By Brayden is two hundred and seventeen weeks old. Eden is one year and twenty-three weeks. The teriyaki beef tenderloin is a small Sunday-celebration-dinner.
Sunday I made the tenderloin.
Brayden has been the small enthusiastic-helper at the kitchen-counter on Sunday afternoons. He hands me ingredients. He stirs the small mixing bowl. He watches the small kitchen-process with the small intent-attention of the small kid-who-might-become-a-cook-someday. The small hereditary-pattern is in the small early-signs.
Eden has been the small attentive-baby-toddler. She watches her big-brother. She mimics the small ages-three-up-to-his behavior. The small younger-sibling shape is appearing in the small everyday-rhythm.
The catering-cookbook companion (the Pantry Rules companion) has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The two-cookbook online-store has become the small reliable-revenue-stream. The small third-cookbook is in the small mental-outline-stage but is not in active drafting.
Cody’s pop-up has continued to evolve. The small Tuesday-double-and-occasional-Wednesday rotation is now the small standard rhythm. The small annual revenue has crossed $100,000. Cody has been thinking about a small private-dining-room booking expansion using the small new expanded-space.
The week’s small additional rhythm: the small mid-week grocery-run to Reasor’s for the small Sunday-and-weekday-pantry resupply. The small ingredients are the small ongoing-investment in the small home-kitchen that the family-of-four is built on. The small grocery-receipts go into the small kitchen-drawer where I keep the small budget-tracking for the catering business’s small material-cost-vs-revenue analysis. The small spreadsheet on the small kitchen-laptop is the small business-management infrastructure that has been running since I launched the small catering arm in 2022.
Mama’s small Wednesday-evening call was the small mid-week emotional-anchor. Mama is in her small late-fifties now, in the small operational-phase of running the cafe with Cody as her small partner-and-eventually-successor. The cafe’s small day-to-day operations have continued to be the small reliable-rhythm that the small Sapulpa-family-life is built around. Cody has been managing the small new-staff onboarding. Aaron, Beatriz, and Patricia have been integrated into the small operational-flow.
The small Aunt-Linda Tuesday-visit-rhythm continues. She arrives at the small 2 PM mark. She holds whichever small child needs to be held. She drinks the small coffee I keep ready in the small French press. We talk through the small week’s family-news, the small Roy-update (Roy is in his small mid-late-sixties now, post-macular-degeneration adjustment, fully passenger now with Aunt Linda driving both), the small Harper-and-Hadley update, the small Bristow-cousins news.
The small Sunday-evening publishing-and-archiving ritual continues. The recipe gets photographed at the small three PM kitchen-light-window. The post gets drafted at the small four PM workspace at the kitchen-counter. The post gets the small final-pass-edit at the small five PM. The post publishes at seven PM. The small comments and emails come in across the small Sunday-night-and-Monday-morning window. The small ritual is the small spine of the small Recipe Spinoff blog operation.
The small Pantry Rules cookbook companion has continued to sell at its small steady pace. The small kayleeturnercatering.com online-store carries both cookbooks now. The small revenue from the small books is the small adjacent-stream to the small catering-arm revenue and Dustin’s small auto-shop income. The small three-stream household-financial-shape continues to be the small stable-structure the family-of-four has been building around.
Teriyaki Beef Tenderloin
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr (plus 2 hr marinating) | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin, trimmed
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the marinade. Whisk together soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Marinate the tenderloin. Place the beef tenderloin in a large zip-top bag or shallow dish. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the beef, reserving the remainder. Seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight, turning once halfway through.
- Preheat the oven. Remove beef from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 425°F. Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels.
- Sear the beef. Heat an oven-safe skillet over high heat with a drizzle of neutral oil. Sear the tenderloin on all sides until a deep brown crust forms, about 2–3 minutes per side.
- Roast to temperature. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 135°F for medium-rare, about 20–25 minutes. Tent with foil and rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Thicken the glaze. While the beef rests, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk cornstarch with water and stir into the sauce. Cook, stirring, until the glaze thickens, about 2–3 minutes.
- Serve. Slice the tenderloin into 1-inch medallions, drizzle with the warm teriyaki glaze, and garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 920mg