Elegant Holiday: Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin

ELEGANT HOLIDAY DINNER:

PANCETTA-WRAPPED BEEF TENDERLOIN

with HORSERADISH CREAM

1 (5-6lb) beef tenderloin [this is a $100 slab of meat, so I used ribeye steaks instead]
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
3 Tblsp olive oil, divided
14 very thin pancetta slices
3 garlic cloves
2 Tblsp chopped fresh rosemary
Whipped Horseradish Cream 

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Sprinkle tenderloin [or steaks] with salt and pepper. Cook in 2 tablespoons hot oil in a skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Let cool 5 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, arrange pancetta slices in 2 rows on a large piece of wax paper, overlapping to form a rectangle. Sprinkle garlic and rosemary over tenderloin. Place tenderloin on edge of 1 long side of pancetta. Tightly roll up tenderloin with pancetta, using wax paper as a guide. Discard wax paper. Tie tenderloin with kitchen string, securing at 1-inch intervals. Transfer to an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, and brush with remaining 1 Tblsp oil. [Since I used steaks, I seared each side in the oil, then laid on baking sheet, sprinkled with garlic and rosemary, placed 2 slices of pancetta on top of each one and stuck them in the oven that way]
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes or until pancetta is crispy and meat thermometer instered into center of tenderloin registers 120 degrees F (rare). Let stand 10 minutes. Discard kitchen string before slicing. Serve with Horseradish Cream.

WHIPPED HORSERADISH CREAM

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup horseradish

2 Tblsp chopped fresh parsley

1/4 tsp salt

• Beat whipping cream at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer 1 minutes or until soft peaks form. 
• Fold in remaining ingredients. 
• Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 8 hours.

"An Elegant Holiday Dinner"

from Southern Living's 

"Cooking for Christmas"
Cherry-Pecan Brie
Tossed Greens-and-Grapes Salad
Easy Asiago-Olive Rolls
Pancetta-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Whipped Horseradish Cream
Crispy Potatoes with Fennel
Lemon-Garlic Green Beans
Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

For the Introduction to this series of recipes, click HERE

Flank Steak Pinwheels

**as for the issues I had yesterday...I got confused between "following" and "subscribing". Even if you've noticed i'm not "following" you anymore, I'm still seeing your stuff through the subscription. With Google reader, it makes it possible. So you won't have that problem--click on "subscribe by RRS" [where I have the 'follow me this way' on the left column] with the orange funny icon.**

**Thank you everyone who has "followed" my craft blog. Its not "officially" up yet, so don't expect much yet =) But I do appreciate it! I don't do crafts as often as I cook, just a disclaimer. LOL Its still under much construction!**
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, if the kabobs haven't gotten you in the mood for grilling--this WILL. And don't just do the pinwheels. Do the pinwheels, cheese sauce AND fettuccine noodles. Trust me on this one, please?

FLANK STEAK PINWHEELS

8 bacon strips
1 beef flank steak (around 1-1/2 lbs)
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 jar (7 oz) roasted sweet red peppers, drained

Place bacon strips wrapped in paper towels, and cook for 2 minutes or until partially cooked.

Cut steak horizontally from long side to within 1/2 inch of opposite side. Open meat so it lies flat.

Place spinach over steak within 1/2 inch of border; top with red peppers.

With the grain of meat going from left to right, roll up jelly-roll style. Wrap bacon strips around the beef and secure with toothpicks. Slice beef across the grain into eight (about) slices.

Grill, covered, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until meat reaches desired doneness.

Discard toothpicks before serving.

CREAM CHEESE SAUCE
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup 2% milk
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

In a small saucepan, combine the cream cheese, milk, butter and pepper. Cook and stir consistently over low heat just until smooth (do not boil!). Off heat, stir in blue cheese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Put a good size spoon full of the cheese sauce on the plate, and place pinwheel on top.

~Serve with fettuccine noodles tossed in a little butter. The noodles soak up the extra blue cheese, and its D-E-V-I-N-E!

~This is a great party grill-out dish. Just prep ahead of time and pop them on the grill when guests arrive.

Tiramisu

A delightful dessert, that gets better the day after its made!

TIRAMISU

500 grams Mascarpone Cheese
3 whole eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
 1 pinch salt
1 or 2 packages of Lady fingers (hard biscuits)
sugarless cocoa powder (for sprinkling)
4 cups brewed Espresso coffee
2 tablespoons Marsala Liquor

Make coffee and put some sugar in it (not so bitter) and then the liquor. Set aside and let it cool.

Seperate yolks from the whites.

In a bowl, mix the yolks with the sugar, whipping until its very creamy. Add the Mascarpone and mix.

Whip the whites with a pinch of salt until they're firm. Add to the yolks mixture and gently fold in order to keep the whites airy and fluffy.

Put some of the cooled coffee in a dish, grab the biscuits, and roll them in it. [make sure its quick--you don't want them so soft it'll taste like mush!] Roll one at a time, putting them in a serving [9x13-inch] dish in a single layer.

When the pan is covered with the biscuits, smear half the cream on it. Sprinkle a bit of the cocoa over the cream--no white spots!

Continue rolling the remaining biscuits in coffee, making another layer. Smear the rest of the cream, leveling it out on top. Sprinkle more of the cocoa powder--no white spots again! Cover and put it in the fridge.

 
Let it cool for a few hours then serve! Again, its better the day after!

Friday Blog Hop on every week!
Its VERY Popular--check it out!!