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Chatelaine Kitchen

Valentine's day or Family day beef dinner

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Some of my favourite Valentine's Day celebrations have been with a group of loved ones. It's a great time to get together with my family and friends and celebrate with some good grub. Here is a meal I recently put together for loved ones. I think it would be an easy and elegant alternative to all that hustle and bustle of going to a restaurant for Valentine's Day or just a fantastic way to celebrate Family Day. Check out my menu! Beef tenderloin with Port mushroom sauce, Scalloped potatoes and steamed green beans. Here's how I put this meal together step-by-step: I took a 4 lb beef tenderloin out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Then I started preparing my Shortcut scalloped potatoes from the Chatelaine March issue. This recipe is great because it doesn't bake for hours and hours in the oven the way that scalloped potatoes usually do. Click here for a video on making them and the recipe. Next I prepared the sauce for the beef. Here's the recipe: Melt 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter and heat 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. Add 1 lb (16 oz) of sliced mushrooms. In another frying pan or a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup (50 mL) of butter set over medium heat. Add 2 finely chopped shallots. Cook stirring often until softened, about 5 min. Add a generous splash of sherry, 1 tsp (5 mL) coarsely cracked black pepper and 1 sprig of thyme. Cook, stirring often for 3 min. Then pour in 3 cups (750 mL) beef broth and 1 cup (250 mL) of Port or red wine. Cook stirring occasionally until sauce is thick, glossy and reduced by about half, about 25 min. Strain sauce and stir in mushrooms. Keep warm by leaving the heat on low. Stir occasionally. Once my potatoes were resting (tightly covered so they'd stay warm) and the Port and broth had been added to the sauce and it was reducing. I cranked the oven temp to 425F (210 C). I coated the tenderloin in cracked peppercorns and coarse salt — lots and lots! I then, roasted the beef tenderloin on a rack on a baking sheet in the centre of the oven until it was medium-rare. This took about 30 minutes. I always rely on my trusty digital instant-read thermometer to check how done the beef is. Medium-rare is 125F (61C) when the thermometer is insert into the thickest part of the meat. While the beef was roasting I steamed the beans. Then sprinkled with salt and pepper. Then all that's left is assembling the meal. Give yourself a good couple of hours to prepare this meal. I know you're going to love it as much as I did! Check out my next post.  I've done the some of the work for you by putting together a grocery list for this meal.

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