Christmas Tenderloin

After seeing our daughter hand trim the tenderloin I couldn't wait to get it to the grill. I followed Weber's instructions for a three-zone split fire using a drip pan in the middle to wall the charcoal off to both sides leaving the center as the indirect heating zone.

We cut the tenderloin into two matching halves and I placed them over the coals for the first 10 minutes turning once to get a bit of searing before moving them to the middle of the GrillGrates to complete the grilling. The tenderloin took about 10 minutes longer than Weber estimated and I attribute that to the GrillGrates acting as a flame shield that further protected the meat. Knowing that our clan likes their meat rare, I took the tenderloin off a bit early and gave it a short rest before cutting thick juicy red slices. The trimmed loin fed 8 of us without a slice left and not one plate had any evidence left of a great meal. The meat literally melted in my mouth and the pressure was off. We switched from Pigs Nose (smooth as a Pigs Nose) to Champagne with strawberrys crushed and pureed in the bottom of the glass. The Champagne was so good it carried over to an after dinner treat. There was a StarTrek marathon on TV, the kids retreated to their worlds and we went quietly into space.