I tried this recipes, which I found in the Cooks Country Magazine and loved the crust on the meat. The side dishes are my own creations.
Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Serves 12 to 16
Make sure to begin this recipe 2 hours before you plan to put the roast in the oven. The tenderloin can be trimmed, tied, rubbed with the salt mixture and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance. Make sure to bring the roast back to room temperature before putting it into the oven.
Ingredients:
1 Whole beef tenderloin (5 to 6 pounds) trimmed and patted dry with Kosher salt and cracked pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
2 slices white bread, torn into pieces (I used 1 cup of bread crumbs)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves minced
1. Tuck tail of tenderloin under and tie roast.
2. combine 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon pepper, and sugar in a small bowl and rub all over tenderloin
3. Transfer tenderloin to wire rack and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours
4. Meanwhile pulse bread in food processor to fine crumbs ( i used ready made crumbs)
5. Transfer bread crumbs to medium size bowl and toss in 2 tablespoons parsley, 2 teaspoons thyme, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons oil until evenly combined.
6. Wipe out food processor and process remaining 6 tablespoons parsley, 2 tablespoons thyme , 3/4 cup cheese, 4 tablespoons oil, and garlic until smooth paste forms. Transfer herb paste to small bowl.
7. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heart oven to 400 degrees.
8. Roast tenderloin 20 minutes and remove from oven.
9. Using scissors, cut and remove twine. Coat tenderloin with herb paste followed by bread crumb topping.
10. Roast until thickest part of meat registers about 130 degrees (for medium rare) and topping is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. If topping browns before meat reaches desired temperature cover it with foil.
11. Let roast rest for 30 minutes on wire rack.
12. Transfer to cutting board and carve.
The steps seem a lot, but the preparation time was actually not that bad. Having to wait for the meat to cook and then waiting for it to rest was by far more excruciating, since I did not account for how long this might take.
