Detritus Dinner

Connie actually suggested the name of this post.  Clever man.  So, when we throw our annual holiday open house we usually have TONS of leftovers and freeze them for later.  This year, not so much.  Maybe because I cut down on the quantity I made.  Or because we had so many more folks join us.  Whatever the reason, there wasn't a lot left over.  Connie had sliced three of the four beef tenderloins and six of the eight pork tenderloins.  I thought he was going to have to slice the fourth beef tenderloin during the party but we just barely made it.  I think there were about three slices left of the third tenderloin.  That meant that we had one leftover.  YAY!  My favorite leftover!! 

The best part of this story is that I got to meet one of my favorite fellow bloggers at the party.  Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake.  (If you've not yet discovered her blog, please pay her a visit.  She's got WONDERFUL recipes!)  One of her best friends is a bridge player, as is Connie.  Suzanne told Liz about my blog and she dropped me a note.  We've been talking back and forth ever since.  And, along the way, we've found that we know a lot of folks in common.  Across the street from Liz and her hubby, live Steve and Pam.  Steve and I go back about 40 years or more.  We'd fallen out of contact but now that Liz and I have gotten to know each other, we'll not let that happen again.  Small world.  So, Liz and Suzanne and Pam came to the party.  Steve was home sick.  Here's a horrible photo of me and a great photo of Liz in my pantry:

Now, you probably want to hear the rest of the story...

Liz brought us some wonderful black truffle salt, a bottle of fig balsamic vinegar and a bottle of blood orange extra virgin olive oil.  The bag of salt said it'd be great on beef.  Hmmm, did I ever have some beef to use it on.  It also said potatoes.  I had some red potatoes that needed to be used up.  And, I could taste the evoo on some steamed broccoli.  Dinner.  Absolutely not detritus.  We loved the black truffle salt and the blood orange evoo.  Now, I'm going to try to fix something else tonight.  But, we may have beef tenderloin with black truffle salt again.  Thank you Liz!

Bourbon Marinated Steak

We have an institution in Indy by the name of St. Elmo's.  They have the finest steaks I've ever had.  I've been to places on top ten lists like Bones in Atlanta.  They're great but I prefer St. Elmo's.  Call it hometown bias if you will, but it's one of Peyton Manning's favorite places too.  And, ole Number 18 just isn't a slouch when it comes to great places to eat.


That being said, our budget just doesn't allow St. Elmo's on a regular basis.  Maybe once a year.  So, if I want steak, I've got to fix it.  Now, when it comes to steak, my favorite is a cast iron skillet heated about as hot as you can safely get it with the steak seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper and a lot of Worcestershire sauce tossed in and left long enough to create a decent sear on the outside with the inside nice and rare.  YUM.  Well, steak isn't Connie's favorite.  So, when we do have it I try and do it up a bit so he's not just eating a slab of beef.  Our usual is a nice blue cheese crust.  We do that a couple of times a year and thoroughly enjoy it. 

Now, since I'm trying to clean out the freezer for party space, I was pretty anxious to get the two rib-eyes out of there.  What to do with them.  On Foodbuzz I came across a recipe from Liv Life for Bourbon Marinated Steaks.  It was pretty similar to the marinade recipe I've used for years for pork tenderloin.  I got my recipe from Back Home Again.  That's a cookbook from the Indianapolis Junior League.  It's probably my favorite cookbook of all time.  And, it's finally back in print if you're looking for a great gift to give yourself or someone else.  This marinade had the normal suspects with an additional slug of mustard, a bit of Worcestershire and some slice onion. 


What did we think?  Very good.  I'll make this again and may even try it on the pork tenderloins.  My guess is it'd also be great on chicken. 



Bourbon Marinated Steak

Ingredients:
steak(s)
1/4 c bourbon
2 T packed dark brown sugar
1/4 c low sodium soy sauce
2 T spicy mustard
1/4 c sliced onions
1 t worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Mix marinade ingredients and marinate steaks for about 2 hours before grilling. Note in the photos how easy it is to measure out 1/4 c of sliced onions when they're added to a measuring cup that already contains 1/2 c of liquid.

