Incredible, Easy, Perfect Beef Tenderloin

We served Filet of Tenderloin for Christmas this year and it was incredible.  First of all - start by buying Costco's finest ... seriously, I haven't found more tender filet.  Highly recommend it.  Secondly - buy more than you think you'll need, because your guests will go back for seconds and thirds.

There are two great options for seasoning the meat.  You can go the simple route, using 1 T. kosher salt, 1 T. coarsely ground black pepper, perhaps 1t. of garlic and/or onion powder.  My personal favorite is Penzey's English Prime Rib Rub, which doesn't work if you're doing Whole30 (darned sugar) but works great otherwise.  Use enough to coat the tenderloin.  For me, more is more :o)

Lastly - be prepared to smoke up your house on this.  I promise - it's worth it.  If the weather is pleasant enough, open the doors and windows to allow for a cross breeze.  If not, just suck it up - the meat will be amazing.

Ingredients
1 whole filet of beef (4-6 lb.), trimmed
2 T. softened clarified butter (ghee) if available - unsalted butter if not
Seasoning (see options above)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 500 deg. F. 
2. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, then place it on a roasting rack in a roast pan.  Rub the butter all over the meat with your hands, then spread the seasonings evenly on it. 
3. Open the windows if applicable.  Roast the meat in the oven for 22 min (rare) to 25 min (medium-rare).  Smoky is normal.
4. Remove the beef from the oven, then wrap it tightly with aluminum foil.  Allow it to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
5. Slice and serve with Fresh and Jazzy Creamy Dill Horseradish Sauce.

Fresh and Jazzy Creamy Dill Horseradish Sauce

This goes incredibly well with any kind of a beef roast or steak or filet...

Creamy Paleo, Dairy-free, Dill Horseradish Sauce

Special kudos to Kat at the Caught Somewhere in Thyme blog for this one - I needed something for my holiday dinners while plowing through my most recent Whole30.  My non-W30 guests went crazy with it too - glad I made a lot!  Since it takes a bit of lead time, recommend making enough for multiple meals (the amounts below should cover a few meals for two) ... it saves well for a while in a Tupperware in the back of the fridge.

1/2 C. full fat coconut milk
6-7 T. fresh horseradish, peeled and grated fine
2 t. dill (dried is fine)
1/2 t. dry mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 t. salt
1/4 t. finely ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small Tupperware - mix well.  You can serve it immediately, but it benefits from sitting for 4-8 hours in the fridge. 

Light and Airy Cinnamon Raisin Bread

My oldest daughter asked if I could send cinnamon raisin bread to school with her for her kindergarten snack. Not being a huge fan of store bought bakery items, I searched the web for my favorite and modified it to my liking. This is particularly easy because I let the bread machine do all the heavy lifting.

Ingredients

3/4 cups milk

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup water (neither hot nor cold)

2 eggs

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (scant tablespoon)

2/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoons butter, melted or well softened

Directions

1. Microwave the milk in a Pyrex in the microwave for 90 seconds. It should smell lightly scalded when you remove it. Add the 1/4 C. softened butter, stirring well until it's either fully melted or at least really soft. Add the 1/2 C. water and stir. Dump this into the bottom of a bread machine.
2. In the same Pyrex, lightly beat your 2 eggs, then add to the liquid in the bread machine.
3. Add the 1/4 C. sugar and 1/2 t. salt to the bread machine.
4. Add the flour to the top of the liquid (sequencing matters here) then create a little well. Put the yeast on top of the flour into this well.
5. Turn on the bread machine on the dough setting, then let it do its thing for 60 min.
6. Lightly butter your 9'x5" (or slightly larger) bread pan.
7. After an hour (the dough cycle likely won't say it's done yet), turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. It will be sticky. Stretch, pat, or roll it into a rectangle, the width of your bread pan.
8. Top with either premixed cinnamon sugar, or mix the 1/4 C. of sugar with the 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon in a bowl, and spread this across the rectangle. Spread out the raisins evenly, not forgetting the edges.
9. Roll up the dough tightly so that the rolled up dough is the width of the bread pan. The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough roll into the bread pan, seam side down, and tucking ends under if necessary.
10. Spread the remaining butter onto the exposed surface of the dough roll. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise again about 1 hour. I like to do this in an oven that's been heated up to 200 degrees, then turned off. The residual warmth is a perfect rising location. Do not put this dough into an oven that's on or you're likely to start cooking it.
11. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until bread is lightly browned and sounds hollow when knocked. If it looks like it's getting too brown too quickly, cover the top with foil.
12. Remove loaf from pan, and brush again with melted butter. Let cool before slicing.

