It's Beef Week at Dinners for a Year -- Tenderloin Steaks with Espresso-Bourbon Sauce


I love beef. From a thick, juicy burger on the grill to a quick meal of beef and broccoli stir fry, a dinner including beef is very satisfying. I have teamed up with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association to post some lean beef recipes from their Beef It's What's for Dinner website and will blog about my family's Week of Beef.

Typically, beef has gotten a bad rap as far as being a healthy choice for dinner. Common complaints include:

"It contains too much fat."

"I can feel my arteries clogging already."

"I don't want to eat all those calories."

Actually, beef contributes to good health by providing many important nutrients. Today, beef is leaner than ever before. It fits within the guidelines for a healthy diet that is low in saturated fat. There are 29 cuts of beef that meet government guidelines for lean. Included on the list are many familiar cuts including flank steak, sirloin steak, and ground beef.

The first recipe I prepared for dinner this week was Tenderloin Steaks with Espresso-Bourbon Sauce. I am sure the first thing that comes to mind is that beef tenderloin is too expensive for a weeknight meal. My local grocery store regularly has beef tenderloin on sale, and I picked up just over a 4 pound tenderloin for about $25. I will be able to prepare at least 2 dinners my family of 5 and a few lunches for my husband from this sized beef tenderloin.

Beef tenderloin, either whole or cut in steaks, is a quick meal to prepare. Tenderloin Steaks with Espresso-Bourbon Sauce takes less than a half hour to prepare. With about 250 calories per serving and 3 grams of saturated fat, this recipe is an excellent source of protein, niacin, and zinc and a good source of iron. We also had sweet potatoes mashed with a little brown sugar and blasted garlic broccoli for dinner to add a couple servings of vegetables loaded vitamins K, C, and A as well as folate and fiber.

The sauce was the first part of the recipe to prepare. It came together very quickly with most ingredients already in my pantry.

As the sauce reduced, I prepped the steaks with a few grinds of pepper and grilled them them for about 6 to 7 minutes per side for medium rare. With the sweet potatoes mashed and the blasted broccoli ready, dinner was served.

We are a family of beef lovers and beef tenderloin is high on our list of favorites. This recipe received our highest rating as one that we would want to have again.

"The steak is so tender," said My Middle One.

The sweet and slightly salty sauce was delicious drizzled over the steaks.

"This steak is so good, I could just eat the steaks without the sauce," said my husband.

Then he proceeded to pour more of the thick, rich sauce over his steak.

The sauce added a smokey, sweet and slightly teriyaki flavor to the steaks that the rest of us agreed would be delicious on other cuts of beef. I will be making the Bourbon-Espresso sauce in the future. My only change to the recipe will be to double the recipe so I can store some in my refrigerator.

This recipe is one to get the family back to the dinner table. No need to take the family to a steakhouse. This recipe brings steakhouse quality and flavor right to your table.

Tenderloin Steaks with Espresso-Bourbon Sauce

from the website Beef It's What's for Dinner

4 beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 4 ounces each)
2 to 4 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper

Espresso-Bourbon Sauce:
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all sauce ingredients, except pepper, in small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 12 to 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened and reduced by about half, stirring occasionally. Stir in pepper. Keep warm.

Meanwhile press coarsely cracked pepper on both sides of beef steak. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, uncovered, 13 to 15 minutes for medium rare, turning once.

Evenly divide sauce onto 4 plates. Place steak on top of sauce.

Alternately, the steaks can be broiled for 13 - 16 minutes for medium-rare to medium, turning once.


Stayed tuned for 2 more lean beef recipes followed by a BIG giveaway at the end of the week.


27 comments:

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Wow, this sounds fabulous. I am bookmarking and will be making this sauce. My husband will love me and it will be a good reason to use his bottle of Makers Mark.

Sara said...

This sounds really great. I have half a bottle of bourbon in my pantry that I've been trying to decide what to do with.

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious. Looking forward to trying this recipe.

MaryBeth said...

Fabulous looking steak and wonderful sounding sauce...

whatsup1 said...

This is right up my alley. Thanks for the great recipe.

whatsup1 said...

A great sounding recipe, and I'm putting it on my menu this week. Thanks.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I still go back to the Wendy's campaign after all these years where you will find me saying "Where's the beef?' It is a healthy alternative.

Anonymous said...

This sounds really tasty! Thanks for the recipe, and we love lean beef in our home. Everything in moderation!

Martha said...

Looks wonderful!

Maria said...

Wow, that sauce has a kick! Nice!

Robin said...

I do love this cut of beef and hope to find it one sale soon. We are able to afford some of the better cuts but simply cutting down on our portion size. Man we were eating way to much in one sitting.

Mike of Mike's Table said...

I love the sound of that sauce! Simple to make and it sounds like a really powerful, complex flavor

amycaseycooks said...

robin sue - I have been using slightly smaller dinner plates. It seems that we don't eat as much if we don't have a huge plate.

Annie said...

Sounds like a great combination to me! I really could go for a nice steak.

Nicole said...

Yuuuummmmm, that sounds so good. I will need to try that one, soon! Thanks for the new recipe.

Kiezie said...

I love a great steak and yours look terrific! Great post, I will never be able to give up beef!!

Leslie said...

mmm. I had my beef week last week.
Looks delish. I almost made this one and it looks yummy

Anonymous said...

This recipe looks great. I am eager to try it out. Happy it won't use up all of my Bourbon.

Debbie said...

I love the espresso bourban sauce. What a great idea...that sounds so good.

Elyse said...

Yum, this sauce sounds totally fabulous. I bet it would work great with a salmon, too! Eek, I love your blog so much; so many great recipes and ideas!

Anonymous said...

Is that a tenderloin in your photo? Looks more like a sirloin or ribeye.

amycaseycooks said...

yes anonymous, it is a beef tenderloin steak cut straight from the whole tenderloin.

Anita said...

This recipe sounds wonderful. We don't eat much tenderloin-mainly because of our budget-but this will make enough servings to be affordable. Can't wait to test it this weekend.

Anonymous said...

If left to my own devices I would eat beef 7 days a week. Since I dont have beef as often as I would like. I really enjoy it to the max when I do have beef. I am looking forward to seeing the recipes that are and will be posted on this site. Thanks

Lori said...

Espresso Bourbon Sauce, wow that sounds incredible. Everything looks so good on your site!

Lori said...

I made this one here from the book as this sauce sounded so amazing. And it was amazing. Thank you again.

Anonymous said...

I think I'm going to have to try it again with less espresso powder. I'm not too big of a coffee fan at all but I do cook with it to help bring out the different flavors. Alas, the two scoops were a tad too strong for our family. Back to the drawing board I go! But I do thank you for the experience. Smiles.