Whole Beef Tenderloin on the Grill from the Girl

Grill meets Girl - The New way to BBQ - it's a man free zone!

A version of this article was first published in Pink Magazine August 2007

It’s a great afternoon. The sun is shining of course. The girls are by the pool yapping about everything.   The cooler stocked full of Chardonnay.   Marie brought the fruit salad, Cindy made the angel food cake and I was in charge of the grill.

Time to fire it up and throw a whole beef tenderloin on.  

I don’t like to trim any type of meat or poultry for the simple reasons that I’m not very good at it. I like to leave that job to the professionals, but a tenderloin is the only thing I will tackle.

When I trim it I work on the basis that if it looks tough, get rid of it. Since it’s going on the grill, I do leave some fat on, but not a lot. I’ll cut the “chain” out, which is the part that runs down the length of the tenderloin and also cut/pull away the tough silver skin.

I leave it completely intact from the head through the Chateaubriand to the tip. With the varying degree of thickness there is something for everyone from rare to medium when it’s finished cooking. A whole tenderloin will serve around ten people. The most uniform part of the tenderloin is the Chateaubriand and if cut out serves around four to six depending on how you slice it.

When you’re buying an untrimmed cut,   keep in mind, the firmer it feels when you push down on it the more fat you are buying and then trimming. Depending on the size and density of fat you could find yourself trimming up to five or six pounds of fat off, which turns a bargain of say $7.00 a pound to full price piece that you had to trim to boot.

  Also look at the grade.   Angus and Prime is the best, choice next and select after that. If you buy the latter two you may want to make a sauce or gravy. Choice and select grades can taste anything from bland to livery or metallic, with a grainy texture. Save those cuts for Stroganoff.  

By far the best ever tenderloin I have had to date was from Niman Ranch. It was expensive, but the beef melted in your mouth and you could cut it with the side of your fork. I have yet to venture and buy a Kobe beef tenderloin since I already have a mortgage on my house. A two-pound Kobe beef Chateaubriand roast will set you back around $275.00.   A whole tenderloin (7.5pounds) will burn a $500.00 hole in your pocket so by those standards for something special the $150.00 Niman Ranch tenderloin is a bargain.  

While the tenderloin was the showcase, the desserts weren’t too bad either. A summer berry and mascarpone tart, angel food cake with caramel frozen mousse and summer fruit salad.   The tart was delicious, easy and beautiful with all the colors. The caramel mousse was perfect with the angle food cake and fruit salad. We made a salad of endive, arugula, grilled peaches and Gorgonzola cheese with a light vinaigrette. We grilled local shrimp and served them with a lemon chili sauce. You can’t have steak without potatoes so we made steak fries in the oven seasoned with sea salt and whipped up a caramelized onion and mushroom sauce to serve on the side, if anyone desired.

Ingredients

Whole beef tenderloin trimmed and tied

4 Tablespoons minced garlic

Paul Prudomme rub for meat – the blue one

Olive oil

Rub the seasoning all over tenderloin; spread the garlic over entire roast and coat with oil. It’s messy but use your hands.   Cover and refrigerate until ready to grill.   Heat grill to 450F.   Roast for five minutes on each side over direct heat.   Roast for another 20-30 minutes over indirect heat or until an instant read thermometer reads 120 - 125F for rare. 125-130F for medium rare.  

It's All Delicious Notes:  Check the page links to the side for the rest of the recipes mentioned in the article.  I think you'll like them.