Don’t get me wrong from the title—I treat these tender babies right. First you blacken ‘em in a smoking skillet and then finish ‘em off with a blue cheese-studded BBQ sauce. If that’s not respect, I don’t know what is.

　　

Ingredients

feeds 4

　　

The Sauce

2 tablespoons butter

　　1 large shallot, minced

　　2 large cloves garlic, minced

　　3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

　　2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

　　1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

　　1 cup Mutha Sauce (page 165)

　　1 teaspoon kosher salt

　　3/4 teaspoon black pepper

　　2 to 3 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

　　

The Tenderloins

2 tablespoons kosher salt

　　2 tablespoons coarsely ground or cracked black pepper

　　4 beef tenderloin steaks (8 ounces each)

　　2 tablespoons olive oil

　　

The Garnish

2 tablespoons sliced scallion

　　

Step 1

Fix up the sauce. Grab a small saucepan and sling it over medium heat. Toss in the butter and, once it’s melted, add the shallots and garlic. Cook til they’re soft. Throw in the Worcestershire sauce, orange juice, mustard, Mutha Sauce, salt, and pepper. Give the sauce a stir and keep it warm on a back burner. Crumble the blue cheese and set it aside in the fridge.

　　

Step 2

Fire up a skillet (cast iron works best) over high heat til smoking hot, about 8 minutes. While that’s going on, mix up the salt and pepper on a plate and press the steaks into it, coating them on both sides. Swirl the olive oil into the pan and then throw in the steaks. Cook til they’re a deep bronze color (not really black) on the outside and medium-rare on the inside. That’ll take about 4 minutes on each side, but you can cook them longer if that’s the way you like them (see Touch or Temp on page 34). Plate up the steaks and keep them warm in a 140° oven while you’re finishing the sauce.

　　

Step 3

Throw the blue cheese into the warm sauce as quickly as you can, and give it a little stir. Pour the sauce over the steaks before the cheese melts completely. Toss a few scallions over each steak and you’ve got a real shiner.

　　Dinosaur Bar-B-QueTen Speed Press