Beef Tenderloin with a Rosemary & Chocolate Sauce and Smashed Sour Cream & Chive Potatoes

This was my first time cooking beef that was not ground. I don't eat a lot of red meat, but the sauce sounded so good I just had to try it. The beef tenderloin was a $40 piece of meat, so I was more determined than normal to make a successful dish on the first try. Raise your hand if you think there's a good chance I'm going to screw this up. Oh, is it just me who has her hand raised?

Let's get down to business-

Ingredients:

one 2 pound beef tenderloin roast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups dry red wine

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 tablespoon unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Step by step instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season the beef with the salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, add the beef and sear until brown on all sides (took about 8 minutes). I recommend wearing long sleeves during this process.

3. Transfer the meat to a rack on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for approximately 30 minutes for a medium-rare tenderloin.

4. Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil and let rest until the sauce is done before slicing.

While the meat is cooking, it's time to make the sauce. I made the mistake of not fully reading the recipe and started doing a few other things before starting the sauce. The sauce takes about 40 minutes to reduce, so unless you want some slightly cooled beef (or you're cooking the beef to well-done), you should start working on the sauce immediately.

For the sauce:

1. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Add the shallots, carrot, and celery to the heated oil. Cook for approximately 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. Stir occasionally.

3. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes

4. Add the red wine and beef broth and stir in the tomato paste. Add the bay leaf and thyme and bring the sauce to a boil.

5. Allow the sauce to simmer until the liquid reduces to about 1/2 cup, 35-40 minutes.

6. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a small saucepan.

7. Stir in the cocoa powder and rosemary. Serve on the side with the sliced beef tenderloin.

While the beef tenderloin is cooking and the sauce is reducing, it's time to get started on the potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (or if unavailable, freeze dried chives)

salt and freshley ground pepper to taste

1. Stab each potato a few times with a steak knife.

2. Boil the potatoes in enough water that the potatoes are entirely covered for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

3. Drain the potatoes and cut them into cubes.

4. Put potato cubes back in the pot and add the chicken broth and coarsely mash.

5. Stir in the sour cream and chives. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger

Evaluation: This dish turned out better than I expected. The sauce was great (on the beef and the potatoes). I will definitely be making this again (most likely when my brother comes for a visit).

Each recipe was supposed to serve four, but this was enough for three at dinner, plus two separate leftover servings of the beef.