BBQ Tenderloin Steaks with Green Chilis: Fit for Royalty

BBQ Tenderloin with Green Chilis

I gave my mom and dad the DVDs  to Downton Abbey, which they apparently enjoyed as much as Greg and I did.  (Though she calls it Downtown Abbey, which I think is adorable so I’m not going to correct her.) The PBS Masterpiece Theater upper crust soap opera has taken America by storm.  But it should come with a warning, one that my mother put so well in an email the other night.  “Your father and I can hardly speak plain English anymore.” Alas, ’tis true.

Downton Abbey characters….we are royally hooked

Greg and I also got bit by the Downton Vocal Bug as we watched two hours of the DVD series night after night. It grew apparent as we were readying for bed one evening and I heard a loud  “whack” in the walk-in closet followed by my husband announcing, in a victorious British accent, “I have vanquished a moth!” I paused in the middle of applying my night cream to comment dramatically, “How terribly brave of you, Darling.”

We are fascinated with the servants from the show, called valets (“t” is pronounced), whose sole job it was to help rich people get into and out of their  clothes, shoes, and jewelry, along with keeping the garments washed, pressed and ready to wear at a whim. How I would love a valet, if only to keep my clothes off the closet floor and clean underwear in our drawers.

My father asked about our 4th of July plans yesterday and I told him, “We are just enjoying down time today.  Or as we like to call it, ‘Downtime Becky.'”  And I have to say, the meal I produced for the two of us was worthy of royalty. Especially the steak.

I am not a big ‘hunk of meat’ fan, as a general rule. I prefer meat as an appetizer with veggies and fruits taking up the bulk of my plate.  But a petite tenderloin steak, cooked to medium rare perfection and topped with bar-b-que sauce and green chilis, a tender cut of meat that is incredibly juicy and slices like butter… well, this is hard not to love.

So I bequeath this recipe to you,  to be cooked and served and savored on special occasions when you want to feel rich, and pampered and spoiled.  And if you haven’t seen the two seasons of Downton Abbey,  do yourself a favor and beg, borrow or buy them. You are in for a royal treat.

BBQ Tenderloin Steaks with Green Chilis

BBQ Tenderloin Steaks with Green Chilis

Ingredients

Two tenderloin steaks, about 1 1/2 inches thick, brought to room temperature

1 T. grill or steak seasoning

2 t. Worchestershire sauce

2 T.  olive oil

2 T Bar-b-que sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray’s)

2 T. chopped green chilis

Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce, Montreal Grill or Steak Seasoning, roasted chopped green chili peppers (In a jar! Love this new product)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour oil into an oven proof skillet, or preferably,  a grill pan.  Let the pan and oil get “screaming hot.”  In the meantime, pierce one side of the steaks with a fork in several places; turn the steaks over and pierce the other side as well.  Sprinkle both sides generously with steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce, rubbing it in a little with your hands.

Put the steaks into the grill pan on high, and sear until the meat is golden brown with dark grill marks, just a few minutes.  Turn the steaks over and repeat.

Put a tablespoon of bbq sauce and a tablespoon of green chilis on top of each steak, then put the skillet of steaks in the oven for five minutes to let finish cooking in the middle.

Putting steaks with BBQ sauce into the oven, right before also topping with green chilis

I like our steaks medium rare so this amount of time is usually perfect for us, but of course, cook the steaks to your desired temperature.  A digital meat thermometer is a wonderful thing for this job.  Pull the pan out of the oven and tent the steaks loosely with foil for at least three minutes to let them sit and juices distribute. Serve to oohs and ahhs and applause.

BBQ Tenderloin Steaks with Green Chilis