Roast Tri-tip with Horseradish Cream

Bilbo made this for sister R's birthday dinner and I was lucky enough to be in California at the time to celebrate with them and enjoy. It hits a lot of my peculiar 'favorite' buttons, and I found it moreish, a word we associate more with salty snack foods and crunchy cookies than with beautifully plateable entrees, but there you have it. I just thought it was wonderful. I have trouble cooking meat, so I don't know if I could cook it as well as Bilbo did, but I'm recording the recipe so I have the option to try.

The whole menu was well planned and executed. Served by the side was roasted asparagus spears tossed with oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan-- they were still bright green. R made a nice dense oatmeal bread and there was also a nice savory pilaf. Dessert was an R classic, Momofuku "crack" pie.

This recipe is from the magazine Bon Appetit, December 2012, and was developed by Alison Attenborough with roast beef tenderloin, not tri-tip. Bilbo has made it with both and says he prefers the tri-tip. It says it serves 8-10 but the 3 of us ate half the meat. Oops.

Horseradish Cream

1/2 c plus 2 T creme fraiche or sour cream (about 5 oz)
start with 1 1/2 T drained prepared horseradish, add more to taste
start with 1 1/2 T coarsely ground fresh peppercorns, mixed colors if possible, add more to taste
salt to taste

Whisk creme fraiche or sour cream until thickened and soft peaks start to form, 1-2 minutes. Fold in horseradish and peppercorns; adjust to taste with more horseradish, pepper, and, of course, salt. This can be made up to 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Beef

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 T chopped fresh thyme
2 1/2 t salt
1 T freshly ground pepper, mixture of colors including pink if possible
1 3 pound beef tri-tip at room temperature
(1 bunch fresh rosemary)-- Bilbo omitted
1 T olive oil
1 T butter

Combine garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Rub all over meat, pressing to adhere. Wrap in plastic and chill up to overnight. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before continuing.

Preheat oven to 400. (Scatter rosemary over bottom of a large roasting pan).

Heat oil and butter in a 12 inch cast iron skillet over med high heat. Sear meat until brown on all sides; maybe 90 seconds or so on each side. Transfer to prepared roasting pan; Bilbo used a small rack.

Roast meat until an instant read thermometer inserted into thickest part of beef registers 125 for medium rare (Bilbo went to 135), about 30 minutes. Transfer to a carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Thinly slice and sever with horseradish cream.

To double or triple the recipe, sear pieces of meat one at a time, then arrange crosswise in roasting pan with 1-2 inches in between. The cook time will be the same.

Straight from the source: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/roast-beef-tenderloin-with-horseradish-cream#recipe-ingredients