Mushroom-Stuffed Beef Tenderloin w/ Fondant Potatoes

I started my internship this week and it's been a whirlwind.  I'm pretty much at my internship on all of the days I don't work - which means I pretty much won't have an actual day off for about 7 weeks.  Nuts, isn't it?!

Hopefully these 7 weeks will just fly on by.  I have the pleasure of being able to go to my internship on Friday mornings so that I can have at least one night home with Andy!  I made this last night and it was a definite hit!

Ingredients:

1 lb. beef tenderloin, butterflied
2 oz. country ham, small diced
1/4 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 lb. mirepoix (small diced carrot and celery - we'll omit the onion since we're using the shallot)
1/4 lb. spinach
1/3 cup Madeira
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2-3 cups veal or beef stock
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 new potatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup olive oil
2-3 sprigs of thyme
2 cloves of garlic, cracked
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a medium skillet, heat up a little of the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add country ham, mushrooms, shallot, and mirepoix.  Cook until slightly caramelized, about 3-4 minutes, then stir in spinach until wilted.  Let cool to room temperature.

Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper on both sides.  Spread the filling over top of the butterflied tenderloin and tightly roll up like a roulade.  Tie snuggly with butcher's twine to compact.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, heat up about 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil under medium high heat.  Brown the tenderloin on all sides and transfer to oven to cook to desired temperature - about 20 minutes for a nice medium rare.

While the tenderloin is in the oven, you can prepare your potatoes.  Fondant potatoes are basically caramelized on one side then flipped over and braised in chicken stock and herbs.  Pretty tasty.

In a medium saute pan, add olive oil and heat under medium high heat.  Season potatoes with salt and pepper and place in pan, cut-side down.  Add thyme and garlic to oil to infuse with extra flavor.  Cook until browned, then flip over.  Pour out all of the excess olive oil and add chicken stock to come up about halfway on the potatoes.  Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer until cooked through, about 10-15 minutes.

Remove tenderloin from oven and let rest for about 5-10 minutes on a cutting board before slicing. 

Add Madeira wine to stock in the pan and reduce to sauce consistency.  Strain if desired and mount with a little unsalted butter and season to taste. 

Serve tenderloin with potatoes and some of the pan sauce.

This was definitely a great meal and I couldn't be more glad to say TGIF yesterday!  Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll probably see you about this time next week!