Peppered Lavender Tenderloin

This is a solid meat dish that will be sure to please everyone. The lavender flowers give off a gentle hint of lavender and the pepper works subtly with the Entice Cuvée.

Ingredients

• beef tenderloin roast  ·  4 pounds 
• Extra virgin olive oil  ·  1 tablespoon 
• Herbie's Peppercorns, Black, Australian  ·  2 tablespoons 
• Herbie's Peppercorns, White, (whole) Sarawak  ·  2 tablespoons 
• Herbie's Fennel Seed (whole)  ·  3 tablespoons 
• Herbie's Thyme Leaves, Rubbed  ·  2 teaspoons 
• Herbie's Lavender Flowers  ·  3 tablespoons 

Instructions

Bring the tenderloin roast to room temperature before preparing.  Trim the tenderloin of fat and silverskin, the silvery-white connective tissue. It doesn't dissolve when the tenderloin is cooked, so it needs to be trimmed away. If the silverskin is not trimmed off, it will cause the tenderloin to curl up into the shape of a quarter moon.  If you ask, your butcher will do this for you.

Once the tenderloin roast is trimmed, it no longer has any structure and will start to flatten out. As you want the meat as round as possible for even cooking and also for presentation, trussing is the key.

Use individual pieces of kitchen string to truss the roast. Tie the kitchen string around the tenderloin roast with equal spacing between each truss. Tie the meat firmly, but not too tight. Again you could easily ask your butcher to do this for you.

Pat the beef dry with paper towels (this is important as surface moisture will interfere with good browning).  Lightly oil outside of the roast.

In a small spice or coffee grinder, coarsely grind the black peppercorns, white peppercorns, fennel seeds, thyme, and lavender flowers; rub mixture all over the meat. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

Searing the tenderloin roast is important to brown the meat's proteins and sugars.  This enhances the meat's flavor even more so use a large cast-iron griddle to sear it.

Heat a large cast-iron frying pan over high heat. Without adding any cooking fat, sear the roast on all sides (about 3 rotations, approximately 1 minutes each).  Resist the temptation to constantly turn the beef from side to side and you'll be rewarded with a beautifully browned crust. When browned, immediately remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Tenderloin, like other lean cuts of meat, are best roasted at a high heat rather than baked at lower temperatures. Flavor comes from the browning, not from fat slowly melting into the meat.

Place the seared roast in a large baking pan or roasting pan and bake, uncovered. Turn tenderloin over halfway through cooking for even browning. 

Roast in oven approximately 20 to 40 minutes (depending on size of your roast) until a meat thermometer registers desired temperature (Rare - 120°F, Medium Rare - 125°F, Medium - 130°F).  To cook your meat properly, you must purchase and use a good instant-read digital meat thermometer.

When the tenderloin roast is cooked to your liking, remove from oven, and transfer onto a cutting board; cover with a tent of aluminum foil and let stand 15 minutes before carving (meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after it is removed from the oven).

While waiting for the meat to rest splash a little of the red wine you intend to drink with the tenderloin into the roasting pan, together with a splash of beef broth and deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid to the consistency of light maple syrup.   When ready to serve, cut the roast into 1/2-inch slices and drizzle the pan liquid over the tenderloin portions on the plates.

For accompanying side dishes see our recipes for:

Side – Oven Roasted Potatoes

Side - Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Side – Oven Roasted Carrots