Sunday, November 16, 2008

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.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is a cool method, I am going to try it. I love the whole 30-30-30 thing, fun.

hermomsometimes said...

I would love to make this. It would be great for Christmas Eve, but where can I get Pickapeppa Sauce. I have never heard of it. Now that I think about it maybe I can find it at the shop I went to with my daughter in OKC. That place had all kinds of different cooking spices, sauces, etc. I'll have her check and see if they have it. It really sounds good and simple.

Snooty Primadona said...

Nooooo! Don't do that! You can find it in almost any old grocery store with the sauces & condiments. Seriously. Even the Mexican Grocery here sells it.

Another tip: Pickapeppa Sauce is great poured over a block of cream cheese & served with crackers.

Darius T. Williams said...

This does look quite good - I just need a piece of white bread and some mayo!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

No Sacrifice Bags said...

I am going to try your method Christmas Day, and oddly enough I put Pickapeppa sauce on almost everything.
Finally I found an idiot proof way to cook a tenderloin!

Merry Christmas!

No Sacrifice Bags said...

I live in Canada and have to go to a West Indian store for Pickapeppa. In Florida I can find it at the local Publix in the aisle with the bottled sauces on one of the top shelves next to Tiger sauce.

No Sacrifice Bags said...

This year it was just my husband and myself alone on Christmas night so I made this for dinner.
I wasn't surprised it turned out perfect, posting it on your blog and I was sure you are confident in it's success?
Who wants a bunch of angry, hungry posters accusing you of ruining their $73.00 tenderloins? lol
From now on, I will ALWAYS cook a tenderloin this way! It was beyond easy, I sat and read a book while waiting for the timer to go off. I usually hover around the kitchen wondering how long to leave it in the oven?

My husband said this meat is cooked perfectly, and he did not even know there was Pickapeppa Sauce on it! He never touches the stuff, which is good because I hoard it for myself.

Thank You for a great new recipe!

Happy New Year,

Donna

Snooty Primadona said...

Duchess: The really weird part is that it does not, I repeat not, matter what size tenderloin you use. They always turn out the same, as long as you stick to the plan...

Heather said...

I want so badly to try this but I have an almost 9 pounder and I'm scared. You keep saying no matter the size but 9 pounds!?!?!!? NINE? :P

Heather said...

30 30 30 failed for my 9 pound tenderloin.. it came out almost still raw and bloody :( I think it'd be perfect for maybe a 3-5 pounder though.

Eileen said...

I make this a lot and it does work perfect. For the most part..30/30/30 will come out med. rare, so if you want it more done, I suggest 33/33/33 for med.. Add another minute or two if you want more towards well done. Very important..make sure you use a cookie sheet with sides or no deeper than a 9x13 pan. Any deeper and it won't cook as fast. ALWAYS, use a shallow pan.