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Elegant and Easy – Filet Mignon Roast with Roasted Winter Vegetables

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!

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Posted by MikeG on September 23, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Produce, Vegetables

Tags: filet mignon, filet mignon roast, filet mignon roast with roasted winter vegetables, food network, roasted vegetables, roasted winter vegetables, whole beef tenderloin recipe, winter vegetables

Martha My Dear – Martha Stewart’s Braised Chicken Thighs with Winter Vegetables

21 Feb

When I was looking for something to do recently with some of the chicken thighs that I had purchased, I was searching around for a new recipe and I came across this one from Martha Stewart. I don’t use a lot of her recipes very often but this one fit in perfectly with what I wanted to make and actually made use of the exact ingredients I wanted to use. I had some cabbage on hand along with some apples and I wanted to try to find a way to incorporate it all into my meal. This recipe, for braised chicken thighs with winter vegetables, is the perfect one pot meal to get everything done in one pan for easy clean up while still having great flavor.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Winter Vegetables

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), patted dry

Salt and ground black pepper

3 slices bacon, diced medium

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 onion, cut into 3/4-inch wedges

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 small green cabbage, cored and thick ribs removed, cut into 1/2-inch strips

1 apple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large ovenproof pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and cook until they are browned on both sides, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium and add the bacon and garlic. Cook until the bacon fat is rendered, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, potato and carrots and season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and stir in the cabbage, apple, red pepper flakes, chicken broth and Dijon mustard. Add the chicken thighs, nestling them into the vegetables and return the pan to the oven. Bake the chicken and vegetables until the chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into one of the chicken thighs registers 165 degrees, about 20 to 25 minutes. Stir the vegetables halfway through the cooking time to ensure they cook evenly.

The great thing about this meal, besides that it is all in one dish, is the great flavors that all work together in this one. You get a touch of smokiness from the bacon to go along with the great flavors from all of the vegetables, especially the cabbage. The apple also adds a nice tartness to the meal as well and you get just a hint of heat from the red pepper flakes. Best of all is you do not have to make any other side dishes to go along with the meal and you only have one pan to clean when everything is done. I don’t make enough use of cabbage and it is one of favorite vegetables so I hope to be using more of it in more recipes. In fact I just bought a red cabbage and a green cabbage today and have a plan to try a Mu Shu Chicken meal this weekend, so we’ll see how it goes. Anyway, this one was certainly a winner and you could just as easily do this with chicken drumsticks or breasts if you wanted to, though if you use bone-in breasts you may need to alter your cooking time slightly.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. There’s still lots of good stuff to come. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!