Playing Catch Up - And a Beef Tenderloin Masterpiece

So I had lunch with my friend, Kristin, this past weekend. She asked me WHEN I was going to FINALLY update my blog with some more stuff. It's been on my ever-growing "to-do" list forever...and I always seem to find something else to do other than takes a couple of minutes to do a quick post to show off some wonderful culinary creation (said with mucho sarcasm, lol).

But seriously, Norm and I have been cooking a lot, I just haven't been so diligent with taking pictures as I should. Not that my pictures are great...far from it. Some look like my 2 yr old nephew took them. But in downloading pictures tonight from my camera, I realized that my camera ate the best picture...Norm's Christmas Day masterpiece - a bacon-wrapped, crab-stuffed, yummy beyond belief beef tenderloin. **sigh** I'll have to settle for the "before" picture of it dressed up, ready for the oven.

Just a little background, Norm's been making THE tenderloin for the last couple of years, and it's always delish. Last year, he decided to up the ante and stuff it with lobster. Very tasty! This year he wanted to do some even better and stuff it with crab and serve it with bernaise sauce. WOW. It was probably the best meal we've ever had. His sister and brother-in-law were with us for the holidays, as were his parents....everyone raved. We kept everything else simple, baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, steamed asparagus, and a salad. He definitely outdid himself!

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Tenderloin
1 filet mignon tenderloin
1 lb peppered bacon (or more if you have a larger piece of beef)
string for tying the tenderloin
crabmeat stuffing (recipe below)

Slice tenderlloin down the center, but not the whole way thru. Spread a layer of crab stuffing in the "pocket" of the tenderoin. (note, don't pack in an excessive amt of stuff or you'll have a hard time closing it to wrap with the bacon and tie up for roasting.) Close the tenderloin over the stuffing and layer bacon over the top of the tenderloin, covering the sides as well, and securing with toothpicks. Tie tenderloin tightly to keep together while roasting.

Roast at 425 degrees until desired temperature. We did ours medium rare - we had a rather large piece of meat, and it took at least an hour. After it rested for about 10 minutes out of the oven, we sliced it and anyone who wanted it done more, we just cooked it in a pan on the stove.

CRABMEAT STUFFING WITH SOUR CREAM
Source: cooks.com
1 c. crabmeat
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms (*omitted)
3/4 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. butter, melted (*omitted)
2 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt

Cook celery and onion in butter until tender. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Makes approximately 1 quart.

A side note, this makes yummy crabcakes as well. We had some stuffing leftover, and made mini crab cakes for a twist on eggs benedict the next morning.