{Wednesday's Guest Post} Beef Tenderloins and Grill Masters

Happy Wednesday!

So to go along with my guest posts this week, I have a new favorite to share with you all!  Move over Bobby Flay, Steve from The Black Peppercorn is the new man in town!  Only having his blog for 6 weeks now, he's all things grilling and shares some incredible recipes on his blog.  I mean his grilled corn and avocado salad is screaming for me to make before the summer comes to an end.

He also just recently celebrated his 15th anniversary with his wife {congratulations!!} and was sweet enough to share his amazing recipe.

Thanks again Steve!!

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Hi!  My name is Steve and I am thrilled to be a guest poster on Kelly's blog.  I am new to the whole food blogging community.  My blog is just 6 weeks old, but I love it and am completely hooked.  The foodie community is great and I have made many new friends, like Kelly!

While I was thinking about what to post on Kelly's site, I tried to keep in the parameters of healthy eating.  I thought of a recipe I had made with beef tenderloin.  I know that as people strive to have healthy eating habits, red meat is often cut from the diet.  The nice thing about beef tenderloin is that it is extremely lean and tender cut of beef.  So when you get that craving for some read meat, this is probably one of the healthiest ways to prepare it.

The crust that is on the outside of the tenderloin has a mixture of flavors.  You can clearly taste the cocoa, coffee, cinnamon and cayenne and the amazing thing is that they all go so well together.  The raspberry reduction sauce is both tart and sweet and goes so well with the beef.

I hope you enjoy it!

Cocoa and Coffee Crusted Beef Tenderloin with a Raspberry Reduction Sauce

Here's what you need:

Beef tenderloin 1.5 - 2 pounds

Rub Ingredients

1/2 cup freshly ground coffee
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt

Raspberry Reduction Sauce

2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp water
1/2 lemon, juiced

Put the raspberries, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often.  Lower heat and let it continue a small rolling boil.  The raspberries should break apart and create a lot of juice.  As it boils it will begin to thicken.  After around 10-15 minutes, remove from heat.

Strain the sauce through a fine sieve.  Discard the seeds and set aside the sauce.  Mix all the rub ingredients together in a bowl.  Rinse the beef tenderloin under cold water.  Cut the ends until they are flat edges.  Look on the meat and if there is any membrane, carefully remove it.  Roll the meat in the rub mixture ensuring that there is a generous coating on all sides.

Preheat the grill to high.  Place the tenderloin on the grill.  Rotate the meat a 1/4 turn every 5 minutes or so.  This should seal the meat and create a crust with the rub mixture.  After the meat has cooked on all sides, lower the heat of the grill to medium/low (around 300 degrees F).  Close the lid and leave it for about 7 minutes.  This will cook the beef to medium rare.  You can adjust the time for your meat preference.

Remove from heat and let the meat rest for 7-10 minutes.  This allows the juices to draw back into the meat.  Thinly slice the beef and serve on a plate with a spoonful of the raspberry reduction sauce.

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Thanks again for guest posting Steve!  Make sure to check out his amazing blog and try some of his yummy recipes!