I decided to get out and grill something before I missed the deadline for Carnival of the Grill…a blogging event hosted by Men in Aprons. I usually don’t need an excuse to fire up the grill but lately I’ve chosen to stay in my air conditioned kitchen and have kept my distance from fire-producing objects. Luckily, the mercury seems to be dropping and it’s actually pleasant outside in the evenings again.

So last night, in honor of my return to the grill, I opted for something fancy. And by fancy I don’t mean complicated, I mean expensive! But it’s nice to splurge once in a while and the thick beef tenderloin steaks looked so good that I couldn’t resist. Although I love a good porterhouse and rib eyes are always a good bet, there’s nothing like biting into a perfectly grilled tenderloin steak.

Usually I don’t do much to these steaks…a little olive oil, some salt and pepper and they taste amazing. But occasionally I wrap them in bacon and last night I took it a step further and crowned my effort with a slice of spicy, smoky compound butter. I was inspired to make up this butter a few days ago after visiting 101 Cookbooks. I love my smoked paprika from The Spice House and am always looking for new ways to use it. It tastes amazing in this butter and I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner! By the way, if you like to make your own barbeque rubs and you have never tried smoked paprika…go buy some now!!

Yes, a steak wrapped in bacon and covered in butter might sound like a heart attack waiting to happen but beef tenderloin is very lean and we’re only talking about one slice of bacon and maybe a teaspoon of butter. It’s not something I do often but adding a dab of compound butter to grilled meat takes it to a whole new level. Try some sage butter on a grilled pork chop if you don’t believe me!

On to the recipe… Continue reading →