The tenderloin is the best and the most tender cut of beef. Moreover, tenderloin if often a synonym for the best meat in general due to its softness, low fat content and high proteins. This iron-rich red meat has often been recommended for persons with anemia. 

Usually, you are able to buy the tenderloin whole not if form of a steak. It weights from 1 to 2,5 kg and has a price tag of around 20€ per kg (in Serbia). This is why it’s not always available and far from being cheap. Salted beef steaks covered with oil can stand in a pot for up to 2 weeks.  When you fancy to prepare it just wash it from oil and cook it in a hot pan for 10 minutes on each side (to be well-done). Depending on your taste, you can make your beef steak to be rare, medium-rare, medium or well-done.

There are many recipes for this part of meat. My favorite is Tournedos Rossini. This French specialty is made from tenderloin beef steak cooked on a butter and served on a crouton. Topped with Foie gras – another French specialty made from the liver of a duck or goose. This combination is then finished with Madeira Demi-glace sauce based on a beef broth and Madeira wine. On the end, this specialty is garnished with slices of a black truffle.

To make this specialty at home you will need to invest a lot of effort and time but it’s not impossible. Until you buy all necessary ingredients for Tournedos Rossini you can try much easier recipe from the image. If you are a pregnant woman I suggest to cook your steak Très bien cuit – which translates as well-done. Place your steak on cauliflower puree and finish it with blueberry preserves.

Cauliflower puree:

– 1 small head of cauliflower
– 5 tbs of breadcrumbs (I prefer Schar Bread crumbs but if you are not able to get them you can make them by yourself)
– 1 tbs of butter
– 1 tbs of sour cream

How to make it:

Rip the cauliflower on small pieces and boil them. After 15 minutes of cooking, strain the cauliflower, add butter and mash it. On the end, add sour cream and give it a good stir. Add salt to taste.

Schär Grissini and lettuce go well together with this dish. If you’re not pregnant, semi-dry red wine could also make the experience even more memorable.

Stake salad

Beef steak doesn’t always have to be served in a form of a steak. Nowadays, beef salads are widely popular. However, I strongly suggest to cook the steak as a whole to keep all the juices inside and slice it thin afterwards.

I like to add my favorite sauce in the same pan just before the end of cooking the steak. As a final touch, I sprinkle it with roasted sesame.

The sauce:

• 1 tbs of honey
• 1 tbs of soy sauce
• 1 tbs of sesame oil

The salad:

• 1 fist of nuts
• 1 head of green salad
• 3 radishes
• dry apricots
• half of a lemon
• 2 tbs of sesame oil
• pinch of salt
• beef steak

This salad is extremely rich with vitamin C as well as iron and therefore perfect for persons suffering from anemia. Find out more about anemia while being pregnant and having Celiac disease here.