For the Love of Food: Electric Chair Dinner: Part 1

Why do I do this to myself? Every time I come home, I convince myself I have the metabolism of a 13 year old boy and gorge myself. My belly is still stuffed, so please excuse anything I say that makes me sound like a looney because I'm Electric Chair Dinner delirious right now. Thanks.

You might be wondering, "Why is this called "Electric Chair Dinner??" Well, let me just tell YOU! I was placed with all random roommates last year (Yep, because I had almost zero friends which resulted in the random roommate placement.), and I am not complaining because I soon found that we have something that we like to the call "the magic." Just imagine: Four girls. Living together. No conflict. WHAHAHAHAATTT?!?! I know. Magic. So, when I was getting to know said group of girls, one of them asked, "If you were getting electrocuted tomorrow, what would you have for your last breakfast, lunch and dinner?" Well, this would be my last dinner. Absolutely. Hands down. Last meal ever. FOR-EH-VER! And after a dinner like this, I can't even begin to think about dessert. Don't need no sweets to die and go to heaven after a full plate of THIS-- beef tenderloin, caesar salad and a twice baked potato.

(PS- That is a baked potato in the picture below, not a twice bake. You can find my twice baked potatoes recipe right here.) Now, shall we get started?

Part 1: Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Sauce

For the tenderloin:
- beef tenderloin
- onion powder
- S&P
- butter
- olive oil

Directions:
Take your tenderloin out of the fridge and season generously with salt. Then, add some fresh, ground pepper and whatever other seasonings you prefer. We (my family and I) normally do salt, pepper and onion powder. Once the meat has reached room temp, put some olive oil and a pad of butter down in your skillet, turn the heat on medium-high, and sear the tenderloin for 3 minutes on each side. (My, my, my momma, my momma said, "3 minutes. Period. Don't touch it until the 3 minutes are up!")

Once you've seared the meat on all sides (and achieved that beautiful, flavor-rich, golden brown crust), flip them once more and put them in the oven at 350F until they're done.

We like our tenderloin medium/medium-rare, and we don't use a thermometer to determine when it's done. We're old fashioned, so we use the "poke test." This is when you take your finger and poke the center of the piece of meat. If you poke it and the meat springs back up very slowly, that means its still very rare. If the meat springs back quickly, it is medium-rare. If it rises immediately with your finger as you pull away, this is medium. And if the meat is firm to the touch (not so poke-able), this is well-done. The "poke test" method is obviously all about trial and error.

Before slicing and serving up the meat, let it rest in the pan for a few minutes. This is so that the meat will retain as much moisture as possible. If you cut it right when you pull it out of the oven, all of the juices will run out when you want to keep them trapped inside to achieve the juiciest, most tender-loin.