Beef tenderloin served with a rich three chile sauce and cactus on the side is popular in the state of Querétaro. The sauce is prepared ancho chile, pasilla chile, and chipotle chile with the addition of tangy goat cheese which makes the sauce even richer and more flavorful.
It looks spectacular on the plate, green, white, and red just like the Mexican flag.
How to Make
Gather Your Ingredients
Start by gathering everything you need to prepare the dish. The ingredients are beef tenderloin fillets, ancho chile, pasilla chile, chipotle in adobo, tomato, onion, garlic, heavy cream, sharp goats cheese and cactus pads.
How to Make the 3 Chile Sauce
The recipe for the sauce makes about 4 cups which is enough for a very generous serving with each beef fillet or to save some to later use, and you will want some for later. It’s that good.
Start by prepping the chiles. Remove the stems and seeds from the ancho and pasilla chiles. You do not need to remove the veins. Don’t worry if a few seeds remain stuck to the chiles. The seeds are edible.
Fry the onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes in 2 tablespoons of oil until the onion just starts to turn translucent.
Add the tomatoes and dried chiles to the pan. Continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring periodically. 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 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. Yes, that’s correct, fry it. This step develops flavor and depth in the sauce. Be careful because the oil may spatter. Once all chile base is in the pot reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the 3 ounces of 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
While the sauce is simmering, cook the cactus pads which serve as a base for the beef when you plate the dish. 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
Preheat your pan over high heat. Add 4 tablespoons of oil. Salt the meat well on both sides. 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. The meat will still be pink in the middle.
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. Serve with more salsa if you like so that you can sop up all of the wonderful flavors with chunks of the French roll.
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Did you have any leftover salsa from the recipe?
Guess what! You can put it to good use by making a delicious breakfast the next day. Just add it to some scrambled eggs and serve them with refried beans.
Looks good, doesn’t it? Provecho!
Wow, that looks incredible!