Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin with Madiera

When I saw this recipe, I debated for about an hour whether it was something we should make or not. I weighed the pros and cons - pros being, it's a new challenge and sounds amazing, do it. The cons were the time it may take, the fact that I don't have a large roasting pan, it called for mushrooms in the Madeira sauce and though I've tried, just not there yet with mushrooms... so the cons were winning, we were going to do the new side dishes and just make our traditional steak kabobs.

Then, I get an email. My World Market Explorer newsletter said that their holiday roasting pans were 50% off. That solved that problem, then, further reading the recipe, I decided I could just nix the mushrooms in the Madeira and it was only 4:00 - plenty of time to cook dinner and get ready for the night. Cons canceled, to the store we went.

I will say, beef tenderloin is a bit pricey but it was New Year's Eve, we weren't going out to a big expensive bash or restaurant so we splurged a bit on our homemade dinner, guilt free! This is the perfect special occasion meal and had to be the most tender meat I've had; melt in your mouth, full of flavor, incredible recipe and we loved the savory, tangy Madeira sauce!

Grocery List:
3 lb beef tenderloin, trimmed (plenty for 2, enough for 4)
1 tablespoon ground pepper, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, divided
6-8 strips of bacon
1/3 cup minced shallots
1 cup Madeira wine
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup Beef Demi-Glace (original recipe called for consomme but they did not have any at the grocery store so they said this demi-glace would be a good substitute)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. cornstarch

Sprinkle the tenderloin with 2 1/2 teaspoons pepper and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Chop your fresh herbs and combine 1/4 cup parsley, rosemary and 3 tbsp. thyme and rub over beef.


Wrap the bacon around each section of the tenderloin, securing at the end of the strip with a toothpick. We used about 7 slices for our piece of meat.


Heat a 12" nonstick skillet over medium high and sear the beef for about 8-10 minutes, turning often to brown on all sides. Remove beef from pan, reserving 2 tbsp. of drippings in the skillet.


Place beef on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the tenderloin registers 140 (for rare) or 160 (for medium).


Remove tenderloin and cut slices by the bacon, about 1/2 inch thick. It looks so perfect and tender!


While tenderloin is in the oven, heat reserved pan drippings for the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and remaining thyme.


Cook 3 minutes then add Madeira, stirring to loosen particles from the bottom of the pan. Add beef broth and demi glace (or consomme if you decide to use that instead), bring to a boil. Boil 10 - 12 minutes or until reduced to about 3 cups.


Remove from heat, add remaining pepper, parsley and butter, whisking until the butter melts. I wanted it to be a little thicker, so at this time, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch to the sauce.


Finished product of the Madiera sauce...


Complete meal at the table!