The slow oven, which enables a gently roasting and results in a uniform, rosy tint throughout the muscle, is one of the secrets to this beef tenderloin. The beef is also roasted on top of the pan sauce, which not only gives the meat taste but also humidifies the oven to create a moist, flavorful cooking environment.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 ½ pounds trimmed beef tenderloin roast, tied
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup sliced shallots
- 1 pinch salt
- ¼ cup tarragon vinegar
- 1 cup veal stock
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine porcini mushrooms and water in a bowl; soak until soft, 1 hour. Drain and reserve liquid. Dice and set mushrooms and reserved liquid aside.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Place beef in the skillet; cook until brown on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per side.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir in 1 tablespoon butter, shallots, and a pinch of salt; cook until shallots are soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Pour tarragon vinegar into the skillet and bring to a boil while scraping any browned bits off of the bottom. Stir until liquid is reduced by half, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Pour in veal stock, cream, 1/2 cup reserved mushroom liquid, mushrooms, salt, and pepper; stir to combine. Return beef to the skillet.
- Roast in the preheated oven until meat is medium rare, about 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 130 degrees F (54 degrees C). Transfer meat to a plate and loosely tent with foil. Set skillet over high heat and bring pan juices to a boil.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon butter and tarragon; season with salt and pepper to taste. Return tenderloin and any accumulated juices to skillet and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 489 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 173 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 57 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 149 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I make this all the time and it’s always perfect.
Made this for Christmas dinner and it was fantastic! The roast I bought in December was so large I froze half and am now making it for Valentine’s day. I was thinking about trying a different recipe but this was so incredible that it’s making a repeat appearance. Thanks for the recipe!
Made this without the mushrooms, only because I didn’t have any and didn’t want to drive 30 miles to town to pick some up. Still tasted amazing! The cook time was perfect for a 4 lb roast. Excited to try it with mushrooms next time. Thank you Chef John for another amazing recipe!
Made this recipe for New Years Dinner. I didn’t have tarragon vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar instead. Instead of heavy cream, used 10% instead, still was fantastic. Will definitely make again. Thanks Chef John.
We made this for Christmas Dinner and it was a major hit with the family! I have no photo because it was all gone! This will be the main feature of our Christmas Dinner for years to come
This is our new Christmas Eve meal – unanimously decided to make it a tradition. Always best to limit adjustments to a Chef John recipe, and to watch the video explanations first. I used white wine instead of tarragon vinegar, chicken stock instead of veal stock and 1 tsp dried tarragon instead of fresh – all approved in his video. Perfection.
This was amazing! my new favourite recipe for a special occasion!
Absolutely fabulous!!! We made it for our anniversary with mashed potatoes and oven roasted broccoli, and it was a delightful and festive meal.
This is amazing! I couldn’t find tarragon vinegar so I used red win vinegar and added dried tarragon. Will definitely make this one again!
This was quite a hit. Not hard to make. I added a bit of flour to the gravy and added some red wine. I couldn’t find any tarragon vinegar so just used white wine vinegar with tarragon soaking in it.
Easy recipe….used regular mushrooms and chicken stock
The best roast I have ever made and I am 75
An excellent recipe! The beef was perfect. I had to substitute for a few ingredients I could not find like tarragon vinegar, fresh tarragon, and veal stock but I don’t think it affected the taste. Highly recommend this for a special occasion
followed the recipe without making any changes. Turned out fantastic, tender, juicy, perfect medium rare with a delicious savory sauce. We impressed the pants off our friends. Making it again tonight for a holiday dinner. Highly recommend!
Very Good. Made it for New Year’s Eve. The technique to slow roast the meat worked beautifully. The result was tender, juicy and flavorful. I think the sear on the meat could be accomplished at a lower temp in less time per side than the recipe recommends. I got more of a char on the bottom of the pan than a fond. Between the char and the tarragon, the sauce had a lot of bitter notes. Still tasted good, but not out of this world. May have been my fault for overcooking on the sear. It was a great meal, but the sauce did not live up to the meat on this single cook. At the expense of this meal, it is hard to recommend the experiment, but it was a tasty plate of food.
Excelemt
i will make this again
This was delicious and easy. I would double or triple the mushrooms and shallots.
This was incredible! Used bone broth (because my local butcher makes and bottles it and recommended it) , and I used Madeira wine because I had it. Everything else was done to the letter and let me say, this was definitely restaurant quality. Roast was 3 pounds and was roasted in a convection oven for 45 minutes and tented for 10. Turned out perfectly medium rare. My guests are still raving about it 2 weeks later!!! I highly recommend this recipe.
No changes and will definitely make again. Great flavors!
Honestly cannot say enough about this recipe. Fantastic flavor and the meat was perfectly seasoned with the correct degree of “doneness”. I did substitute rosemary for tarragon as I did not have access to it either fresh or dried. May just try it with tarragon next time.