This month, little ol’ me had the opportunity to choose what we made for Recipes to Rival, a group of cooks who experiment with savory dishes.  For some reason that I cannot fathom, I thought posting day was July 5.  The reason I can’t figure out why I thought that is because we always post on the first of the month.

I blame a Brain Fart.  Please forgive me!  So, while I usually post something for Frugal Fridays, today I am posting my R2R pick – Beef Wellington.

Now, there are a lot of Beef Wellington recipes out there, so I perused books, the internet, and magazines until I cobbled together a recipe that I thought might take the best of the bunch.  Basically, the dish is made up of several components:  beef, topped with a mushroom mixture called duxelles, foie gras, all of which are wrapped in a puff pastry crust.  Instead of the foie gras, I used a truffle mousse that I found at Whole Foods.

My photos leave a lot to be desired, but the dish was a huge success.  Basically, my husband ate both our shares, but I did get a couple nibbles.  I am not a fan of meat, but even I thought this tasted pretty good.  He was a bit skeptical at first, but by the time he was digging into my share, he had asked me to put the Beef Wellington on the “repeat list.”

The beauty of this dish is that you have so much flexibility – use any protein that you like, and adjust the seasoning accordingly.  If you go the vegetarian route, I suggest you use tempeh or seitan, because tofu is far too wet for this dish, and will leave the crust a soggy mess.

Do not be afraid to make this dish – it is not difficult.  There are three keys to making this:  first, look for good beef sales, and stash the meat away for the day you want to prepare this.  Beef tenderloin is not cheap, but I did manage to find some on sale for about $6.00/lb.  Second, prepare the duxelles in advance.  Third, mise en place – meaning, have everything prepped and ready to go when you make this.  You can find a helpful  Gordon Ramsey video online on how to make his version of Beef Wellington, using Parma ham wrapped around the fillet instead of the foie gras.

I want to thank Lori of Lip Smacking Goodness for allowing me to pick this month’s recipe, and for gently reminding me that my post was not up!  A class act, that Lori!  Now, please check out the blogroll to see what others did with the recipe, which you can find after the jump.
continue reading "Recipes to Rival, and I’m SOOOO Embarrassed"

Folks, as I’ve mentioned before, things have been mighty hectic.  I’m catching up with cooking, reading all of your blogs, and posting.  One of the dishes that I actually made on time, but haven’t had a chance to post, was this month’s Recipes to Rival challenge – Steak Diane.

In case you’re not familiar with R2R, it’s a small group founded by Temperance of High on the Hog and Lori of Lipsmacking Goodness as a savory alternative to The Daring Bakers. I have to say, every month is a wonderful new culinary adventure with this group, and the recipes are often quite easy, and often involve a dish that I’ve wanted to try but never got around to making. Steak Diane is one of those dishes, chosen by Temperance of High on the Hog and Shawnee of Delishes Delishes.

I whipped it together quickly, and served it to my husband who loved it.  I didn’t use filet of beef (too pricey), but I did use sirloin.  So, I used less meat than the recipe called for, but the full amount of sauce.  My husband liked the sauce so much (it failed to ignite for me, but tasted great) that he wants me to use it on chicken.  Fine by me!  Recipe after the jump (I clarified some instructions based on my experiences), and stop by the R2R blogroll to see how others made out with this dish.
continue reading "Recipes to Rival – Steak Diane Finally Arrives"

Master Chow loves prime rib, and I had never made it, so this past New Year’s Day I decided to cook up a three-rib roast for him, and learn a few things in the process.

First, I found the meat on sale (at Whole Foods, no less!), and aged it for a week in the refrigerator.  Basically, that involved simply wrapping the roast in cheesecloth, and changing the wrapping a couple times.  To prevent the cheese cloth from sticking to the rib, unwrap and rewrap the cheese cloth after the first day. Before applying any seasoning, cut off the discolored exterior fat and meat of the roast.

Master Chow likes to be able to taste the meat he eats, so I decided on a Prime Rib Au Poivre recipe in the December 1998 issue of Bon Appétit.  He tells me that this is the best meal I’ve ever made for him, and he sat there chewing with his eyes closed, and occasionally murmuring that it was “soooo good.”  If you read the comments that accompany the recipe on the Bon Appetit web site, you will see that a lot of people feel the same way.

The one thing I did after I pulled the roast out of the oven was to pick off all of pepper coating – it seemed really, really strong, and looked a bit burned.  The bottom line, though, is that the flavor had permeated the meat, and Master Chow thought it was wonderful.  I served it with really sticky rice, and iceberg lettuce wedges, which is the only way to go according to my husband, because it’s really good at sopping up the gravy.  And the gravy was good, too!

This is my submission for Yvonne’s Magazine Mondays, so be sure to go over to her blog and see what she and others cooked up from their stack of food magazines!  Recipe after the jump.

continue reading "Prime Rib Au Poivre for New Year’s Dinner"