This is the final post in my Valentine’s Day series.  This was by far my favorite part of the meal.  I’ve never done anything quite so gourmet!  I bought step 4 filet mignon from Whole Foods for this and while it cost me $30 just for the meat it was worth every penny!  This was absolutely delicious!  Again, this was adapted from the Feb/Mar 2014 Taste of Home magazine

Puree:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 lbs carrots, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

In a dutch oven, heat oil over medium hat.  Add carrots and shallots; cook and stir 12-15 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender.  Stir in garlic and thyme, cook 1 minute longer.  Add water to cover carrots; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 20-25 minutes or until carrots are very tender.

Drain, cool slightly.  Place carrot mixture, salt, and pepper in a food processor; process until smooth.

Meat:

4 beef tenderloin steaks (1 1/2 in. thick and 6 oz each)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper

3 tbsp baking cocoa

3 tbsp finely ground coffee

Preheat broiler. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper.  In a shallow bowl, mix cocoa and coffee.  Dip steaks in cocoa mixture to coat all sides; shake off excess.

Place steaks on the rack of a broiler pan.  Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 9-11 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness.

This is unbelievably delicious and to my delight Rob was very impressed with my cooking prowess!  This whole meal took around 2.5 hours to put together which is a lot but for a special occasion it was totally worth it.  My food processor broke in the midst of the carrot pureeing but never fear, the Vitamix was near, so if you don’t have a food processor don’t fret, a blender works just as well.  I can’t get over how well this meal turned out.  I hope you have as much success with it as I did.  Happy cooking!