Beef Tenderloin with Porcini and Pepper Sauce

Beef Tenderloin with Porcini and Pepper Sauce

Once again I am dashing off to another trip to the coast, this time to our RV river property for four days. I made this a couple of weeks ago, with HUGE THANKS to Conor Bofin of the delightfully funny and delicious food blog, One Man’s Meat. I take zero credit for this recipe. In fact I copied his recipe so exactly (other than having a more inferior steak and wine than his) that I will simply link you directly to his site for it.

Beef Tenderloins and Oregon Porcini Mushrooms ~ The tenderloins weren’t near the quality we got with last year’s cow

The pictures are my own on this page, but his photos are a feast for the eyes! I served this with my Smashed Roasted Little Potatoes and asparagus. PLEASE do hop over to his site and read his witty writing, delightful photography, and mouth-watering recipes. This particular recipe is not only drool-worthy, but worth a good chuckle. You won’t be disappointed!

Peppercorns and Mushrooms ~ I clearly need work on my fine chopping skills

Even if you don’t eat meat, his way with words will be sure to delight you. DO read the photo captions too. They are particularly clever. Enjoy!

Click for the recipe here ——> The Truth about Fillet Steak with Porcini and Pepper Sauce

 

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Baked Ling Cod in a Tomato, Tarragon, and Basil Herb Sauce

Basket of Ripe Tomatoes

Well I had high hopes of photographing this most lovely meal I made the other night, but since my tripod holder thingy broke on my camera a few weeks ago, I’ve been rubberbanding it to the tripod. And while taking photos of the beautiful simmering tomato sauce and herbs, I tried to adjust my tripod stand and the camera fell off and went crashing to the floor, losing a plastic piece off the lens, and then decided to beep furiously at me for breaking it.

Baked Ling Cod with Tomatoes Tarragon Basil Herb Sauce

I could not get it to turn back on fully after multiple attempts, even after taking out the battery and reinserting it and powering it up again. It would beep and beep at me, then would finally shut itself down, like a child whose tantrum finally ran out of steam. I gave up on that process, as this meal comes together quite quickly. As an afterthought just as I was about to plate the fish and sides, I asked my daughter to snap a photo of the fish with her iPod Touch. She doesn’t care for fish so she ate some other leftovers for dinner. So her iPod photo is all I have to offer today for my photo. And it’s so bad I’m just posting a wee pic of it and using my tomato photo as the main one. I am unsure of the future of a new camera at this point.

But, at least I can share my recipe with you of this healthy fish meal. We used a filet of the Ling Cod we caught with our friend on the Oregon Coast a few weeks ago, but any nice, solid whitefish will do. We also used some of the tomatoes from our garden that I had frozen instead of canned, and cut some last snips off the tarragon and basil from my fresh herb garden. I elected not to harvest them this year like I did last, only because of time constraints with my workload and trying to get all our tomatoes canned and frozen.

Ling Cod in a Tomato, Tarragon, Basil Herb Sauce

1 large filet of Ling Cod or other whitefish, enough for two people
Milk to soak the fish
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup onion, diced small
1 teaspoon garlic
1 cup homemade or low sodium chicken broth, divided (or half white wine)
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (thawed if frozen)
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped fine
Lemon juice to squeeze over fish
Black pepper to taste

Soak the fish in a 1/2 milk and 1/2 water mixture, enough to cover the filet, in a glass bowl at least one hour or more in the refrigerator. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425. Meanwhile, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat and saute the onions until starting to soften, then add the garlic. Cook for a few minutes more, then add 1/2 the chicken broth, or 1/2 cup white wine if you prefer. We didn’t have any on hand. Bring that up to a simmer until it reduces about half.

Add the cherry tomatoes, and cook and smash them around until they split and start releasing their juices.  Stir in the herbs, and the rest of the chicken broth. Grind a bunch of black pepper over it, to taste. Once again, simmer and reduce the liquid to about half.

Line a baking pan with foil and spray with oil. Remove the fish from the soak, add the fish filet to the pan, and squeeze a generous amount of lemon juice over it. Spoon the tomato herb sauce over the top of the fish, then cover the pan tightly with foil. Place the pan in the oven, and cook for about 20 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook! I checked mine at 20 minutes and it was perfect. We served this with seasoned pasta and Haricot Verts, but any sides will do with this. Some thick crusty bread would be great to mop of the lovely juices in the pan, but alas we did not have any of that either. But it was a delicious and light, healthy meal!

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!