Out of this World Rack of Pork

Lately Costco has had rack of pork available - and I must admit that I've never even thought of the idea of a rack of pork.  Rack of lamb, sure!  Love it.  But rack of pork?  Well ... pigs have ribs, and we eat pork chops, so duuh!!

In any case, I bought one of these beauties the other day and was searching the web for what to do with it.  I came across Chef Dennis Littley's recipe for Oven Roasted Rack of Pork and had to try it.

Let me tell you - it was fantastic!  What made it particularly perfect was the pan gravy.  I made the slight addition of some potato flour (starch) to thicken it up and changed the cooking temp/time - but for the most part otherwise, it was perfect.  I forgot to take a picture the first time around - guess it means I have to cook it again!!

Ingredients

• 1 -8 bone center cut rack of pork
• Olive oil
• Montreal Steak Seasoning or the Crispy Wing Rub or just sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 2 carrots - peeled and rough cut 
• add 4-8 extras, peeled and rough cut too if you want to serve roasted carrots as a side dish
• 1 med onion-rough cut and include skins
• 2 stalks of celery- rough cut
• 6 cloves garlic peeled and cut into 2-4 pieces each
• Russet potatoes (however many you're serving)
• Potato flour / potato starch

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  I like to cook on the convection roast setting. 
2. Make a little island of rough cut vegetables in the middle of a roasting pan.  If you're making extra carrots, spread them around the perimeter of your island.
3. Rinse the rack of pork well and pat dry place rack fat side up, on top of cut veggies
4. Apply a lot of olive oil to the entire rack, rubbing it into the meat
5. Sprinkle entire rack with the seasoning of your choice:  Crispy Wing Rub, Montreal Steak Seasoning, or simply salt/pepper (and anything else you like - garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme...).
6. Wash and dry the russet potatoes.  Coat with Olive Oil and the same seasonings you used for the pork.
7. Place pan in the center of the preheated oven, (placing the potatoes directly on the rack on either side) for 15 minutes.
8. After 15 minutes reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to roast for 1-1.5 hours or until internal temperature (use a thermometer) in the middle has reached 150 degrees.
9. Remove the Rack from the oven.  Transfer the pork to a tray (with sides to catch the juice) and cover tightly with foil.  Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing the meat. This will allow all the juices to remain in the rack, rather than have them run all over the plate, making the meat dry.
10. While the rack is resting, place 1-1.5 cups of water in the roasting pan and place on the stovetop over low heat.  Using a wooden spoon loosen, all the baked in meat scraps from the pan until everything is loose.  This is the point where I pick out all the extra carrots and set them into a serving bowl. 
11. To make the easiest pan gravy on earth, strain out all of the vegetable pieces and any other solids.  Add a little potato flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking over low heat.  Add enough until it is to the thickness you like.  Taste for seasoning;  you may not need any after the seasonings and meat drippings have done their magic.
12. Cut the rack along the bones, making even portions of the pork, serve with your pan gravy, carrots, potatoes, and a green vegetable to your liking!

Chef Dennis' notes:  when you remove a larger cut of meat from the oven it will continue to cook and the temperature of the meat will rise 10 more degrees.
Pork can be eaten at lower temperatures than 165 degrees, but if your entire party would like the meat very well done, you can continue to roast the rack until the center cuts are 155 degrees.