Passover 2012 Menu Plan

 Passover is quickly approaching:)  

and we will be observing it on the eve of Friday, April 6 this year.  Having all our children celebrating it with us is a most blessed occasion in our lives.  

We served this tenderloin recipe last year and really liked it and the molten lava cake has been served at our Passover table for the last 3 years now.  This is such an amazing occasion in so many ways, I can't help but be excited by it's coming each year!

The Menu

Peppered Horseradish Beef Tenderloin

Mashed potatoes 

Molten lava cake

Wine 

Sparkling grape juice

Salad

(And, of coarse, the usual seder elements:)

The Recipes

Peppered Horseradish Tenderloin

1  2-3# Beef tenderloin

(rub with coarse sea salt the night before and place in refrig. uncovered...about 18 hrs. or so total)

2 Tbsp. prepared horse radish

1 Tbsp. Evoo

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp Kosher salt (I use sea salt)

2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Creamy horse radish sauce (recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 400*

Combine horseradish, evoo and dijon mustard in a bowl

Mix the salt and pepper, then rub it all over the top of the tenderloin

Coat the top of the meat with the horse radish mixture.  (I let this sit on the meat for about an hr. before cooking the meat)

Then I cooked the meat for about 1 hr. to an internal temp of about 155*.  This may be to well done for some, however, we do not like the meat bloody or too pink)

Remove from the oven and tent with foil for about 10 min. in which the internal temp will raise another 5* bringing it to 160*.

Your meat should be very tender and well flavored.

Creamy Horse Radish Sauce

1&1/4 c sour cream

1/3 cup prepared horse radish

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill until ready to serve.  Serve with tenderloin.

(*This may be made in advance and kept in the fridg. for up to 3 days)

Molten Lava Cake

6 sq. Bakers semi sweet chocolate

10 Tbsp butter

1 1/2c powdered sugar

1/2 c flour

3 whole eggs

3 egg yokes

Heat oven to 425*

Butter and flour 5- 6 remakins and place on a cookie sheet.

whisk your eggs well and set aside.

Put powdered sugar and flour into a mixing bowl and mix well.

Melt butter and chocolate together and whisk till mixed well then add to sugar and flour mix and add eggs and beat until well blended.

Pour into prepared remakins (just about half way) and place in preheated oven for 14-15 min., until outside is firm around the edges but will be gooey (lava like) in the center.

You can serve in the remakin or loosen edges and serve on plates while still warm.

Top with powdered sugar or home made whipped topping if you'd like...but it's just as yummy all by itself!

My younger boys and Craig really like this cake and I think it pretty darn tasty...rich but very tasty!

If you've never cooked a tenderloin before check out some instructions for removing the silverskin or have your butcher remove it for you.  

Here's a ditty on how to remove silverskin from tenderloin

Tenderloins all have an area of connective tissue known as silverskin for its silvery-white appearance. Silverskin doesn't dissolve when the tenderloin is cooked, so it needs to be trimmed away.

Position the tip of a boning knife about 1/2 to 1 inch from one end of the visible silverskin. Push the tip under a strip of silverskin about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. Angle the knife slightly up toward the silverskin as you slide the knife down the tenderloin, freeing the silverskin. Use your free hand to hold the silverskin taut as you cut. If your knife isn't extremely sharp, you may need to use a slight sawing motion to work down the tenderloin. Once you've cut all the way through the end of the strip, turn the knife around and cut off the end that's still attached. Repeat until all the silverskin is gone.

Happy Passover (Pesach) planning and preparation!

Exo 12:48  And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.