Beef Tenderloin Roast with Garlic Herb Butter

Take the beef tenderloin out of the fridge and gently tie up with butcher twine. Tip - Tying it up ensures the meat cooks evenly so don't skip it.

Place the beef on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Allow the meat to rest to rise up to room temperature, about 30 minutes or as needed. Tip - It's very important that the beef is at room temp otherwise you risk the meat sticking to your skillet as well as cooking unevenly, so don't rush it.

Sear the meat. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or large heavy-bottom oven-safe skillet on medium-high heat until sizzling.

Add the beef to the hot skillet and sear on each side until golden brown all over, about 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning occasionally as it cooks. While the beef sears, make the herbed butter.

Mix herbed butter. To the canister of a food processor, add the peeled garlic, coarsely chopped fresh herbs, cover, and pulse a few times until the garlic and herbs are in fine bits. *Note about Herb Quantities - I mention using 2 teaspoons of each of the three herbs but it's hard to tell what 2 teaspoons of rosemary or sage will look like (thyme is a littler easier) until they're actually blended so my advice is to use about 2 large sprigs of rosemary (needles only, discard the stick), about 4 sage leaves, and about 2 long thin sprigs of thyme (flowers only, discard the stick). However, it's all an approximation, use herbs according to your personal preferences. I strongly recommend fresh herbs and not dried.

Add the butter, cover, and pulse or blend until whipped and combined. Tip - I highly recommend a food processor for this job, although you can finely mince herbs by hand, place them in a mixing bowl, then add the butter, and whip vigorously by hand until combined.

Roast the beef. Spread the garlic herbed butter over the top of the beef after it's been seared.

Transfer the skillet into the preheated oven to roast for 15 - 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125F for medium rare, or as desired. Tips - The temp you pull it should be a bit less than your ideal final temp because the temp will rise at least 5 degrees as the meat rests. Therefore, for rare, you can pull it when it reaches 120F or so and it will come up to 125F; for medium rare you can pull it when it reaches 125F and it will come up to 130F; and so on. Do not guess; use a meat thermometer such as a Thermoworks or a thermometer from Amazon or Target.  See Notes below for temperatures and corresponding doneness.

Rest. Remove the beef from the oven and let it rest on a cutting board for at least 15 minutes. Tips - It will continue to cook (the temperature will continue to rise) even while resting outside of the oven as mentioned above. Resting also helps to let the juices settle to keep the meat moist so don't skip resting!

Serving. Slice the beef into 1-inch wide pieces, or as desired, and serve with your favorite vegetables, potatoes, etc. Tip - See blog post for lots of sides and serving suggestions.

Storage. This is an expensive cut of meat, and when cooked properly, is so good that it should be eaten when freshly made and don't plan on leftovers. If you happen to have extra beef, it will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. Rather than reheating it, and thus cooking it more, I suggest slicing it and eating it on the most decadent beef sandwich.