Photo of Tenderloin of Beef with Blue Cheese and Herb Crust by WW

Tenderloin of Beef with Blue Cheese and Herb Crust

7
Points® value
Total Time
20 min
Prep
12 min
Cook
8 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
A savoury oven-browned blue cheese and herb-bread crumb topping is a delicious accent to beef tenderloin medallions. This dish is incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients

Reduced-calorie white bread

2 slice(s), crusts removed, toasted

Blue cheese

3 tbsp(s), crumbled

Fresh parsley

2 tbsp(s), fresh, chopped

Chives

2 tbsp(s), fresh,chopped

Black pepper

tsp(s)

Wine sauce

½ cup(s), (prepared demi-glace)*

Table wine

1 fl oz, Madeira

Cooking spray

1 spray(s)

Vegetable oil

1 tsp(s)

Uncooked trimmed beef tenderloin

12 oz, center-cut (four 3-oz medallions)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Crumble the toast into a bowl and blend to a coarse paste with the blue cheese, parsley, chives, and pepper.
  2. To prepare the Madeira sauce, combine the wine sauce and Madeira in a small saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and keep hot.
  3. Spray the rack of a roasting pan with nonstick spray. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Swirl in the oil, and then carefully wipe the pan with a paper towel to absorb the excess. Sear the medallions until just browned, about 1 minute per side.
  4. Arrange the medallions on the roasting rack. Coat the top side of each medallion with the blue cheese mixture. Roast until the crust is golden-brown and the meat is done to taste, 3–4 minutes for medium-rare. Serve the medallions on a pool of warm wine sauce.

Notes

*Demi-glace is an intensely flavored, French sauce made from veal stock that can be purchased frozen or as a shelf-stable concentrate at well-stocked supermarkets and gourmet grocery stores. Follow package instructions to reconstitute concentrated demi-glace.Dry-searing and dry-cooking are similar techniques in which a skillet or other cooking vessel is coated with a very thin film of oil to help with heat transfer and protect the food from burning in the moments before the food releases its own fat. To dry-sear or dry-cook, heat a skillet over high heat. Pour one tsp of oil into the skillet, and then wipe the pan with a paper towel to distribute a thin coat of oil and absorb the excess (be careful not to burn yourself). Add ingredients to the pan and cook as directed. Generally speaking, the difference between the two techniques is that dry-seared foods are browned on the top of the stove and finished in the oven, whereas dry-cooked foods are fully cooked on the stove top. Nonstick spray is not recommended for these techniques because the high heat may cause the spray to burn and become sticky.