Recipes by Zola - Coffee and Cocoa Crusted Beef Tenderloin

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Coffee and Cocoa Crusted Beef Tenderloin

Zola Gorgon

It was a LONG Journey; Precisely One Block...

I was finally able to go out for my first dinner at a restaurant since the whole "not being able to walk" incident started in late May. It was our anniversary dinner.

In my recovery process, it has taken a long time to get to the point where I could go out for dinner; not that I couldn't eat (that's NEVER been a problem), but that I could not sit for two hours to make it through a nice meal in a white-table-cloth-kind of restaurant. My limitation for several weeks was 15 minutes of sitting, and then I had to lie down again. After my six week check up the surgeon told be I could start to "practice" sitting longer so I could work my way up to two hours. He suggested that a meal out would come before I could do long meetings because I could always make the excuse at a restaurant that I needed to go to the ladies room and take a break by walking around.

I had tried to go out for dinner twice before this night but had cancelled out at the last minute; having come to the realization that I would not make it through dinner.

Nervous as I was that night, I was also excited. Weeks before, my husband asked if I wanted to pick the restaurant or if he should. I answered by telling him a story. I told him about how I was in the recovery room and dreamed of where I'd go to dinner first. I told him I had this recurring dream. (I think I had it about 3 or 4 nights in a row as I was heavily sedated; or at least that's the way I recall it all). I could picture having a cocktail at the bar and then being seated. I knew exactly what I was going to eat and I could taste it in my mind. The restaurant I dreamed about isn't necessarily my favorite restaurant, but for some reason it stuck in my mind and I kept dreaming about it. There are several locations of this restaurant in the US. It's called Capital Grille.

We got dressed. It was my first time getting really dressed up in several months. I was even wearing heels. (That's another thing the surgeon told me I could start to "practice").

We got in the cab. The drive into the city center takes about 15 minutes.

We arrived without incident, and just before I stepped out of the cab I started to laugh. I laughed HARD. Almost to the point that I could not step out of the cab. I looked at my husband and I said, "Do you realize that since I went in for surgery I've managed to travel just one block to get to this dinner?" He didn't know what I meant. "Honey, I said, the address of the hospital is 675 North Saint Clair Street. The address of this restaurant is 635 North Saint Clair Street. I am getting out of the cab on the opposite corner of the same block as the surgeon's office".

It's been a long trip, yet it's been one short block.

The thing I had been dreaming about eating is this coffee-coated steak. Interestingly, I'm allergic to caffeine so I don't drink regular coffee. What happens with this steak when it's cooking, is the coffee and the sugars and spices caramelize. The caffeine affect is minimal at best...and it's an amazing taste. Trust me. I don't often say "This is to die for," but this is.

Special note: This is not a Zola original recipe. I might make one of my own someday but this is the one published by the Hershey Company and was made for their 100th anniversary. I'm sure the folks at Hershey would appreciate if you use their brand of cocoa. I'm pretty sure this is the same recipe the restaurant uses too.

Cheers!
Zola

Coffee and Cocoa Crusted Beef Tenderloin

1/2 cup of full bodied (Preferably Kona) coffee, finely ground (use the espresso grind button)
1/4 cup of Hershey's Cocoa
1/2 tsp of mustard powder
1 Tbl of ground ginger
1 Tbl of paprika
1 Tbl of ground cloves
1/2 Tbl of brown sugar
1 Tbl of ground cumin
1 Tbl of garlic powder
2 Tbl of kosher salt
1 Tbl of cracked black pepper

4, 8 oz. filet of beef steaks (2" wide should come out to about 8 oz. each)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients (except the meat) together. This can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator.

Dredge the steaks in the mixture and grill to your desired temperature. And voila!

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.

This news arrived on: 10/01/2007

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