For much of his career, Atlanta native and University of Georgia graduate Jim Shad moved around the world, before returning to Atlanta in 2012.
For nearly a decade, Shad lived in Texas, and that had a big influence on his cooking.
“I got a great appreciation for how barbecue is done in that part of the world,” he said. “It’s mostly beef, which you would expect. And, living in Cincinnati ... I got their unique spin on more German-style food.”
Whatever he’s cooking, Shad enjoys having people over to share it. One of his favorite crowd-pleasing dishes is an audacious filet of beef dubbed Tenderloin Tower.
“I picked it up when I was living in Greenwood, Mississippi,” he said. “I thought it was awesome, and, so, I kind of adopted it as a go-to, high-end dinner dish.”
Essentially a deluxe stack of meat and potatoes topped with cabernet sauce and onion straws, Shad said it has “a lot of flavor, and a lot of wow factor.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Tenderloin Tower
The fillet of beef is best when cooked on a grill or a Big Green Egg, but can be cooked in the oven, if preferred. The instructions below are for the Big Green Egg, which adds a hint of smokiness to the meat.
- For the beef:
- 4- to 5-pound fillet of beef, trimmed and tied
- sea salt
- pepper
- For the onion straws:
- 1 Vidalia onion
- vegetable oil
- flour
- 1 egg
- For the cabernet sauce:
- 1 cup of good quality red wine
- beef drippings from fillet
- 2 pats of butter
- 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- corn starch and water, to thicken
- your favorite mashed potatoes, to serve as a base for the tower
- Light an ample amount of hardwood charcoal on the Big Green Egg and allow the temperature to settle at about 325, for about 15-20 minutes.
- Amply season the beef with sea salt and pepper, to form a bit of a crust on the exterior.
- Cut the Vidalia onion in half, and thinly slice it into 2- to 3-inch string sections.
- Place the beef directly on the grill surface, with the top closed, and set to maintain a 325-degree temperature. Achieving a medium-rare internal temperature of 140 degrees should take about 45 minutes, and you’ll want to flip the meat during the process, to avoid too much char on any side.
- To make the onion straws, heat about an inch of vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet, dredge the onions in egg, throw them into a large zip lock bag with the flour, shake to cover, and fry them in the oil, until crisp.
- Set aside on a paper plate covered in paper towels, to soak up any excess oil.
- Remove the fillet from the grill and place it, uncovered, on a cutting board, to rest for at least 10-15 minutes, while you prep the cabernet sauce.
- To make the cabernet sauce, melt the butter pats in the pan, pour in any beef drippings from the cutting board, the soy sauce, and about a cup of good red wine. Add a little salt and pepper, bring to a slow boil, and slowly pour in the corn starch-water mixture, until the sauce thickens.
- If you haven’t done so already, pour yourself a glass of the cabernet.
- Lay a few heaping tablespoons of mashed potatoes in the center of the plate.
- Slice two 1-inch-thick slabs of filet, and arrange them over the mashed potatoes.
- Pour the cabernet sauce over the meat and potatoes, to cover.
- Sprinkle a heaping pile of onion straws over the filet.
- When completed, the entire concoction should rise about 4-5 inches high, creating the tower. Serves: eight to 10
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving: 446 calories (percent of calories from fat, 57), 40 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 27 grams total fat (9 grams saturated), 153 milligrams cholesterol, 374 milligrams sodium.Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.