A Birthday Celebration and the Weekly Menu #MerlotMe

We celebrated our eldest daughter's, Amy, birthday today with a family dinner at home.  It was a wonderful gathering of family and friends and I hope it left our girl with a small glimpse of how important she is to our family.  I was thrilled that most of the kids were able to attend.  We missed Chuck who is out to sea at this writing and we missed most of our TC family but were happy that our Lili was able to attend.

I served up all of Amy's favorite foods, Roast Beef Tenderloin, Caesar Salad, Mashed Potatoes and Birthday Apple Pie ala Mode.

Amy is a beer drinker who occasionally appreciates a glass of Chardonnay or a Margarita.  Frank and I, however, are red wine drinkers and I recently received 6 wonderful bottles of wine from Duckhorn Winery who are sponsoring #MerlotMe which takes place each October.

I posted more about it yesterday, when my Wine Pairing Weekend group shared recipes that paired well with Merlot and chatted about our experience on Twitter.

One of the things that we talked about is that while we appreciate our sponsors and love getting free samples we never post anything other than our true and honest opinion on our blogs.  Our relationship to our readers is much more important to us than our relationships with sponsors and none of us belonging to #WinePW received any monetary compensation for being involved in #MerlotMe.

I was beyond thrilled to receive this package from Duckhorn Vineyards.  Their wines are such a wonderful treat and I always enjoy them.

As we were enjoying the wines provided by sponsors for this event we watched fearfully as fires ravaged the Napa and Sonoma area of California.  We pray for the safety and well being of all affected by this terrible tragedy.

The bottle we chose to open to go with this birthday feast was from their Three Palms Vineyard, established in 1978 and one of California's first single vineyard Merlots, meaning that only grapes grown on this vineyard are used.  It received a 95 point rating with Wine Spectator.

This is an amazing wine.  It stood up perfectly to the tender, juicy, herb encrusted beef.  We enjoyed both bottles that had been provided with this meal and we all thought it was an amazing pairing.

Herb Encrusted Beef Tenderloin

1 (4 lb) beef tenderloin roast (trimmed, tied and cut in half crosswise)

3 cloves garlic

handful parsley 

leaves of 5-6 stems of thyme

leaves of 3-4 stems of rosemary

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3 T. olive oil

1 c. red wine

3 T. butter

Place the garlic, parsley, thyme and rosemary in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until minced.  Add the salt and pepper, pulse twice and then run while adding the olive oil to make a paste like consistency. Rub all over the roasts and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour.

Heat an oven safe skillet over high heat. Add the roasts and sear on all sides until nicely browned.  Place into a preheated 325* oven and roast, turning every 10 minutes or so, until an internal temp of 120* is reached in the thickest portion. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing.

While meat is resting, place skillet over med high heat and deglaze with 1 cup of red wine, bringing to a boil and scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Cook until reduced by half, whisk in the butter until slightly thickened and pour over tenderloin slices before serving.  Print Recipe

I'm closing this post with my Weekly Menu.  Yesterday we had dinner after a Mass of Thanksgiving for our friend, Sister Maryann, who celebrated her 60th Jubilee this year.

Tuesday I will be gone for much of the day taking Aunt Irene to the doctor.  Frank is making Spaghetti for dinner as that is Melody's favorite.

Wednesday, Frank is on his own.  I have food pantry and am going right from there to a DoTerra Oil class at Amy's.

I am looking forward to a fun week and hope that you are too.

Weekly Menu

Saturday
Reception at Sister's after Mass

Sunday-Amy's Birthday Dinner
Corn Chowder
Caesar Salad
Pasta with Crab Sauce
Roast Beef Tenderloin
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Birthday Pie ala Mode

Monday
Hot and Sour Soup
Sweet and Spicy Chicken
Steamed Rice

Tuesday
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Wednesday
Leftovers

Thursday
Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Fish Friday
Seafood Pizza