Legacy Beef Tenderloin MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH!

Cookin' for One:
Cooking on a Large Big Green Egg for one is not tough, but it does seem like a little overkill, especially in the Lump Charcoal department. However after 3 months without having ANY BGE I just need to shut up and COOK! Maybe there is a mini BGE in my future???? If Santa is listenihng.

Tonights Dinner:
After a day of reading stuff for work, a quick trip to the Earth Day festival downtown and two naps, count them TWO naps, I thought I should get busy and think about supper. Tonight I cooked up some fresh asparagus (organic) and a .3 oz Beef Tenderloin from Missouri Legacy Beef I picked up at the Farmers Market here in Columbia Saturday morning. After first arriving and seeing the NO DOGS ALLOWED sign I almost turned around (I had both my dogs with me). After walking them around for a half hour I put them in the car and jogged to the market to get a steak, a cherry pie and the asparagus (and yes, it was cool and the windows were down about 6 inches).

Preparation and cooking:

1. Bring Tenderloin to Room Temperature and rub on BAD BYRON's BUTT RUB...let marinate while you fire up the Big Green Egg and bring it up to T Rex temperatures.

2. Washed up the asparagus, trimmed the butt ends and sprayed the bamboo steamer with olive oil (keeps bamboo from taking on the smell of the food you cook).
3. Sprayed the asparagus and coated it with garlic and parsley (ground).
4. Fired up the egg and brought three (3) cups of water to a boil and placed the steamer on the wok for 15 minutes.
5. Wrapped my twice baked potato (store bought and NOT organic, ha) in foil and placed it on the second layer of the bamboo steamer.
6. Removed the steamer and seared the Tenderloin on both sides (about 1 minute and 30 seconds a side) and removed it for 10 minutes.
7. Finished the steaming of the asparagus for another 10 minutes then plopped the tenderloin back on the t rex hot grill for 2 minutes a side and DONE!

KEEP ON EGGIN'

Only VIRGINS allowed near my Big Green Egg!

Olive Oil; a primary tool in the Egger’s arsenal of condiments and food preparation, should not be taken ‘lightly’ (forgive the pun). This valuable product comes in a variety of grades that are assigned by the International Olive Oil Council and are reflected below in the order of quality (closely associated with their grade which reflects their flavor and composition).

At the top of the list is EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL (a.k.a. EVOO). EVOO is a product of the nearly perfect olives that are crushed (pressed actually) almost immediately after they have been harvested. These olives are processed without heat. It is extremely low in fatty acids and has the best flavor and aroma of all the varieties.

The rest of the oils are hardly worth mentioning for use other than coating your grill grate for storage, or wiping the inside of your carbon steel pots and pans for storage, but here is some information in case you aren’t convinced yet.

Next on the list is VIRGIN OLIVE OIL (VOO) which must contain 100% olive oil (seems obvious doesn’t it?) and must be produced in a manner (from pressing to canning and everything in between) that doesn’t change the natural product (like additives and preservatives or flavorings).

After VOO (I get tired of typing this all out) you get 100% Olive Oil (1OO). This product is a combination of both Virgin and Refined Olive Oils (steamed to remove acids and some flavors) but still contains no additives.

LIGHT OLIVE OIL (sac-religious in the BGE community) again combines Virgin and Refined Oils that are vigorously refined which in essence removes anything that resembles flavor all together.

There is actually a science associated with these oils ( and the list goes on to include Pomace Oils, etc. that gets so involved we would all fall asleep so why bother…just buy and use a good extra virgin olive oil and if you want to do some more research look for one that remains very stable at high temperatures.

Conclusion: Only EXTRA VIRGINS allowed in My BGE Kitchen (OILS THAT IS)!