Steak with Merlot Sauce

In an attempt to plan ahead and be well-organized, I started writing blog posts and scheduling them for a few weeks out. That way I wouldn't be constantly rushing to get new posts up. When I went to check on this one, it was gone. Completely blank. 

Clearly the lesson here is to never try to plan ahead and be well-organized.

So now I have to recreate the post that was witty, beautifully written, with highly-developed characters, and plot twists at every turn that I swear was here a minute ago. All right, fine. But it did have wine and that's dramatic. Just think of this recipe as the Jersey Housewives of steak - you know, because you're basically throwing wine in the steak's face. 

Hello? 

*taps mic*

Jersey Housewives!

This thing on?

All (terrible) jokes aside, this really was an awesome meal. Not only delicious, but it seems fancy, and it's really easy to prepare! 

The fresh sage rub gave the steak so much flavor and I kept adding more of the shallot merlot sauce. Everything paired perfectly.

I made this as a make-ahead freezer meal, so all I had to do was come home from work, heat up the pan and add the ingredients. No chopping or measuring required. I even froze the beef broth and merlot. It's not that I couldn't add the liquid ingredients when I was ready to cook, it was more that I was afraid that I wouldn't have the ingredients when I needed them. I'd come home, take the defrosted steak out of the fridge and *gasp* no beef broth.

I wasn't worried about not having wine.

Ingredients (adapted from The All-New Cooking Light Cookbook)

Tenderloin 

Cooking spray

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 (2.5 pound) center-cut beef tenderloin

Sauce

1/3 cup finely chopped shallots

1 1/2 cups Merlot or other dry red wine

1 1/2 cups low-salt beef broth

1 teaspoon butter

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions (for non-freezer version)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Combine sage, salt, pepper, garlic, and salt, and rub over tenderloin. Add tenderloin to pan and cook for 6 minutes, lightly browning on each side.
3. Cover handle of pan with foil and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 140°. Remove from oven and place tenderloin on cutting board and cover loosely with foil. Let stand 15 minutes.
4. To prepare sauce, use same skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in wine and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about 3/4 cup (about 4 minutes). Stir in broth and cook until reduced to 1 1/4 cups (about 6 minutes). Add butter, stirring until melted. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoons salt.

To make the freezer version

1. Combine sage, salt, pepper, garlic, and salt, and rub over tenderloin. Place in 1-gallon freezer bag. Chop shallots and parsley and freeze in separate small freezer bags. Add a little water to preserve the parsley, then drain water when ready for use. I also froze the broth and wine in cups. 
2. When ready to make, defrost completely.
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add tenderloin to pan and cook for 6 minutes, lightly browning on each side.
5. Cover handle of pan with foil and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 140°. Remove from oven and place tenderloin on cutting board and cover loosely with foil. Let stand 15 minutes.
6. To prepare sauce, use same skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add shallots and saute for 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in wine and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about 3/4 cup (about 4 minutes). Stir in broth and cook until reduced to 1 1/4 cups (about 6 minutes). Add butter, stirring until melted. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoons salt.