If I am feeling ambitious, I smoke the tenderloins with a combination of pecan and cherry wood and serve them chilled the next day. If I don’t have that much time, I sear them on the outdoor grill or a stovetop grill pan and finish roasting them with indirect heat, either in the grill or in the oven.
It also is economical because you can slice it thin and get 20 to 25 portions out of a single tenderloin. If you like, you can splurge and buy prime tenderloin. Or if you plan in advance you can employ my trick and “wet age” it yourself in the refrigerator, resulting in a tenderloin with great depth of flavor.
Pizza is not just for ovens anymore. The grill is a great place to do pizza because you get nice grate marks on the dough that adds a nice touch as the grill actually cooks the pizza dough.These mini pizzas are easier to do because it is easier to flip multiple pizza dough disks than it is to do one gigantic piece of dough and also allows you to avoid “hot spots” on the grill that might burn the dough.
For that reason, I find beef tenderloin to be my entertaining slam dunk! Everyone loves beef tenderloin and it is good served chilled, at room temperature or warm. If you are serving it chilled or at room temperature, it can be made the day before, making it even more convenient.
As the lunch business in downtown Palm Springs gets more active, Sammy G’s Tuscan Grill has entered the fray. I was alerted to the fact by a call from an old friend, chef Dave Schy, whom I know from Cooking with Class, from his frequent stints demonstrating at the farmers markets and from his helpfulness towards the local chapter of the slow food movement. Also his blog, newtaste.com, is one of the places I like to browse for recipe ideas. He was acting as consultant on the lunch menu and he invited me to their rehearsal lunch last Monday (they began serving lunch officially the following day.)
The key to a perfect beef tenderloin is to season it simply and not overcook it. I take the meat out when the internal temperature reaches 130 F and let it rest for a minimum of 15 minutes, the longer the better so that the juices redistribute and every slice is rosy pink with a soft, tender and buttery texture.