Restaurant quality dinner - easy to make at home... Rachel Ray recipe sure to please

It seems that restaurant quality meals made at home are often intimidating. Yet, with the help of Rachel Ray, you can make a meal that will impress everybody in the family.

Upon flipping through channels, I came across "30 minute meals with Rachel Ray" on The Food Network. It immediately caught my attention. Not just because there was nothing better to watch on TV, but because the recipe seemed to be easy enough for even the amataur cook to try at home. Even better, it was a quick meal that required very little prep and very little time from start to finish.

While I am typically not a big steak eater, nor do I particularly like Blue Cheese, I thought this recipe was worth the try, and immediately put in for the following week's menu plan.

Ingredients:

4 pieces of beef tenderloin (1 1/2 inches thick)

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1 large sheet of frozen puff pastry dough

1 bundle watercress

8 oz. Blue Cheese (a drier blue that will crumble easier)

1 egg beaten with a splash of water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Take the meat and pat dry. Drizzle olive oil on the meat and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Put the beef into the skillet and brown over medium heat, until it becomes a deep reddish brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the beef and brown on the other side for about 2 minutes more. Remove meat to plate and reserve.

Sprinkle flour on work surface and roll out dough a little, then cut into 4 pieces. Pile a little of water cress on each piece of dough, top with crumbles of blue cheese and some meat. Wrap the dough around the filling and the meat, sealing it with egg wash. Cut a small vent in the top of each parcel. Cover a baking sheet with parchment, arrange parcels on baking sheet and brush them with egg wash using a pastry brush.

Bake until deep golden, about 12-14 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and let the parcels rest.

To complete the meal, serve with baby red potatoes and some steamed broccoli.

Tips: Prior to making the meal, make sure that the meat has come to room temperature. This will allow the meat to cook better in the pan. Also, be sure the puff pastry dough has been completely defrosted. This will allow you to roll the dough out with ease. In addition, if you have everything prepped, when it comes to making the parcels, the assembly line will go really fast.

 This recipe was not only incredibly easy, but it was mouth-watering delicious! Everybody in the entire family enjoyed it, and I am sure I will be making it again in the future.

So, if you are looking for something different to prepare for supper, or maybe you are just trying to impress, this is a great recipe to try. The concept is simply. The taste is great. It will easily become one of your favorite meals to prepare.