It is your turn, this Sunday, to feed the boys returning from their rugby tournament. This time they are the overall winners, and you want to put a celebratory meal together. These men are going to be hungry, but hotdogs or burgers will not cut it, they deserve to eat like winners. Make this tenderloin with mushroom sauce; it’s guaranteed to make you the most favoured rugby mom on the team. It will, without a doubt, knock their socks off, so a shower before dinner is recommended, and it gives you a little extra time for preparation.
Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary and Creamy, Wild Mushroom Sauce
This recipe caters for six people, so multiply the ingredients by 3 to make sure you have enough and more for the whole team. Total time from preparation to the table is 45 minutes. Before you delve into this recipe, one tool you’ll need that not everybody has is a meat thermometer – just a heads up. List of Ingredients:
- 2 kg beef tenderloin, cut into six generous steaks
- 2 tbsp olive oil for browning the steaks
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
- Three fresh cloves of garlic, crushed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp farm butter
- One medium white onion
- 350gr roughly chopped wild mushrooms
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ cup chardonnay
- 1 cup fresh cream
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
Directions
First things first, turn your oven on to 200⁰ Celsius. While the oven is heating, get all your ingredients together and measured. Finely chop the rosemary, mix it along with the garlic and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Massage this herby mixture into the steaks on both sides.
In a large non-stick frying pan heat the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the steaks and brown them on both sides. To know when your oil is ready for your steaks, test it with the back of your wooden spoon. Place the tip of the handle in the oil; if it is hot enough, little bubbles will form around it.
Now place the steaks on a baking sheet and put them in the preheated oven. Let them roast until the thermometer shows a reading of 40 – 50⁰ Celsius in the centre of the steak. This temperature is for a medium-rare steak, continue cooking for those who prefer medium-well. Wrap the steaks in foil and let them rest for ten minutes; this is vital for a juicy steak that doesn’t leave a river on your plate.
To make the sauce, melt the butter (but don’t burn it), add the onions and the mushrooms with a pinch of salt and pepper, cook until golden and the mushrooms have caramelized then remove them from the pan.
Now add your wine and let it reduce, making sure you get the yummy brown bits stirred in from the pan. Once the wine has reduced slowly stir in the cream and mustard, bringing the sauce to a boil then let it simmer for a few minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the mushrooms and parmesan, and gently stir. Pour the sauce over the steaks and serve immediately with fresh buns to soak up all the juicy sauces and flavours.