Help! Inlaws are coming for dinner!!!!?

Question

I have my inlaws coming for dinner on Saturday - afternoon - for a Christmas dinner. I have never had them to the house before in a big group.

I ordered a Beef Tenderloin from the butcher, but of course don't know how to cook it.......

And, what do I serve with it? sides - like it doesn't seem like a mash potatoe thing, but rice? veggies?

Do I need gravy? or Horseradish sauce? how do I do that???

yikes - any help would be appreciated!!! Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Beef tenderloin is a very lean and meltingly tender cut of beef. I like to wrap mine in bacon to add some flavor and it helps to keep the meat juicy. Ask your butcher how long to cook it for. Keep the other seasonings simple just salt, pepper, garlic and a little butter or oil to keep it moist and assist in browning. Classic sides for beef are spinach, mushrooms & Green salads. Poatoes of almost any type from roasted with herbs, twice baked( which can be made the day before and have the final baking the day of your party, Au Gratin or scalloped. Blue cheese is another flavor that goes well with beef add to your salad or scalloped potatoes. If your worried about gravy just buy a couple of packets and make it in the pan that the beef was roasted in for a more authentic appearence and add a couple of glugs of red wine to it and maybe some dried or fresh thyme. Horseradish some straight from the jar and you can make a creamy sauce by mixing some into a pint of sour cream. Add some French cut green beans with a squeeze of lemon some butter and toasted almonds as a garnish. Rolls that heat in the oven while the roast rests. Buy a killer dessert and you're set.

Answer 2

How about baked stuffed haddock? Buy 2 to 2 1/2 lbs. of fillets, haddock or cod along with a package of Ritz crackers, garlic, Worcesterchier (sp) sauce and real butter. Crush the crackers (one and a 1/2 "tubes" of crackers) into a small bowl, add some garlic, w.sauce (just a couple drops) some melted butter (1/4 stick) and mix together until crumbly. You can also use mayo instead of butter if you wish, but you also want these crumbs to be somewhat moist to keep the fish moist while baking. Put the fish on foil (fi there's skin, skin side down), laid out flat making sure there are no bones and then layer the cracker crumbs on top. Sprinkle with parsley for color. Bake at 375 for about 40-45 minutes. You'll be able to tell when it's done by peeking into the middle with a fork and it seems to flake, not stick together. Add some Newburg sauce with some added scallops, mushrooms, shrimp...for topping. Serve with baked potato and salad. Simple.

Answer 3

Hopefully the beef will be enough for the amount of people that you invited. The easiest way to cook it: put tinfoil into a large pyrex dish - sprinkle bottom of tin foil with any onion soup mix(half package) wash the meat and sprinkle kosher salt over all of it and fresh ground pepper put into dish. Cut up potatoes in quarters and add in some fresh carrots cut into chunks 1/4 cup water, sprinkle balance of onion soup mix on top ,cover tightly with tin foil and bake on 350 F for about 1 hr. check meat for doneness( medium rare) (you could cut a thin piece off) The onion soup mix with the juices of the meat will make a gravy. Take the dish out, let the meat rest for a few minutes and then slice thinly and put on a platter with the potatoes and carrots surrounding it and put gravy on the side, but sprinkle a little on the top of the meat. Have a good time.
Left over (if any) are good for sandwiches.

Answer 4

So simple and easy - just season the beef well on both sides with salt and pepper and add about 1/4 cup of olive oil - roast it on a high temp (about 450) for about 50 minutes - you want the outside browned and the inside tender - horse radish sauce is easy: 2 cups sour cream, 1/4 cup prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon minced chives, 1 teaspoon Champagne or white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Pair it with some garlic mashed potatoes and a veggie and you'll be all set!!! Best of luck!! xoxo

Answer 5

put the beef in a pan that is kind of deep fill it half way with water add a package of onion soup mix to it mix it around add a little bit of salt and some pepper bake in the oven on 350 for 4 hours serve potatoes and corn with it. You can add some string beans with oil and vinegar if yous like adds variety and make a pumpkin or aple pie for after. It will be fine just don't be nervous...in laws can smell fear lol...oh yeh and dinner rolls they are always a hit. :-)

Answer 6

www.cooks.com
www.allrecipes.com

You could do mashed potatoes or rice or both. It's pretty wide open on veggies (corn, carrots, squash, green beans, etc.). I think you can do cranberry sauce as well. You could make a mushroom gravy. Serve some bread. A favorite of ours is an Italian herb bread. It is delicious and never lasts.

Answer 7

Eek! Never, never hurt a piece of beef tenderloin by cooking it in water! It is a pure, tender cut of meat that needs no enhancements except a bit of salt and pepper.

Water and onion soup are for chuck roasts a la pot roast.

Answer 8

wrap the tenderloin in foil, cook in oven until tender.Use any dripping to make a brown gray.A nice vegetable casseroll,and of course.Mashed potatoes ,cranberry sauce and rolls would make a nice dinner

Answer 9

This is a link to instructions and pictures from Fine Cooking......it's really good!

Also, for sides...try an asparagus or artichoke dish, potatoes Au gratin, and garden salad...yum.

Answer 10

roast it in the oven..and have it seasoned well...(not too much)..
and have a side of roasted garlic potatoes, and green beans, and a side salad with some dinner rolls...