BAKED POTATOES WITH MUSHROOM CABERNET GRAVY...

What can i say? This is just good food that keeps on giving...

Baking Potatoes (depending on the size, could be one per person)

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1kg Beef Tenderloin

Salt and Pepper

11/2 Tablespoon Butter

11/2 Cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine

1 Onion (chopped)

1 Seasoning Cube

1/2 Cup Warm Water

2 Teaspoons Chopped Fresh Thyme

Runner Beans

Chopped Parsley

1 Teaspoon Flour

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Wash your potatoes thoroughly with soap, water and a sponge (yes, that thorough). Using a fork or a knife, poke a couple of shallow holes on each potato, this helps steam escape while its cooking, if you don't you will have a lot of cleaning to do as your oven will become like a mini science lab run by 5 year olds when your potatoes accumulate all of that steam and explode (sounds fun, i know). Coat skin with olive oil, sprinkle some salt over it and pop into a pre-heated oven for 90 minutes to bake.

Slice up your raw mushrooms and set aside.

Have your meat cut up into 1 inch pieces and sprinkle with salt and cracked dry pepper.

Sear meat in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until evenly browned all around.

Take meat out and set aside.

Turn the heat down and 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir in the mushroom and chopped onion and cook until they soften down, this should take about 3 - 5 minutes.

Add the wine, water, beef seasoning cube and thyme (you can add some of the stems too, they also pack some flavour). Return meat to the pan and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, mix flour with 2 tablespoons of water until you have a smooth consistency. Add this to gravy and allow to cook together and thicken for another 2 minutes then turn your heat off.

Wash runner beans and add to a dry pan remaining butter, garlic and a pinch of salt. Stir fry it for 2 minutes, just until it just begins to soften then take it off the heat.

When your potato is cooked, slit it through the middle and with both hands (with your thumbs and your fore and middle fingers on both sides of the slit) squish the potato till it spreads open.

Spoon in some gravy, add a side of runner beans and garnish with chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

:D