Ring in the New Year

We welcomed the new year with bang this year. For our 1/1/10 dinner, I made Beef Wellington, a classic English dish where a beef tenderloin or Filet Mignon is coated with duxelles (minced mushrooms, shallots, and herbs sauteed in butter) and wrapped in puff pastry. Its easier than it looks, and has a great visual impact. The recipe I used comes from Tyler Florence and pairs the wellingtons with a creamy green peppercorn sauce. I served it with a simple green salad on the side, and made a vegetarian version for myself by using a portabello mushroom and omitting the prosciutto, and using vegetable stock in place of the beef in the sauce. Easy peasy!

Please pardon the over-cooked filet. Chris said it was still good!

Ultimate Beef Wellington (scaled down for two servings)

For the Duxelles:

• 1 pints white button mushrooms
• 1 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Beef:

• 1 filet mignon
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 thin slices prosciutto
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
  
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
• 1 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  
• Minced chives, for garnish
  

Green Peppercorn Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 cups heavy cream
  
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1/4 cup green peppercorns in brine, drained

To make the Duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

To prepare the beef: Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-based skillet lightly coated with olive oil - about 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile set out your prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap (plastic needs to be about a foot and a half in length so you can wrap and tie the roast up in it) on top of your cutting board. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet. Using a rubber spatula cover evenly with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Allow to cool slightly, then roll up in the duxelles covered prosciutto using the plastic wrap to tie it up nice and tight. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Roll it up tightly in plastic wrap and twist the ends to seal it completely and hold it in a nice log shape. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets you may have to overlap 2 sheets and press them together. Remove beef from refrigerator and cut off plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef - saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Top with coarse sea salt. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife - this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven and rest before cutting into thick slices. Garnish with minced chives, and serve with Green Peppercorn Sauce.

To make the sauce: Add olive oil to pan after removing beef. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme; saute for 1 to 2 minutes, then, off heat, add brandy and flambe using a long kitchen match. After flame dies down, return to the heat, add stock and reduce by about half. Strain out solids, then add 2 cups cream and mustard. Reduce by half again, then shut off heat and add green peppercorns.

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By the way, Anna at twelve22 is hosting a giveaway for Zevia all natural zero-calorie sodas. The ginger ale looks great to me! Go here to find out how to enter.

Happy New Year!

Pot Pies and Polkas

Vegetable Pot Pie

This week's Barefoot Bloggers recipe was Vegetable Pot Pie, chosen by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen. I made a few changes: I halved the recipe, I used vegetable stock, I used white wine instead of Pernod (and doubled the amount), I omitted the frozen onions and used frozen peas, and instead of making the dough I used a Pillsbury pre-made. I also didn't make the pot pies in bowls as the directions state, but made double-crust pies in small pie tins so they were more like the pot pies I used to eat in college.

I really liked these pot pies. The sauce is thick, creamy (despite having only a little cream), and tastes great. It would be very easy to switch up the vegetables to use whatever you have on hand. And since I only made two pot pies, I have a lot of leftover filling. I think I'll put some more pot pies together with the remaining filling and freeze them for more easy meals.

I also made some Portabello Steaks from Diet Dessert & Dogs. I marinated the mushrooms most of the day, so they were very flavorful. I think I'd prefer to cook these on the grill rather than with my cast iron grill pan. Still, they were very good and the juices mixed nicely with the pot pie sauce.

Mmmm... comfort food

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So, yesterday's performance was a lot fun. I sat in with the San Mateo Elks Club Band to play for the residents at the Masons House in Union City. The house is basically a retirement community for former members of (or widows of) the Masons. It turns out my tenor-playing friend is a Mason and a Shriner - now I better understand his incredible generosity.

I got a tour of the facilities - its like a really nice hotel and they provide everything for the 200 or so residents; quite impressive. We ate in the cafeteria with the residents and then headed down to the hall to play. The band was about 25 people strong (and there was one other woman this time!), and they decked me out in red suspenders and a green German cap to match everyone else. We played polkas and waltzes for about an hour, for an audience of about 50 people. They were not able to dance, but they cheered for the song announcements that they recognized and seemed to have fun. I had a great time playing the music, and kept remembering dancing the polka with my grandfather - I think my feet hardly ever touched the ground when I danced with him.

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That's a big pumpkin!

Today I ran a few errands in the morning. Then I carved my pumpkin (but I'll hold off on posting the picture of the carved pumpkin until Halloween).

