What list? Or, Tenderloin for Christmas Dinner.

The List has been ignored due to the need to blow one's nose, nap and worry about things.

BUT, Christmas is Christmas, and the dinner must be special. And we had:

BEEF TENDERLOIN!

I have no photo to show you, but the recipe is:

1 lb. fresh mushrooms
1 T plus 1 t butter, divided
1 t lemon juice
1 (6 lb) beef tenderloin, well trimmed
Cooking spray
2 t minced fresh rosemary
1 t fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup dry sherry

Clean mushrooms; remove stems and reserve for another use. Combine 1 T butter and lemon juice in a large skillet. Place over medium heat until hot. Add mushrooms to skillet, cap sides down, and saute for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Add sherry to skillet; cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove mushrooms and keep warm while reserving sherry mixture.

Trim fat from tenderloin. Fold until 3-4 inches of small end. Place on a rack coated with cooking spray; place rack in a shallow roasting pan. Have beef at room temperature. Sprinkle with rosemary and pepper.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Place mushrooms around tenderloin; pour sherry mixture over them. Bake for an additional 10 minute or until meat thermometer registers 140 degrees (rare) to 160 degrees (medium).

Place on a serving platter, over loosely with foil and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Arrange mushrooms around meat.

Yield: 12 servings.

Highly recommended.

Served with roasted acorn squash, green salad and Yorkshire pudding.  Wine pairing:  2007 Fitzpatrick's Syrah.

Cooking with Guiness

Since the rain shows no sign of stopping , hot comfort food is the special du jour around here. This weekend we had:

Guiness Stew (adapted from a Guiness Meat Pie recipe found on Facebook)

1/4 C oil, preferably olive
1 1/2 lbs beef top round, or stew meat
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
2 Tbsp. flour
1 C beef stock
1 C Guiness beer
salt
pepper

Heat oil in a medium pot. Add beef and bacon; sear over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until beef is browned on all sides. Add onion, garlic clove, carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and cook 8 minutes or until soft, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle in flour and cook 1 minute before adding the beef stock, and Guiness.

**At this point stop and breathe deeply...the stew smells heavenly**

Season with salt and pepper, turn down heat and simmer at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You can make a double pie crust and serve this as a meat pie, but we served it to a football watching group as stew with french bread on the side. Excellent.

Serve with Guiness or a peppery red wine.

Next Guiness recipe to try:

Irish Brown Beer Bread

2 c. raisins
1/2 c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 (16 oz.) bottle Guinness Stout beer

Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes until they fluff up a bit. Dry on paper towels and coat with a little flour. Cream butter and sugar well. Add eggs and mix well by hand. Sift flour, salt, baking soda, salt, and allspice; add to creamed mixture alternately with beer. Then add floured raisins. Bake in greased tube pan at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes -- check with toothpick.

If we like the bread I will then try and replicate the Guiness Bread Pudding we had in Eugene. We'll see how it goes.

Cranberry Salsa

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped orange sections (about 3 oranges)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
3 T sugar
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 t salt
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

Place cranberries in a food processor; pulse 2 to 3 times or until coarsely chopped.
Combine cranberries, orange sections, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl, tossing gently to combine. Cover and chill.

I recommend you serve this in a glass bowl -- it really is beautiful. I would post a picture, but it never lasts long enough to photograph.

Yield: 3 cups (we have three hungry boys around here, so I triple it.)

Truffles

Chocolate Truffles

12 oz. sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 whipping cream, scalded
1 1/2 tsp. flavoring
Powdered sugar
12 - 16 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces. Or, high quality milk or white chocolate.

* Use dry bowls and utensils. Can use wooden spoon. *

1. Melt sweet chocolate on high for two minutes. Stir. Melt on high approximately thirty seconds more until done (time may vary according to microwave.)
2. Melt butter on high thirty seconds at a time.
3. Mix the melted butter with the melted sweet chocolate.
4. Slowly strain 1/4 cup of the hot cream into the chocolate mixture, whisking by hand until the cream is absorbed. Repeat procedure twice, using 1/4 cup cream each time.
5. Drizzle flavoring into chocolate mixture, stirring until mixture is smooth.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chocolate mixture is firm, at least two hours (overnight, if desired.)
7. Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Spoon out one inch mounds of chocolate. Chill on baking sheet.
8. Cover hands with powdered sugar. Cover chocolate mound in powdered sugar; roll into ball with sugar covered hands.

At this point, truffles may be frozen. They should be chilled thoroughly before continuing.

9. Melt chocolate of your choice. Keep "melty" by having it over hot water (do NOT let water get into the chocolate.) Dip chocolate ball into the melted chocolate; place on waxed paper. Store in air-tight container in the refrigerator.


Flavoring notes:
I have used two tablespoons of peppermint syrup, rum flavoring, real rum, kahlua, brandy, espresso, mint flavoring, and orange flavoring.

Chocolate notes:
I have used Baker's, Ghirardelli, and Guitard chocolate, as well as the hunks of dark, milk and white chocolate sold at Trader Joe's.

Topping notes:
I have tried to do different things to distinguish the fillings. Powdered sugar for peppermint truffles (dusted over the top), cocoa mixed with a skosh of sugar dusted over the top for dark chocolate, a coffee bean for mocha, a green or orange colored dab of white chocolate on mint or orange flavored ones. On rum ones I tried to make a skull and crossbones (symbolizing the pirate-ish nature of rum) but it just become a swirly design. That's okay. Have fun and be creative.