Show Stopping Sauce for Beef Tenderloin

[potterstreet]

hi. so sunday is my best friend's birthday and i am cooking for eight people of her choosing and i want to make something special. i picked up an absolutely gorgeous beef tenderloin today which i would like to roast whole. anyone have any ideas for a lovely sauce to go with this - preferably do ahead - so i can have a few glasses of wine whilst putting the rest of the meal together (roasted asparagus, roasted cherry tomatoes with thyme, garlic mashed potatoes and a greens/beet salad witha citrus vinaigrette).

thanks for any help you might be able to give me,
jane

[foodie_guru]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

I have made this recipe numerous times - mostly for Christmas Dinner. It is one of the most delicious sauces, and makes a lot. I love to freeze the left over sauce to use

[sandylc]

OOOPS! 2008!!!

[sandylc]

My vote goes to either bearnaise or steak diane sauce.

[robt5265]

What about a chimicurri sauce. Its healthier than egg yolk based sauces and more modern. Its excellent with all grilled beef dishes and I have found it to be very well recieved.

[travelerjjm]

It is kind of odd for me to think of chimichurri as "modern", but it is wonderful and would be fun. We do it on tenderloin, flank steak and other beef an lamb dishes here frequently.

[robt5265]

What I mean is that Americans werent eating it even 10 years ago. Bearnaise and Bordelaise have been staples of the American kitchen since atleast the 1930's.

[ladyberd]

My favorite is one my mom made every Christmas when I was a kid. It's a horseradish sauce (easily made ahead and served cold). First you whip some heavy cream - about 1/2 cup. Then fold in a couple teaspoons of cider vinegar, some prepared hot horseradish, and a bit of Kosher salt. Yum! Makes me think of the holidays!!!

Enjoy,
Ladyberd
http://ladyberds-kitchen.blogspot.com

[carbonaraboy]

I think that would be excellent with a rib or strip roast, but it would over power a tenderloin. How about the classic chateau sauce:

http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/2654/C...

[splatgirl]

At my house this was dyed red with beet juice.

[weezieduzzit]

I take a cup of good beef stock and reduce it by half, add a cup of brandy and reduce it by half then add a cup of heavy cream and reduce it by half, season to taste.

[thesunflower]

there is a vinegar and onion sauce by natalie dupree that is awesome with beef tenderloin; don't recall which book it's in though

[travelerjjm]

A restaurant I used to go to served tenderloin with two sauces: a brown shallot brandy cream sauce and Bearnaise. The presentation was two or three slices of the tenderloin with sauce on top sort of looking like the yin-yang symbol. Both taste and presentation were fantastic. I do like the blue cheese ideas above, though, and that might be a possible replacement for the Bearnaise.

[christyar]

We did a spin on the blue cheese sauce....we took pearl onions and sliced them, covered them in vinegar and let the viegar cook all the way down....bring cream to a slow boil on low, add 1 TB. horseradish, 6 TB. blue cheese with dried cranberries, and your onions let all the flavors meld together and serve....knock your socks off!

[bear]

Sounds delicious.

[alanbarnes]

So--what did you end up doing? How did it turn out?

[potterstreet]

first, thanks to everyone for their great ideas. i am using that pineapple habanero on something soon - think it might be good to give some life to chicken breasts.

i actually just started experimenting and came up with something really yummy and rich tasting. i tossed a bunch of shallots with a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a hint of brown sugar and oven roasted them until they were tender. i then chopped them up and added them to a reduction i made with port wine, beef stock, honey, and a splash of balsamic and finished it all off with a knob of butter. it was really quite easy and lovely on the tenderloin.

thanks chowhounders again!

jane

[abgilliam]

there is a fantastic sauce in the barefoot contessa parties cookbook. basically slowly boil heavy cream (will take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on cream), then add gorgonzola to melt after cream has thickened.

[JalamaMama]

Believe it or not- Costco Connection Magazine (Dec 07) or (Nov 07) had a Tenderloin bbq'd with a blue cheese sauce that is FANTASTIC! Please check their web site for exact information.

If I am correct, it is heavy cream put to simmer, and then add some blue cheese.

I swear it is like a hollandaise- just a Tablespoon or 2 on a few slices of meat- to die for! Since Xmas, we have bbq'd 6 or 7 tenderloins and recreated the meal to enjoy.

Enjoy your glass of wine!

[Dmnkly]

"If I am correct, it is heavy cream put to simmer, and then add some blue cheese.

I swear it is like a hollandaise"

I can only assume you mean in terms of texture or awesomeness and not flavor, correct? :-)

[JalamaMama]

Like a hollandaise in that it is rich and creamy, and divine. Like hollandiase in that you need a scant amount to inhance the yum in each and every bite.

Not like hollandaise I make to put on eggs benedict, no.

I searched Costco site, but it is not on there...the BEST tenderloin sauce I have had.

[bear]

I think this is it. Sounds so simple, and perfect. I'll have to try it really soon.

http://www.costcoconnection.com/conne...

[Deborah]

Sorry, don't have a recipe (but I am sure there is one out there!) I have made a blue cheese horseradish sauce for beef tenderloin. Delicious!

[JennyHunter]

It was totally unconventional, but I just used a habanero pineapple dipping sauce (store bought) for a glaze on beef tenderloin to rave reviews. I served it with broiled pineapple. I think everybody liked it because it was unexpected.

[alanbarnes]

How about a bearnaise sauce? For fun presentation, you could serve it in broiled mushroom caps so that each diner could have an individual sauce "boat."

[OCEllen]

Bearnaise is always show stopping delicious! I always go to "The Joy of Cooking" recipe for instructions and it works every time!

[kalenasmith]

I've used this recipe and received many compliments on it. You can do ahead and reheat.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

I think it would work well with your menu.