Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Ingredients:
-1 whole (4 To 5 Lbs.) beef tenderloin
-4 Tablespoons salted butter, or more to taste
-1/3 cup whole peppercorns, more or less to taste
-Seasoned Salt
-Lemon Pepper Seasoning
-Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Rinse meat well. Trim away some of the fat to remove the silvery cartilage underneath. With a very sharp knife, begin taking the fat off the top, revealing the silver cartilage underneath. You definitely don’t want to take every last bit of fat off—not at all. As with any cut of meat, a little bit of fat adds to the flavor. (Hint: you can also ask the butcher to do this trimming for you if the process seems intimidating.)
3. Sprinkle meat generously with seasoned salt. Rub it in with your fingers. Sprinkle both sides generously with lemon pepper seasoning. (There are no measurements because it depends on your taste, but be sure to season liberally.)
4. Place the peppercorns in a Ziploc bag, and with a mallet or a hammer or a large, heavy can, begin smashing the peppercorns to break them up a bit. Set aside.
5. Heat some olive oil in a heavy skillet. When the oil is to the smoking point, place the tenderloin in the very hot pan to sear it. Throw a couple of tablespoons of butter into the skillet to give it a nice little butter injection before going in the oven. A minute or two later, when one side is starting to turn nice and brown, flip and repeat.
6. Place the tenderloin on a sheet pan with a rack. Sprinkle the pummeled peppercorns all over the meat. Press the pepper onto the surface of the meat. Put several tablespoons of butter all over the meat.
7. Stick the long needle of the thermometer lengthwise into the meat. Place it in a 475-degree oven until the temperature reaches just under 140 degrees, about fifteen to twenty minutes (at this temperature the tenderloin will be medium rare). Stay near the oven and keep checking the meat thermometer to make sure it doesn’t overcook.
8. Let meat stand ten minutes or so before slicing.
9. To serve, spoon the olive oil/butter juices from the skillet onto the top of the meat for a little extra flavor.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
1 prepared chocolate pie crust
1 (11.75 ounce) jar hot fudge microwaveable ice cream topping (like Smuckers), divided
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Peanut butter cups for garnish

Directions:
1. Beat together 1 cup peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium, until well combined.
2. Gently mix in 3 cups whipped topping until thoroughly combined.
3. Spoon mixture into pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.
4. Reserve 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping into the corner of a resealable plastic bag. 5. Microwave remaining topping, on high for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining whipped topping (1 1/2 cups), over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.
6. Cut a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag; cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in opposite direction from topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
7. Before serving sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups.

Pimento Cheese Bacon Burger

Well, I realize today's recipe screams "I live in the South!" but hey, truth is truth. So I say let's just embrace it and eat pimento cheese and bacon on our hamburgers like all Americans should.


Ingredients:
-1 pound ground round
-1 pound ground chuck
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground pepper
-1/4 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs (such as basil, mint, and oregano)
-Hamburger buns
-Toppings: Pimento cheese, cooked bacon slices, lettuce, and tomato slices

Directions:
1.  Preheat grill to 350 to 400 degrees heat.
2.  Combine first 4 ingredients gently. Stir fresh herbs into meat mixture. Shape mixture into 6 (5-inch) patties.
3.  Grill, covered with grill lid, 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until beef is no longer pink in center.
4.  Serve on buns with pimento cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomatoes.

Grilled Vegetables with Avocado and Goat Cheese Crumbles

Ingredients:
-6 portobello mushroom caps
-4 red bell peppers, cored and quartered
-1 red onion, thickly sliced
-1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
-2 zucchinis, cut into 1-inch slices
-3 tomatoes, cut into quarters
-1/2 cup olive oil
-2 limes, juiced
-2 tablespoons grill seasoning
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
-1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and cubed
-1/2 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
-Salt to taste
-Freshly ground black pepper to taste
-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

Directions:
1. Place mushrooms, red bell peppers, red onion, asparagus, zucchinis and tomatoes in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Whisk olive oil, lime juice, grill seasoning, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl; pour over vegetables. Toss to coat and allow vegetables to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for medium heat.
3. Remove vegetables from the marinade, and shake off excess. Reserve remaining marinade.
4. Grill vegetables either in a basket or on skewers in a preheated grill until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer grilled vegetables to a large platter. Whisk remaining marinade with balsamic vinegar; pour over vegetables.
5. Top with avocado and goat cheese, then season with salt and pepper.
6. Sprinkle with basil to serve.

Honey Orange BBQ Chicken

Ingredients for Marinade:
-1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1/4 cup hot sauce
-1/4 cup Dijon mustard
-1 tablespoon grated orange zest
-1 (4 pound chicken) cut into 10 pieces, patted dry with paper towels

Ingredients for Glaze:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange Juice
1/4 cup favorite barbeque sauce
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Directions:
1. Mix the orange juice, olive oil, hot sauce, mustard, and orange zest together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Prepare the grill to medium direct heat. Let chicken come to room temperature before grilling.
3. Drain the chicken from the marinade and pat dry. Grill on each side for 5 minutes, then turn the heat to medium-low and cover the lid of the grill. Continue cooking the chicken until it's cooked through, about 25 minutes more.
4. While the chicken is grilling, melt the butter in a small saucepan on the grill. Whisk in the honey, orange juice, BBQ sauce, zest, mustard and allspice. Reserve some of the glaze for serving.
5. Brush the chicken pieces with glaze, then flip the chicken, glaze side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Brush second side of the chicken with glaze and flip again. Continue cooking for 3 more minutes.
6. Remove the chicken from grill to a platter and serve with reserved glaze.