Photos: Merry Beefmas

How about one more taste of the smoky goodness before we get to the end-o-year stuff...

Christmas Eve, nothing to do but eat, may as well make it worthwhile. Our choice for the evening was to smoke a beef tenderloin.

We started with a smallish tenderloin -- just the two of us. Just a brush of olive oil and a little salt & pepper:


Then a quick hour+ smoke with two small pieces of apple wood. Sear over the open flame for a couple minutes on each side, rest for 10 minutes and about 1.5 hours after taking the beef out of the fridge we've got some delicious filet.


Mmm... can't you just taste it? That gorgeous smoke ring brings a tear to my eye and a gurgle to my belly. I've tried the tenderloin a few times and this was, by far, the best it's ever come out. Sometimes it's too damn smoky and some times it's a bit undercooked. Less wood, more time on the smoke and a little extra time searing over the fire to give it that delicious cooked-outdoors kick seemed to do the trick.

The key to the dish is the creamy Gorgonzola sauce. Serve it up with mom's perfect Jew-lo-mein (recipe avail. upon request) and some greens and f'in a! a delicious meal, praise Jebus:

tasty beef + outdoor love + gorgonzola =