Rosemary: An Herb a Day

Yessssssss!  Rosemary, probably my favorite and most used herb.  I have previously posted about my Rosemary Turkey burgers, which in my opinion is the only way to eat a burger.  If you want to check out this recipe, the link is http://forthereyourheartwillbe.blogspot.com/2012/11/rosemary-turkey-burgers.html.  But today, I decided to try something different.  

Rosemary is so woody and earthy.  It is the heartiest of all of my herb family.  It reminds me slightly of pine, which makes me think of the woods, which makes me think of hunting, which makes me think of deer meat.  Great!  Glad we are on the same page.  This is my Rosemary Stuffed Deer Tenderloin (which can definitely be substituted by beef tenderloin).

Rosemary Stuffed Deer Tenderloin

This is the final product, and the flavors were to die for.  As a side dish, I served roasted sweet potato wedges sprinkled with salt, pepper, and rosemary, of course!

With my meat, I took the tenderloin and cut the top third of the meat horizontally, but not all the way through.  I laid that open and cut horizontally from the middle of the bottom two thirds but not all the way through.  Basically, cut your meat to make it as thin and long as possible.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Now it is time to prepare the stuffing.  I used 1/2 a box of chicken stuffing mix, 2 packed cups of spinach, 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, and 2 sprigs of rosemary.

Chop up that foresty goodness

Put a dab of olive oil in a pan and allow the spinach to wilt and the cranberries to plump up, approximately 5 minutes.

Add half of the box of stuffing mix into the pan and stir in 1/2 cup of red wine (just whatever you have lying around is fine).  

Once the stuffing mix has softened, lay it over the meat and roll the it up.  Tie the meat to keep the stuffing from falling out.  Sprinkle the tenderloin with salt, pepper, and drizzle it with olive oil.

Yummy!  I can't wait.  Place the meat in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  You want the meat to be cooked to the center, but not dried out.

While the meat is in the oven, lets start on the sweet potatoes!  Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut into wedges.  Mince 2 cloves of garlic, along with 1 sprig of rosemary.

Drizzle the wedges with 1-2 TBSP of olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper.

These sweet potatoes are so delicious.  I am unfortunately not a huge sweet potato fan.  I really, really want to be because they are so much better for you than regular russet potatoes, but these sweet potatoes are the perfect complement for this rustic dish.

Are you drooling yet?  My Matty is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so this meal was right up his alley.  Feed this to your manly man, and he will love you forever.