So Many Dishes

I hope that you are all having a relaxing, enjoyable holiday. Our Christmas has been really wonderful, from a beautiful candlelight service at our church last evening with lots of music to our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of cranberry-apple pie. We continued our practice of trying to guess what was in the gift based on the clue on the tag. Ken didn’t do any outrageous clues this year, so I was able to make reasonable guesses. I didn’t receive a cookbook this year, but he gave me an immersion blender, and I’m really looking forward to trying it.

We had decided on our Christmas dinner menu about two months ago, before my SI joint started to act up again. Our choices turned out to be very fortuitous, since nothing required me to be on my feet for very long. As it was, Ken helped cook and took care of most of the cleanup. I don’t think a special occasion meal is supposed to be this easy, but it was, and equally delicious.

The star of the show was a Cooking Light recipe, tenderloin steaks with port wine reduction and blue cheese. We had made this dish once before, but it’s definitely been a few years. The title describes it perfectly: pan seared steaks topped with a port- based sauce and crumbled blue cheese. In place of tenderloin, we used the steaks that Publix markets as boneless top sirloin fillets. They are wonderfully lean, and it’s our go-to cut for a steak dinner.

The dish comes together in about 15 minutes. After sautéing the steaks in a bit of butter, the meat is removed from the pan, and port, beef broth, a little jellied cranberry sauce, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic are added. The sauce cooks down very quickly, and then is served over the meat, topped with crumbled blue cheese.

I served the steak with roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli, plus the remaining cranberry sauce. But when I carried the plates to the table, Ken looked at it and asked, “where’s the cheese?” I had forgotten to add it. That was easy to resolve.

This definitely qualifies as a special occasion dish, even though it’s easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. It was absolutely delicious. We opened a bottle of a white Bordeaux to drink with the meal, as we anticipate our river cruise in Bordeaux in June. That was another good choice.

We won’t be waiting years to cook this again, and I doubt that I’ll forget the cheese next time 😊

Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Port Reduction and Blue Cheese

• 4 (4-ounce) filet mignon steaks, trimmed (or trimmed top sirloin fillets)
• 1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup tawny port
• 2 tablespoons jellied cranberry sauce
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese, or more to taste

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, and melt the butter. Sprinkle the steaks with the Montreal steak seasoning. Add steaks to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove steaks from pan, cover, and keep warm.

Add all remaining ingredients except for the blue cheese to the pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat and cook until liquid is reduced and syrupy—this goes very quickly. Serve steaks with sauce and top with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Happy eating!