Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce, Creamed Spinach, and Truffled French Fries

From the kitchen of Carly

Tender beef meets a silky red wine reduction built from caramelized shallots and mushrooms simmered with Pinot Noir. Creamed spinach and truffled fries round out this restaurant-quality plate that tastes far more complicated than it actually is.

Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce, Creamed Spinach, and Truffled French Fries

Beef tenderloin stops being special when you just roast it plain. The trick here is the wine sauce, dark and deep from caramelized shallots and mushrooms, built over time so the flavors actually matter. Creamed spinach catches the sauce on the plate, and truffled fries give you something to push it all into. It looks fancy. It tastes like you tried.

Prep
n/a
Cook
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Total
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Servings
4
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

4 servings

  • 2 tbspcanola oil
  • 8 ozshallots, sliced
  • 16-ounce package sliced mushrooms
  • 2 tbspsugar
  • 2 tbspred wine vinegar
  • 1750-ml bottle Pinot Noir or other dry red wine
  • 114-ounce can low-salt chicken broth
  • 114-ounce can beef broth
  • 2fresh thyme sprigs
  • 1 1/2 tspwhole black peppercorns
  • 1Turkish bay leaf
  • 1 tbspbutter, room temperature
  • 1 tbspall purpose flour
  • 12-pound beef tenderloin roast
  • 1 tbspolive oil
  • 1 cupwhipping cream
  • 29-ounce packages fresh baby spinach leaves
  • 1Truffled French Fries

Instructions

  1. Set a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat with the canola oil. Tumble in the shallots and mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over the top and keep cooking until the mixture turns deep brown, about 4 minutes more. Pour in the vinegar and stir until every drop evaporates, about 1 minute, then add the wine and boil until reduced by half, about 20 minutes. Add both broths along with the thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf, bring to a boil, then drop the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded.

  2. Pour the sauce through a fine strainer into a small saucepan, pressing on the solids before discarding them. In a small bowl, mash the butter and flour together until smooth. Bring the strained sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat and gradually whisk in the butter-flour mixture. Cook until the sauce reduces to 1 1/4 cups, about 5 minutes. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill it, then rewarm over medium heat before serving.)

  3. Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Season the beef all over generously with salt and pepper. Get a heavy large skillet ripping hot over high heat with the olive oil, then lay the beef in and sear until deeply browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer it to the rack on the baking sheet and roast until a thermometer inserted into the center reads 120°F for medium-rare, about 35 minutes. Move the beef to a cutting board and let it rest for 10 minutes.

  4. While the beef rests, bring the whipping cream to a boil in a heavy large pot and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add half the spinach and toss just until it begins to wilt, about 1 minute, then add the remaining spinach and toss until all of it is wilted, about 2 minutes more. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  5. Slice the beef tenderloin crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Spoon the creamed spinach across 6 plates, lay the beef slices on top dividing them equally, then spoon the red wine sauce over and around the meat. Add the Truffled French Fries to each plate and serve immediately.

Tips from the kitchen

  • Caramelize the shallots and mushrooms hard, in stages. Don't rush the browning, about 12 minutes for tender then 4 more for deep color. That caramel is where the sauce lives.
  • Red wine sauce can be made a full day ahead and reheated. Do this. It lets the flavors settle and frees you to focus on getting the beef and spinach timed right on the day you cook.
  • Beef tenderloin is forgiving but rests fast. Pull it at 120°F internal temp and let it sit for the full 10 minutes. It'll carryover cook to a perfect medium-rare, and the resting keeps it juicy when you slice.
  • When you wilt the spinach in reduced cream, do it in two batches. The first batch melts into the cream, the second stays textured. Both matter.

Variations

  • Swap red wine for Burgundy or Côtes du Rhône if Pinot Noir isn't what you have, or go drier with a Bordeaux blend for more structure in the sauce.
  • Use cremini or oyster mushrooms instead of button mushrooms, or mix types. Darker mushrooms give the sauce more umami and color.
  • Skip the truffle oil on the fries and finish them with fleur de sel and cracked pepper, or dust them with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano while they're still hot.
  • Braise the beef low and slow in the sauce instead of roasting it separately, for a more unified dish, though you'll lose the crust.

Make ahead and storage

Sauce keeps refrigerated for 3 days and freezes well for up to 2 months. Creamed spinach will hold for 2 days cold, reheat gently over low heat with a splash of cream. Beef tenderloin doesn't reheat prettily, so eat it fresh or cold the next day, sliced thin.