If you want to have a memorable dinner party featuring beef tenderloin, then check out this menu plan! It is sure to impress your guests without your needing to spend hours sweating over a hot stove. Most of the dishes can be made easily and without much fuss, like the potatoes, which can be made days in advance. Beef tenderloin is the star of the show, and is supported by garlic-mashed potatoes, green beans amandine, with pecan pie as the finale. It is nothing short of spectacular. Use your best china and crystal for this elegant dinner party, light a few candles, pour some slightly chilled red wine, and enjoy.

Beef tenderloin is one of the most expensive cuts of meat. The reason for this high price tag is that there is absolutely no waste. The meat is incredibly tender and flavorful. It is also very easy to make. Simply rub it with olive oil, sprinkle with some seasonings, insert a meat thermometer, and roast.

Rubbed with a paste of oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and marjoram, beef tenderloin becomes rich and flavorful. Better yet, it cooks practically unattended for about an hour, including the time it needs to rest after roasting.

You will need a meat thermometer to keep track of the tenderloin's internal temperature, as well as some kitchen twine to truss the beef, which keeps it the same thickness so it cooks evenly. While the meat is succulent and tender all by itself, you can serve a bit of horseradish or horseradish cream on the side, if desired.

Try This Horseradish Sauce on Your Roast Beef

Meat and potatoes are a common combination and with good reason. The usually bland starchiness of potatoes is like a wonderful blank palette for the flavorful juices and seasoning that come from the steak. These creamy, flavorful potatoes are incredibly delicious and are the perfect complement to meat. Plus they finish in your crock pot.

Since your oven needs to be free for roasting the beef, using the slow cooker for a side dish is very practical. It is the perfect solution for making mashed potatoes ahead of time—an otherwise impossible feat. The potatoes can be held for two hours on low and all you have to do is stir occasionally. 

When you have such a rich entree, your plate practically begs for a fresh, crisp green vegetable to break up the hearty unctuousness. A simple, yet dressed-up green bean dish rounds out the menu. 

You can use green or yellow wax beans, or combination of the two for a beautiful presentation. The beans are cooked on the stove, as is the warm buttery almond-garlic topping, making for an easy but impressive side dish.

The key to making the best pecan pie is to make sure the consistency of the ingredients is just right. Ever have a pecan pie where the filling was just too liquidy? The solution for that is partially cooking the filling before it goes into the pie crust.

This recipe is brimming with brown sugar, which is perhaps what makes this pecan pie utterly delicious. Pecan pie is best eaten within 12 hours, so make it the morning of your dinner party. For best results, follow the instructions exactly, which means baking it at a low temperature for the sake of the crust and filling.