Whole Filet Mignon Roast

Choose a Filet Mignon tenderloin roast. Mine was 5+ lbs., silver skin removed.

Preheat-heat oven to Convection Roast @ 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you uses a non-convection oven preheat to 450. F.

Place the roast on a rack in a large roasting pan.

Using your hands, rub the roast with Canola Oil or Mild Olive Oil.

Make a dry rub of Garlic Powder, McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning or Kosher Salt crystals & Ground Black Pepper. Using your hands, rub the roast with Canola Oil or Mild Olive Oil. Then, using your hands, coat the entire roast with the above dry rub.

Place roast in oven with temperature probe set for 130 degrees internal temperature. Probe should be placed in center of roast halfway through meat. The ends should be medium while the center sections should be medium rare. Since we made this roast way in advance of dinner, we took it out when the probe reached 120 degrees internal temperature and let it rest. Then, placed it back into the 425 degree oven to let the temperature come up to 130 degrees. Before serving, you must let the roast rest for 15 minutes to allow the juices to be retained in the meat. We placed the cut slices of filet into a service warming tray next to heated gravy boat of beef au jus. Since the roast is cooked at such a high temperature, and we were feeding a large group, I opted for packaged au jus gravy to serve with it.

This was a collaborative effort with Kathy, Andy, & Christopher

Potato Casserole

serves 10

2 pounds frozen hash browns, julienne, thawed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup white or yellow onions, chopped
1 pint sour cream
10 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Combine completely thawed potatoes plus 1/2 cup butter.
Mix soup, onions, sour cream, grated cheese, salt/pepper
Combine with potatoes.
Place in greased 9" x 13" casserole pan.
Mix crushed Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes with 1/4 cup melted butter.
Place Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes mixture on top of potato casserole.

Bake 45-60 minutes (Check @ 45 minutes for doneness) dish should be bubbling and topping crunchy.
Submitted by Kathy Revak from a recipe of Anna Dos Santos

Watergate Jell-O Salad

1 large can of Crushed Pineapple
1 small package of Lime Jell-O
1 small package of Jell-O Instant Pistachio Pudding
1 small container of Small Curd Cottage Cheese
1 small container of Cool Whip

topping:
3-4 Tablespoons Mayonnaise (optional)
Toasted, chopped nuts such as Pecans, Almonds, Pistachios, or Cashews (optional)

Empty large can of crushed pineapple into a bowl. Add Jell-o into bowl, mixing thoroughly. Do the same with the pistachio pudding. Stir in cottage cheese, Fold in Cool Whip (reserving a little Cool Whip to stir into the mayonnaise and "frost" the salad later). Pour the Jell-o mixture into a 8"x 8" baking dish. Chill overnight. Frost with the mixture of the reserved Cool Whip and mayonnaise. Sprinkle with chopped, roasted nuts.
Submitted by Kathy Revak from a found recipe of Lani Yoshimura's

Red Bell Pepper Relish

6 red bell peppers (cored and cut into chunks)

1 cup Heinz plain or Nakano brand white vinegar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt

Place prepared chunks into blender with vinegar and chop. Add sugar and salt. Simmer all ingredients in a pot for 45 minutes.

In a separate cup, whisk together 2 teaspoons of corn starch and 2 teaspoons of water.
Slowly drizzle corn starch mixture into red bell pepper relish, stirring with whisk until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and thickens a little.

Makes 3 batches. Place cooled relish equally in three glass jelly jars. It's great for gift giving and freezes well. Just defrost in the refrigerator overnight when you want to use one. Pour cold relish over a block of cream cheese and serve with various crackers.

edited by Kathleen Revak

Kathy's Orange Date Nut Bread*

In small saucepan on medium-low heat 10-15 minutes:
1 cup ground orange rind
½ cup water
2 Tablespoons sugar

Sift together following in a separate bowl:
2 ¼ cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

In a mixing bowl, mix together:
2/3 cup milk
3 Tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs

Last, add:
¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
¾ cup finely chopped dates

In advance, grind rinds of 3 oranges medium-fine (May take more than 3 oranges to make enough rind.) Measure 1 cup into saucepan, stir in water and 2 Tablespoons sugar. Cover and cook on low to medium heat 10-15 minutes, until most of water is absorbed. Cool.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a separate bowl.

In another mixing bowl, place milk, butter, and eggs and whip with fork until incorporated.

Now, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Start electric mixer on low and slowly add dry ingredients just until smooth.

Stir in orange rind (minus any leftover orange liquid), chopped nuts, & finely chopped dates.

Quickly drop batter into greased & floured 9”x5”x3”inch loaf pans or 5 mini loaf pans.

If desired, now sprinkle tops with mixture of ½ teaspoon cinnamon & 2 Tablespoons of granulated sugar.

Bake @350 degrees F. about 65 minutes for large loaf pans or about 30 minutes for mini loaf pans. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack.

*Added to an Orange Nut Bread Recipe from The Nut Tree, Vacaville,CA@1970's

Reitha's 'Spritz' Cookies

Butter 1 1/2 cups
Sugar 1 cup
Eggs 1
Vanilla 1 Tbsp
Flour 3 1/2 cups

Sugar & Butter - Beat until light and fluffy

Add egg - vanilla

Add in flour, a little at a time, and beat (or mix by hand) just until blended.

Put cookie dough in cookie press and press away onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with whatever you like...red, green sugar crystals, colored dots, etc. You may have to lightly press the decors on the cookie to stick.

Bake in a 400 degree oven 5-6 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets 1-2 minutes, then transfer to racks for
further cooling. If you are making a lot, be sure the cookie pans are COOL before re-using as the cookie dough will start to melt.

You want the edges and bottoms to be ever so lightly browned, so you'll have to watch the time. Some of mine took 7-8 minutes because I used the air bake pans - I don't recommend these pans for these cookies. Just good old fashioned aluminum-steel (whatever) pans. Do not use dark pans.

You will also notice the smell of butter cooking...this is such a good thing...mmmmmmmmm!

NERD ALERT: Share button

Hey there loyal readers. I really hope you are enjoying Revak Recipes. It's been a lot of fun to do and a great resource for us all.

To help spread the love, I've setup a "Share" button on each post and the entire blog so you can now share specific recipes on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and anything else you can think of. You can even easily email, print or bookmark a recipe.

Enjoy!