Houstonist Cooks: Valentine's Dinner No. 1

Mushroom-Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

3/4 cup Marsala wine
1/2 cup minced onion (about a half medium one)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon each - salt & pepper (or to taste)
1 (5-6 pound) beef tenderloin - trimmed (no fat - no "skin")
1 pound fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 gloves of crushed garlic
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup Marsala wine - it's here twice for a reason
1 1/2 cup soft whole wheat breadcrumbs (2-3 slices, crusted and processed in food processor*
garlic salt, fresh ground pepper
8 slices of good, thick bacon (bacon = lurve)

Combine the first six ingredients in a bowl or large ziploc bag and combine well. Place tenderloin in a shallow dish and cover with marinade and plastic wrap, or toss into plastic bag. Refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, turning at least once.

Saute mushrooms, green onions and garlic in butter in a large skillet on medium heat until tender. Add 1/2 cup Marsala and simmer until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, add breadcrumbs and toss gently. Set aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Remove tenderloin from marinade and slice to the center, lengthwise to form a "pocket". Spoon mushroom mixture evenly into the tenderloin, pressing the seam down. Secure at two inch intervals with kitchen twine and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.

Place tenderloin on a rack in a roasting pan and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes, remove from oven and gently cut and remove kitchen twine. Now, for the love part. Crisscross bacon over the tenderloin (making large-ish "x's") and secure the ends with toothpicks (so it won't curl up). Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or, to desired doneness. A meat thermometer, gently slide into the meat, not the stuffing, will read 140 degrees for rare, 150 degrees for medium-rare or 160 degrees for medium (we don't recommend you bake the crap out of it until it is well-done - make a hamburger instead!). Remove toothpicks and plate up on a serving platter - garnish with parsley and cherry tomatoes, or fresh springs of herbs with a fresh mushroom or two tucked in, if you like. Tent with foil and let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes, slice and plate up with sides.

*Plain pre-packaged breadcrumbs would work, in a pinch.

Here's the part where you light the candles and turn on some sweet music, like some Sinatra or some Nat King Cole, maybe some John Coltrane - that's all up to you. Dine in the soft, warm candlelight and make schmoopy-eyes at each other. Once dinner has been consumed, complete the finishing touches on the Creme Brulee - we suggest the champagne and strawberries at this point.

Creme Brulee

2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla -use the real stuff
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons white sugar, light brown sugar or piloncillo

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. While water is boiling, combine cream, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated - if you dump the cream into the yolks all at once, you will have a scrambled egg nightmare on your hands and half to start all over. Pour mixture into four 6 oz. ramekins.

Place ramekins in baking dish, pyrex 9 x 13, and place dish on oven rack.Very carefully, pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until custard is just set. Cool thoroughly. Chill ramekins, covered in plastic wrap in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours or overnite, until ready to serve. Garnish with fresh seasonal berries and maybe a sprig of mint. It's Valentine's Day, presentation is everything.

Before serving, sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over each custard. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to brown top, 2 to 3 minutes. A little butane welding torch will work too, for you "Home Improvement" types (don't get the Binford 2000 model - for the love).
Note that you can use a flavored liqueur in place of or in addition to the vanilla, just keep the amount of liquid the same. Raspberry liqueur would be nice, or some Grand Marnier.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user paper by design.