wine. Return to the heat and stir scraping any brown bits from bottom of the pan. Add the cream, bring to a boil then lower heat and let simmer until slightly thickened.
Pour mushroom ragout onto a warmed serving platter, reserving 1/2 cup. Lay meat slices on top of the ragout, overlapping and pout remaining ragout over top. Garnish with Thyme sprigs.