When you pour the marinade on the steaks, IF you put marinade on the already cooked side, make sure you flip the steak again to cook the marinade on that side.  The last thing you want is marinade from raw meat sitting on cooked meat...

We served our steak with some really crispy onions. 

adapted from Liv Life

Elegant Dinner

When we prepare the beef tenderloins for the annual holiday party, there are always great trimmings.  We've never quite figured out what to call the piece that's about a pound or pound and a half that looks like a small roast.  We thought it was the chateaubriand but later read that that's a part of the big tenderloin.  At any rate, we had one of the pieces still frozen.  Since I'm still working on cleaning out the freezer, I decided the next three meals would be beef, swordfish and lamb chops.  Back in about 1984, I created a stuffing for lamb chops.  It's been my go-to recipe since then.  Last night, I decided to try stuffing the beef with the same.  Since I had a package of button mushrooms and another of portabellas - both of which needed to be used up - and since we're going to have lamb chops Monday night, it made sense to just make a big batch of stuffing.

Lamb Chop Stuffing
8 oz. mushrooms, chopped and sauteed
2 chicken livers, sauteed and chopped very finely
1/4 c chopped, cooked bacon
1 tsp thyme or tarragon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, very finely minced
1/2 c red wine, more if needed to keep the stuffing moist
2T shaved parmesan

Sautee the mushrooms until almost dry.  Add the onion and garlic and some of the wine if necessary.   Cook until the onion is softened.  Mix in the other ingredients and stir to combine.

Now, for those of you who run screaming from the room at the thought of liver, you can undoubtedly leave it out.  But, it really plays well with the other flavors and you cant' really tell it's there.  So, be brave, try the stuff.


Stuffed Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce

1-2 lb piece of tenderloin
1 c stuffing (above)
2 T olive oil
1 T flour
2 t beef base
1 c red wine
1 T butter

Cut a pocket in the center of the tenderloin, leaving about an inch at either end.  Stuff the tenderloin with the stuffing and tie it in 3-4 places.  We use the cooking rubber bands.  They're so easy to use!  Heat your oven to 400.  Put the tenderloin in a baking dish or pan and roast it for 15 min.  Yes, I know you usually brown it first.  But, Cooks Illustrated just did an article on tenderloins and they found that it's better to brown it after roasting.  So, I tried it that way.  When the tenderloin comes out of the oven, start the olive oil.  Get it to the shimmering point in a heavy skillet.  Brown the tenderloin, being very careful not to cook it too long.  Remove the tenderloin from the skillet and put it aside to rest.  Tent aluminum foil over it to keep it warm.  Pour the pan drippings from roasting the beef into the olive oil.  There shouldn't be much  Add the flour to the olive oil and stir until the flour is cooked.  Pour in some red wine, stirring constantly.  Once that's thickened, add the beef base and the rest of the red wine.  Stir until it's thickened.  Add the butter last to give the sauce polish.  It'll change the color and texture and flavor.  Slice the tenderloin.  Put a puddle of sauce on each plate and lay a slice of tenderloin on the sauce.


Along with the beef, I made a variation of rosemary potatoes and Daddy's fried potatoes.  He always sliced the potatoes and fried them in bacon fat with salt and pepper as the seasoning.  I sliced them thinly and slowly cooked them in olive oil with salt, pepper, garlic and crushed rosemary to season.  They cooked for about an hour and a half and were perfect.  Some were crunchy, some were melt in your mouth soft.  YUM!

We also tried a mixture of cauliflower and asparagus roasted and drizzled with the lemon juice and soy sauce, then sprinkled with sesame seeds.  They were good but not as good as the broccoli was done the same way.

Last but not least, I made an onion herb focaccia bread.  New recipe and pretty easy.  Stretch refrigerated pizza dough out on an oiled, rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle some olive oil over it then rub it around to cover the entire surface.  Sprinkle it with sea salt (I grind mine,) crushed rosemary and a bit of red pepper flakes.  Set aside until puffy - about an hour.  Make dimples with your fingers.  Then sprinkle with very finely sliced red onion (about half of a medium one) and about 1/2 c shaved parmesan.    Bake for 17 min at 400.