Cable-Down Raglan

I finished the body of my Cable-Down Raglan. I think I could have started the waist cables a little lower and made it longer, but it might block out so we'll see. Now I just have to do the sleeves (3/4-length, or full?). I've really learned a lot about cable construction and have enjoyed it. The sleeves should go a lot faster, which will be nice.

I hope you're as relaxed as Mac.

Milestones

It has been a productive week. Monday was our 4th wedding anniversary, and 12th anniversary together, and I can't believe how time has flown by since we made our vows on a beach on Maui. I still need to get a copy of the video my dad has from our little wedding. Its difficult to hear what was said due to the ocean, but the best part is when a single chubby beach goer slowly floats by in the background. He stops and watches our ceremony for a while, and them floats on. And if I recall, he floats back the way he came a few minutes later. My wedding was the bomb! :)

We didn't do too much to celebrate. We had gone shopping over the weekend and finally bought ourselves an Aerogarden, which we've been wanting for a while now. I tried to take a picture, but the full-spectrum lights on it don't agree with my camera. Monday night we took ourselves out for dessert too. And yeah, we're obviously very romantic. :)

Wednesday I started up new training classes with Ayla. Our trainer is an ex-K9 cop out of Oakland and she is so attuned to dog behavior, its amazing. I'm already seeing improvements in Ayla since our first session and my work with her. In fact, she's starting to sniff the hands of people who offer them to her, instead of getting scared and trying to run away. My poor little chicken! I'm not aiming at her becoming Miss Outgoing, but I am looking forward to her being less fearful and more trusting in my leadership. And Ayla just loves training and classes, so its fun for her too.

Then on Thursday I finally submitted my thesis for my masters degree. Its only a couple years late, but who's counting? I'm very, very happy to have the bloody thing finished and out of my hands. I had completely lost my motivation to finish it when I ended my internship the fall after my classes ended. The last thing I need to do is turn in some paperwork to file for graduation in a few weeks and I should expect to get my diploma in the mail this winter. And if I'm thinking correctly, it should be signed by our Governator himself!

Its been a nice, quiet weekend. I've done a lot of reading and finished up a knitted bag. I actually finished this bag a while ago, but found an fatal error when I was seaming up the sides. I had to rip back about half of my work, which took a surprising amount of time. Once I got to the middle of the project again though the work went quickly and I finished seaming the sides this afternoon. The end result is a nice stretchy bag that's squishy soft and should be great for shopping trips.

My always-willing (to do anything for a treat) model

Eco-Bag from Lion Brand

Yarn: 3 balls Sugar 'n Cream Twists
in Summer Twists (discontinued)

Chris requested some Banana Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chips Cookies (three of his favorite flavors, all in one), so I mixed up a batch. I need to work on the recipe before I can post it though as the cookies become quiet hard after cooling, but they are still delicious dipped in coffee. I did make up a batch of homemade tortillas from a recipe from our grocery store's quarterly magazine. They were very easy, especially using a food processor instead of mixing with a fork as specified, and very light and tasty. I used them for fajitas for our lunch today (with Mojitos on the side!):

Portabello, Summer Squash, and Bell Pepper Fajitas

For the Tortillas:
adapted from Raley's "Something Extra", Summer 2008

2 cups flour
3 tbsp. shortening
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup water

Mix together flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; mix in water. Place on a lightly floured board and knead several times to form a smooth dough. Cover with a cloth and let stand for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each into a 6-7 inch circle. Cook each tortilla in a skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side or until lightly browned and puffed.

For the Filling:

2 small portabello mushrooms, sliced
1 summer squash, quartered and sliced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
Garlic red wine vinegar
Taco seasoning

Heat a dash of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sautée until beginning to soften. Add the squash and pepper and sautée until done. Add a splash of the vinegar and about a tbsp. of the taco seasoning. Keep warm.

For the Salsa:
Recipe from my mommy :)

1 can stewed Mexican-style tomatoes
1 jalapeño, minced
1 onion, diced
1/3 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
Minced garlic
Dash of lime juice
Salt
Pepper

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend to desired consistency.

I use this salsa for my guacamole - leave some salsa in the food processor, add a chopped avocado and blend again. Et voilà - Easy guacamole!

It should be a good week coming up. The weather is turning warm, which makes the dogs lazy. They tend to do a lot of this: