9/08/2009

Deconstructed Tenderloin BBQ

In line with the theme of using more of what is growing outside, I have come up with a new take on an old standard around here - Teriyaki Sauce.  In Hawaii, Teriyaki BBQ'd Chicken is a year-round staple. However, I just couldn't see having Bob go through firing up the BBQ and getting a bunch of charcoal to white hot, for like 2-3 minutes on each side of cooking, which is all this tenderloin, cut in 1/4 inch strips, took to broil.  I can stand the oven being on for that amount of time.  Besides which, he was recovering from a bad cold.  Poor guy.  So, this is a deconstructed Steak Tenderloin Teriyaki, with off the skewer zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper.
Isn't the fruit weird looking?
I'm using more of my Kaffir Lime leaves and fruit lately.  Before it was just the leaves occasionally in Thai cooking. Now we're finding uses for the fruit itself.  I used the zest recently in Ono with Pia and a Shrimp Risotto.   For this Teriyaki marinade, thin slices of the limes were added, which gave the meat a wonderful limey zing. It's now on my personal, internal, teriyaki recipe card.  There's no real recipe for teriyaki sauce, you just start adding spices to your base of shoyu (soy sauce).  But, in this case, I'll list what ingredients I included.

Teriyaki Marinade
1 cup shoyu (preferably naturally aged)
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons Mae Ploy  Sweet Chili Sauce
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 Kaffir lime, thinly sliced

For the Deconstructed BBQ
1 lb. beef tenderloin, sliced about 1/4 " thick
1/2 zucchini, sliced thinly
1/2  red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, cut in thin wedges

In a dish large enough for the meat and marinade, mix all the ingredients together well.  Add the meat and marinate for about 15 min.., then add the vegetables, stir together, and remove from marinade.  Arrange in a roasting pan with the meat on top.  Set oven on broil and grill about 4" from flame for 2-3 minutes on each side.  Or, until as done as you prefer.  I like mine still pink inside.

Use more vegetables if you like.  That's just what I had on hand.  This recipe was enough for 2 adults and 2 children (who don't care if they have any vegetables anyway).  But, I served it with a big ripe tomato, sliced and tossed with basil leaves, and rice on the side.We usually have a piece of tenderloin, as is.  Just barely done, and it is enough.  This is just over the top of awesomeness.  And, those strange little kaffir limes are going to be getting a lot more use around here.

2 comments:

Marc @ NoRecipes said...

Kaffir lime leaves (never mind the fruit) are so hard to find here. If I had a tree full of them I'd be using them all the time.

Claudia said...

Yes, and I should be creatively using more of what is growing out there.