Patricia’s “Marry Me” Roast Beef Tenderloin
This recipe was given to me by my son, Sam’s, beloved nanny, Patricia. I prepared it for dinner one night for my best childhood friend, the actress Jennifer Grey. She quickly added the recipe to her repertoire. Single at the time, Jennifer would make this dish to impress the men she was dating. In time she realized she had to be careful whom she cooked it for because they would invariably ask her to marry them after the meal—it’s that delicious
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds beef tenderloin
- 2 extra large beef stock cubes
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1½ tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 175 ml red wine
- 1 tbsp dry sherry
- 235 ml low-sodium beef or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Poke the meat with a knife or thick skewer to make small holes all over.
- Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the stock cubes, the garlic, mustard, tomato paste, a pinch of pepper, and the Worcestershire sauce.
- Pour in 4 tablespoons boiling water to dissolve the stock cubes.
- Using the back of a wooden spoon, crush the stock cubes.
- Keep crushing and stirring until you’ve made a nice thick paste.
- Rub the paste all over the meat, rotating it to coat all sides well.
- Transfer the meat to a roasting tin, cover loosely with foil, and marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- While the meat is marinating, set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 230ºC.
- Pour enough water into the roasting tin to come to a depth of 1-2 cm.
- Place the tin in the oven and roast, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Remove the foil and rotate the tin.
- Continue cooking and check after 10 minutes that there is still liquid in the pan.
- Add more water if needed.
- Roast for an additional 5 minutes for rare, an additional 15 minutes for medium-rare, and an additional 20 minutes for medium.
- Transfer the beef to a platter or cutting board, cover with foil to keep warm and allow to rest while you make the gravy.
- Place the roasting tin with the drippings on a burner over medium heat.
- Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.
- Add the butter and stir.
- Whisk in the wine, sherry and chicken broth.
- Add the cornstarch-water mixture, whisking until thickened, another 2-3 minutes.
- Slice the beef and arrange on a platter.
- Serve the gravy separately.
