Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Bourbon Bacon Pecan Sauce – this homemade meal was as easy as was epic, if I do say so myself. Well, ordering a cart full of frozen meats from WildForkFoods.com  for my protein fix this week – turkey, bacon steak, beef chuck roast and these beautiful tenderloin steaks was EASY.

Shelling the pecans foraged on a recent day trip was NOT, lol . . . but I took the task as a personal challenge. Was so convenient to get all these quality meats delivered directly to door with free shipping on first order. Food from Wild Fork really IS fresher, they “blast freeze” at -40 degrees to seal in vitamins, minerals and flavor . . .satisfaction guaranteed! Read on to get the recipe:

I’ve used steak cut from a tenderloin roast for this  30 minute beef recipe because it is perhaps my favorite cut of beef — lean yet tender and super versatile. If I needed to swap in another lean beef cut that was still tender enough not to require a marinade, I’d pick top sirloin steaks, flat iron steaks or strip steaks.

The hardest thing about this tenderloin steak recipe was shelling the pecans — which isn’t something I would normally do but I had a bunch of foraged ones I wanted to use up. However, that little task took me 4 hours to shell and pick the meat out of the pile pictured, next time I’d definitely use a big crank-style pecan sheller . Actually, who am I kidding, I’d BUY pre-shelled pecan pieces for convenience.

Also, another tip I have is to use two different cast iron skillets , a bigger and smaller one, for making both the sauce and steaks. I used my All-Clad for the steaks and regretted it — the high heat discolored the skillet and had me scrubbing for a good long time.  The heavy cast iron will hold and distribute the heat as I need and doesn’t care about flaming..

So as for the flambé that happens in this steak with bourbon bacon pecan sauce, don’t be alarmed . . . just prepared. Because there is a good deal of alcohol in this dish, it will need to be cooked off. On a gas stove, the flames always seem to naturally ignite the skillet contents, sometimes in an electric you have to give it help with a lighter. When the sauce starts flaming, just keep a careful eye on it, adjusting the heat as needed — I have a pot holder near by too to quickly switch to an turned-off burner or a fire extinguisher in case things get crazy (which they never have).

Finally, I have tried to leave the ingredients as real and whole as possible (like date sugar instead of brown sugar) to fit with my modified Paleo diet. However, if you are strict then the butter and bourbon may not work for you, I’ll let that be your call.

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 Beef Tenderloin Steakswith Bourbon Bacon Pecan Sauce

 Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Bourbon Bacon Pecan Sauce is an easy, 30-minute meal that will impress! The sauce is amazing and quite a show-stopper as flambés on the stove top! A great date night meal! 

Ingredients

• 2 6- oz beef tenderloin steaks from Wild Fork
• Salt and ground pepper for seasoning steaks
• 4 strips “steak cut” smoked bacon from Wild Fork cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup pecan pieces
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¾ cup bourbon
• ¼ cup coconut or date sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter

Instructions

1. Thaw frozen steaks overnight in refrigerator. Remove, pat dry with paper towels, season all sides of steak with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Bring cast-iron skillet to medium-high heat. Cook bacon pieces, stirring frequently, until crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon to drain on paper towel. Pour 2 tablespoons of bacon fat into another heavy skillet, discard remaining bacon fat, leave coating of bacon fat in first skillet.
3. Add pecan pieces to first skillet that bacon was cooked in, and toast over medium heat for a couple minutes until fragrant and lightly browning. Remove from skillet and set aside.
4. In bowl, mix together lemon juice, bourbon, coconut or date sugar, salt, pepper, ground cinnamon. Set aside.
5. In first skillet add butter and melt over medium heat. Once melted stir in bourbon mixture, stirring occasionally. Please not that the alcohol will burn off and there will be flames, stir frequently and watch constantly, until flames have died down and sauce is bubbling and thickened, about 6 to 7 minutes. If flames seem too aggressive, reduce heat and or quickly move off burner.
6. Bring second skillet with bacon fat up to high heat, add seasoned steaks and sear on each side for approximately 1 to 2 minutes until carnalizing a bit. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until just before desired level on doneness achieved.
7. Lower heat to medium-low and pour sauce over steaks, flip them to coat, and re-warm sauce as needed for just a minute or two! Garnish with chives and serve.