Beef Tenderloin in a Mild Three Chile Sauce

Mexican Food Journal

Queretaro style beef tenderloin served with a rich three chile sauce and cactus on the side. The sauce is prepared ancho, pasilla and chipotle chile with the addition of tangy goat cheese.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin (4 fillets)
4 ancho chiles
4 pasilla chiles
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo
4 tomatoes
4 small cactus pads
½ cup heavy cream
5 ounces goat cheese
12 ounces cooking oil
Salt
4 French rolls

Directions

PREPARING THE SAUCE
Remove the stems and seeds from the ancho and pasilla chiles. Reserve the chipotle chile.
Roughly chop the onion.
Peel and crush the garlic.
Preheat 3 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan.
Fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and dried chiles to the pan. Continue to cook over medium heat for 3 minutes. Do not add the chipotle yet.
Add just enough water to barely cover the tomatoes, onion and chiles. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes to reconstitute the chiles.
Next you will blend the all of the base of the sauce until smooth. Add the tomatoes, onion, reconstituted chiles and the chipotle in adobo to your blender. Blend in 2 batches.
Strain the chile base with a medium strainer to remove the chile skins from the sauce.
Preheat a large pot over high heat. Add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pot. Pour the blended and strained chile base into the hot to fry it. Be careful because the oil may spatter.
Once you have poured all the chile base is in the pot reduce the heat to low. Simmer 20 minutes.
Add the goat cheese to the chile base and stir with a whisk until the cheese has fully incorporated.
After the cheese is fully incorporated add the cream and stir with a whisk until the cream has fully incorporated.
Simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally to thicken the sauce.
After 10 minutes turn off the heat.
COOKING THE CACTUS
Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to a medium hot pan. Cook both sides of the cactus for 3 minutes. The cactus is cooked when it has turned a darker green color and is starting to brown.
COOKING THE BEEF
Salt the beef well on both sides
Preheat you pan over high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of oil. Add all four fillets to the pan. When the fillets are nicely browned turn them over, about 3 minutes
Nicely brown the fillets on both sides.
Remove the tenderloin fillets from the pan and let them rest for 3 minutes.
PLATING THE DISH
To each plate, add one cactus pad. Place 1 tenderloin fillet on the cactus pad.
Pour about ½ cup of sauce over the fillet. Garnish with 1 teaspoon of crumbled goat cheese.
Serve with a French roll.