Today is the first day of Fall and the look and feel around our area of New York certainly indicates that much. The weather is cool and crisp, the leaves are starting to turn and thoughts turn to fall and autumn fruits, vegetables and meals around here. Sure, that means soups, stews and the like but it can also mean fall entertaining with some elegant but easy meals that you can put together when you have friends and family over. We had just such a dinner this past weekend and I decided to make a filet mignon roast. It’s not something we have very often because of the price but it is a nice treat when you are having a larger party over. This recipe from Food Network is the perfect answer for your meal with a tender filet mignon roast along with some of your favorite roasted winter vegetables.
Filet Mignon with Roasted Winter Vegetables
For the Vegetables:
2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped
2 to 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 pound mini carrots, well cleaned
2 bunches beets, scrubbed, tops trimmed and halved
2 red onions, quartered
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the Filet Mignon Roast:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons stone ground mustard
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 (6-pound) whole beef tenderloin (filet mignon)
Kosher salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. For the vegetables, add all of the vegetables, the garlic, the olive oil, the rosemary, the salt and the pepper, to taste, in single layers on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Toss the vegetables until they are well coated with the olive oil. Roast the vegetables until they are golden brown and tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cover and keep warm until you are serving.
For the roast, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Combine the olive oil, minced garlic, mustard, rosemary and pepper in a small bowl until they are blended. Coat the tenderloin all over with the mustard mixture. This can be done the day before and left in the refrigerator overnight if you like. Just before roasting, season the tenderloin generously with kosher salt, to taste. Set the tenderloin in a large roasting pan and place it in the center of the oven on the middle rack. Roast the tenderloin until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the tenderloin registers 135 degrees, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven to a cutting board and tent it with aluminum foil. Allow the tenderloin to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Arrange the slices on a platter and serve alongside the warmed roasted vegetables.
It is a simple dish that looks great, smells great and tastes awesome. The meat was done just perfectly so that it was medium-rare to medium throughout and the vegetables were nicely browned and tender and full of flavor. Of course, you can always add whatever vegetables you like best to the dish besides what is in the recipe, like mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, acorn squash, Brussels sprouts or whatever happens to look good at the grocery store when you are shopping. I used golden beets in mine because I liked the look and the flavor but any beets you like will work here. Everyone really enjoyed it and it was a great night with some good food.
That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!