Cocktails: Short Stacks
Main Course: Beef Tenderloin with Maple Whiskey Glaze, Accompanied by Roasted Vegetables
Dessert: Brandied Cherry and Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Drizzle and Whipped Cream

This is a wonderful meal to serve guests. Wonderful for you, because so much of it can be done in advance, freeing you up to enjoy the time with your guests without feeling exhausted or distracted. Wonderful for your guests, because who doesn’t like filet mignon? (Beef tenderloin is to filet mignon what an unsliced loaf of bread is to sliced bread.) Expect the beef to set you back financially, but it’s worth the splurge. You may be tempted to augment the main course … maybe with mashed potatoes. However, I find that this meal as-is will leave you in the perfect mood for a thick slice of cake, after which you’ll feel fully satisfied.

1. Maple Whiskey Glaze

Start with the glaze. You can make it weeks in advance and keep it tightly sealed in the fridge. Even if you’re making it day-of, most of it’s cooking time is unattended, making it a good multitasker. If you are planning to do everything day of, start the glaze in the morning. Click here for the glaze recipe.

2. Brandied Cherry and Apple Spice Cake

While the glaze is reducing, make the cake. Or, if you have the time, make it the day before and keep it tightly wrapped in the fridge. It’s just as fantastic the second day. Click here for the cake recipe.

3. Short Stacks

Although you’ll want to make the cocktails to order, last minute, you can make the bacon garnish for them days in advance. Keep the cooked bacon slices refrigerated; allow them to come to room temperature before using. If you want to serve a nibble with the cocktails, I suggest something simple and salty, like pistachios in the shell. Click here for the Short Stack cocktail recipe.

4. Roasted Vegetables

You can prep the vegetables well in advance of the meal. If you’ve done this, and all the items above are already made, you can proceed from this point about 45 minutes before you expect your guests to arrive. Note that you can roast the vegetables about ⅔ of the way, take them out of the oven, and finish roasting them while the beef rests.

Ingredients for 4 generous side-dish servings:

8 medium carrots (just shy of 1 lb.), peeled and sliced
2 lbs. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (or quartered, if excessively large)
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper

How To Do It:

Pre-heat oven to 450ºF. Toss veggies with oil, salt, and pepper. Spread out onto a baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes (30 if the veggies are small, or if you cut them into small pieces).

5. Beef Tenderloin

You can let the beef rest in between searing and roasting. That can help you coordinate dinnertime with the arrival of your guests. Expect the roasting time to be no more than 20 minutes. That, plus the resting time, means that you can toss the roast into the oven as your first guest arrives, and spend the time enjoying cocktails.

What you need to serve 4:

2 lbs beef tenderloin (tied)
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper

How to Do It:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF. Pre-heat a cast iron pan over high heat. Meanwhile, pat the beef dry with paper towels. Add oil to the pan, and as it heats, salt and pepper the beef generously. Sear the beef on all sides.
2. Paint the roast generously with glaze, and roast until a temperature probe inserted into thickest part registers 125ºF for rare, periodically reapplying the glaze. (The beef’s temperature will continue to rise for a few minutes after it’s out of the oven.)
3. Remove from oven; cover loosely with foil; let rest 10 minutes. (Remove twine.)

Notes:

1. Ideally, the fan for your stove should vent to the outdoors. If you ever do a kitchen remodel, locate your stove to an outside wall, and pay the extra money to have it vent outdoors. I’ve had it both ways, and there’s no comparison. There are many high-end hoods that claim that they can filter things efficiently. I can’t speak to that, but I can tell you that an everyday stove fan venting outdoors is fantastic. If you don’t have that option, though, open a window and set your thermostat to “fan.” If you sear this beef properly, it’s going to get smoky in your house.

2. You can wait as long as two hours between searing and roasting. I do this commonly, with excellent results. It helps to coordinate the beef with the sides, and it also gives you time to clear the smoke out of your house before your guests arrive. You may want to refrigerate the roast during this resting time. Don’t take my word for this or anything related to food safety, though. Do your own research to determine what you think is right.
3. You don’t have to tie your roast, but there are a couple reasons for doing so. Most importantly, if you don’t tie it, it could get away! Just kidding – this roast was fresh, but not that fresh. Tying will help the roast keep its shape. It could lose its shape somewhat during the cooking process. Secondly, if your roast has a distinct taper to it, folding the thinner end under and tying it can promote even cooking. Don’t bother tying your roast yourself, though – your butcher will do this for you (it’s a standard request), it will only take a minute or two, and there will be no extra charge for it.
4. Two pounds is just enough beef to generously serve four, probably without leftovers. In the unlikely event that you do have some of this roast left over, know that it makes for a terrific sandwich. Sliver it into paper-thin slices. Don’t re-heat; eat it cold, or let it come to room temperature.
5. Serve the beef with a dry red wine: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon (including most Red Bordeaux), Pinot Noir, Syrah/Shiraz, Sangiovese, etc.
6. If you’re inexperienced with cooking a tender cut of beef, my advice would be not to underestimate the paper toweling. You want this thing dry, dry, dry. Salt more than you probably think. Get your pan hotter than you probably are comfortable with. Do not fear the sear. Aim to roast it slightly under what you would really prefer. You can always cook it further, but there’s no fix for overcooking. The resting time is not frivolous. It’s essential.

Dinner for Four: Beef Tenderloin

I found Martha Stewart to be useful this while writing this post. I mean, not like she came over and helped me, or even gave me an over-the-shoulder “I think something’s burning.” More like, I went to her website and looked some stuff up. But I also went to my website and looked some stuff up, so… Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was not written in exchange for anything.

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