here's a great one Rose. And fun - as you get to light the brandy - hee hee.

From Mique.

GREEN PEPPERCORN SAUCE Makes (3/4cup) - Mique
1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons shallot, finely chopped ¼ pound mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
1 teaspoon green
peppercorns, rinsed and drained
Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons brandy
1 cup whipping cream

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the shallot and saute over
medium heat until soft. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes, stirring
frequently. Add the parsley, peppercorns, and 2 to 3 drops of Tabasco sauce.

2. Warm the brandy and ignite it. Pour the brandy into the mushroom mixture
and stir until the flames subside. Add the cream. Boil the sauce, stirring
constantly, until it thickens. Add salt to taste.

LOL Stacy, I was just getting ready to post the same recipe. It is soooooo good!

Here is another really good one. You will have to adapt a bit because you are doing a whole tenderloin. Just use the pan drippings from your whole roast instead of the pan fried part. To tell you the truth I don;t think you even need to do that.

Filet Mignon With Mushrooms And Madeira

1 TBSP butter
2 Tbl olive oil
12 ounces button mushrooms thinly sliced
1/2 Cup minced shallots (about 3)
4 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbl chopped fresh thyme
4 5-ounce filet mignon steaks(each about 3/4 inch thick)
1/2 Cup Madeira
1 1/2 Cup canned beef broth
1/2 Cup whipping cream

Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup shallots and half of garlic and saute until shallots are soft, about 3 minutes. Stir in thyme; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mushroom mixture to medium bowl.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper.

Add to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steaks to plate.

Add remaining 1/4 cup shallots and garlic to same skillet. Saute 2 minutes. Add Madeira and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add broth and boil until mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 6 minutes. Add cream and boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in mushroom mixture. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Return steaks to skillet and cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer to plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.
Makes 4 servings.~

Bon Apptit May 2001~

Oh, I would do a traditional Chateaubriand served with duchess potatoes, button mushrooms, roasted carrots and baby peas with pearl onions (or whatever vegetables you want). The traditional sauces are bernaise and bordelaise.

At the restaurant where I worked in the 80's during college, this was the "most elegant" item on the menu, and was carved table side with the 2 sauces presented. The chateau was roasted, the vegetables prepared, and the potatoes piped around the edge of the serving platter. They went into the oven for about 8 minutes to bake/crisp them, and then the chateau roast and vegetables were attractively placed in the middle and the whole thing rolled out to the table for carving and serving.

Here's a picture that's close to what we served (minus those foil wrapped baked potatoes which ruin the image). {{gwi:1564007}}

What fun to have a whole tenderloin to roast.

This one from Ina Garten is wonderful! Anything that starts with four cups of cream has to be good..LOL!!

David

FILET OF BEEF
Serves 8 to 10
1 whole filet of beef (4 to 5 pounds), trimmed and tied
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper

1. Heat oven to 500. Place beef on a baking sheet; pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Spread butter on with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Roast for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium rare.

2. Remove from oven; cover tightly with foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the filet thickly.

Serve with Gorgonzola Sauce.

Gorgonzola Sauce

Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 3 cups

4 cups heavy cream
3 to 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola (not creamy or "dolce")
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Bring the heavy cream to a full boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, then continue to boil rapidly for 45 to 50 minutes, until thickened like a white sauce, stirring occasionally.

Off the heat, add the Gorgonzola, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk rapidly until the cheeses melt and serve warm.

If you must reheat, warm the sauce over low heat until melted, then whisk vigorously until the sauce comes together.

Femmelady had my favorite way but if you like, a simple herb butter on top of the filet slices is very good too. As the butter melts on the meat it will run into the potatoes, giveing a nice blend of flavors.

femmelady, absolutely gorgeous dish! We served the exact same plating for the Chateaubriand in the restaurant I worked in during the '80s. I don't think I've seen Chateaubriand on a menu in years and Joe and I both love it.

Michelle

Thanks everyone, for your great suggestions. I am off work Wednesday & Thursday to get it all together for the weekend. I'll let you know what I decide to do!

Rose, I make this dish for extra special elegant occasions. It's makes a very elegant presentaion.

Tuscany Stuffed Tenderloin
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons drained and chopped dried tomatoes in oil
1 (4-pound) beef tenderloin, trimmed
Garnish: fresh parsley sprigs

Sauté onion in hot oil in a large skillet over medium heat until tender. Add spinach, salt, and pepper, and sauté 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese and dried tomatoes.
Cut tenderloin lengthwise down center, cutting to, but not through, bottom. Lay flat, and spoon spinach mixture down center of tenderloin. Fold tenderloin over mixture, and tie with string at 1-inch intervals. (Tenderloin won't completely close.) Chill 2 hours, if desired. Place, cut side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Cover exposed filling with a strip of aluminum foil.
Bake at 425° for 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion of tenderloin registers 145° (medium-rare). Let stand 10 minutes before slicing; garnish, if desired.

Yield: Makes 10 servings

Wow, Oxbgina, that looks like a great recipewe love, simple too and requires no sauce. I've been hung up on making a sauce...I think I will make this one!

Michelle, that's interesting. Where was your restaurant? Mine was called Haden House in Columbia, MO. We did so much table side service including carving the chateau, or a rack of lamb. We did Caesar Salad, flaming cherries jubilee, bananas foster, baked alaska. I always describe it a 80's supper club style dining. Heavy but elegant.

Rose, what did you serve (or are you serving) since it's Thursday night. Hope you're having a great time!

I was the Chef of the Haden House in Columbia Missouri after the founding Chef Roi Smith retired. We worked for a great man named Jack Crouch. Jack was one of the original founders of Hyatt Hotels.
I have so many great memories from that restaurant. It was very unique in that it was Classical french Continental Cuisine on one side of the old plantation house and Southern style BBQ on the other.
I worked with some great guys there, one of which was named Norton Evans. He and his wife Mary opened a very successful diner out on old highway 63.
I left Columbia and my career took me to many places. I was a chef since then at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Flamingo Hilton in Vegas, Walt Disney World in Florida, the Broadmoor Hotel here in Colorado Springs, Maggianno's in Denver and now I teach the Culinary Arts.
Great memories of Columbia, Mo which is also where I met my wife Jane of 25 years now and my first daughter of 4 girls was born in Columbia also.