Perfect Beef Tenderloin... Every Time

When my mother-in-law was still alive we always went to holidays at their house and she was a superb cook. Unfortunately, she never shared her secrets with me, then we lost her to cancer before I was ever able to get the chance to get them out of her.


Since then, I've never had much success at the whole traditional turkey and trimmings thing. I can smoke a mean turkey and I can deep fry a whole turkey, both to perfection. However, neither of our children likes turkey that much, so we started a new tradition of having beef tenderloin in place of turkey, for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has made holidays much easier with less stress, which I love.



This is my family's favorite thing to eat ever and it is the easiest recipe ever. We call it the "30-30-30 Method".  


The beauty of this recipe is that once you learn it, you'll never forget it and it never matters how large or small the tender is. Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I dare you to challenge me on this. Truly.


Ingredients:

1 Beef Tenderloin (you can have the butcher trim it up for you if it isn't already)

1 Bottle of Pickapeppa Sauce (I usually use about 1/2 of the bottle on a good sized tender)

Garlic Powder

Black Peppercorns, freshly ground

1 Sheet of Aluminum Foil 


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 
2. Spread a sheet of aluminum foil over a cookie sheet and spray with Pam or other cooking spray.

3. Flop the uncooked tenderloin onto the foil and cover in Pickapeppa Sauce.

4. Next, sprinkle garlic powder and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

5. Place the tenderloin in preheated oven and close the door. Set the timer for 30 minutes exactly. DO NOT OPEN OVEN FOR ANY REASON.

6. When the first 30 minutes is up, DO NOT OPEN DOOR. Turn off the oven for an additional 30 minutes.

7. When the second 30 minutes is up, you then remove the tender from the oven and place it in an area where it won't be in a draft for yet another 30 minutes, allowing the beef to *coast*.

8. When the third 30 minutes is up, you can slice and serve. You will have medium well done on the ends, slowly going to medium rare in the middle.

9. You can adjust time for more or less done, I suppose. But, this is perfect for a wide spectrum of tastes, trust me. Tried and true.