A Luxurious Holiday

So in my previous post I just so mentioned that I would dedicate the next couple posts to foods that amp up the indulgence factor before we all take our new year's vow of calorie celibacy.  So I will make good on my promise and send you another fat-tastic recipe, in memorial to this holiday season which seems to have ended in a heartbeat. 

Now this recipe I actually made on Christmas Eve, completely violating the rule of no red meat on that particular day.......my devout Roman Catholic Italian grandmother would kill me if she knew.  My excuse for this violation is very simple.  We always have dinner at my mother's on Christmas Day, so I always feel compelled to make something very nice for my hubby and little one on Christmas Eve, since I don't get to cook on Christmas Day.  So for the past few years I have been playing with what I want to traditionally serve on Christmas Eve and this year I decided to go with a little bit of an ignored dish in our family's repertoire (this is more economical that anything), beef tenderloin.  I chose beef tenderloin for really one main reason.....ease, and since beef tenderloin typically has a very short cooking time I knew I would therefore have plenty of time to actually relax and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on my Christmas Eve.  Unfortunately I made the grave mistake last year to do a turkey, while trying to wrap all my Christmas presents, finish the dessert to take to my mother's the next day, and "help" Santa set up all the goodies for my little girl.  Needless to say I was able to watch midnight mass from the Vatican in total and finish it off with a little "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."............three hours of sleep later.
So this year I wanted to spare myself this agony and wanted something easy, and surprisingly this dish was just that,  however I still found myself up till three o'clock in the morning wrapping Christmas presents.....I really need to do something about that.  Anyway, I decided to serve it with yummy horseradish cream, au gratin potatoes (a future blog recipe I think) and a nice salad, and I have to say it was worth the enormous price tag I paid for it.  It got me thinking that if next year I have conscience and decide to go with fish for Christmas Eve, this would make a great New Year's Eve dish, finished off with a yummy Champagne cocktail!

On a side note I would like to thank all my readers (the few of you there are) and wish you all a very happy and safe New Year!  I hope all of you continue with me on this blogging journey in the new year!  Buon appetito to you all, and happy cooking!

Mushroom And Herb Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

Cook Time: 1-1/2 hours

Filling:
8oz Crimini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup crushed crostini (you could substitute with fresh bread crumbs)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Beef:
1 2-1/2-3lb beef tenderloin butterflied (the butcher can do this for you)
kitchen twine
1/4 cup chopped peppercorns ( I do this in an old coffee grinder)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste (to do this simply take one clove of garlic
and sprinkle with a little salt and smash with a knife blade or you can you a mortar and pestle)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup melted butter

Horseradish Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons horseradish
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons fresh chives chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  For the filling place the mushrooms and garlic in a food processor.  Process until minced.  Meanwhile melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add the mushroom and garlic mixture and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Place breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and herbs in a small bowl, toss to combine.  Add the mushrooms to the breadcrumb mixture and mix well, set aside as you prepare the beef. 

To prepare beef in a small bowl combine the peppercorns and salt.  Lay beef flat on work surface, and spoon stuffing down the center of the tenderloin, leaving about a 1/2 inch gap at each end.  Roll the tenderloin up and with the seal facing down secure the tenderloin with the kitchen twine, trussing the tenderloin in six spots to evenly secure the meat so the filling doesn't spill out. 

Once the meat is trussed rub the roast with the garlic paste then press the peppercorn/salt mixture all over the beef, forming a bit of a crust.  Heat the olive oil in a medium roasting pan or large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  When the olive oil starts to smoke place the roast in the pan and sear on a sides, trying to evenly brown the meat.  Drizzle the melted butter over the meat.

Place the roast in the oven and cook until it reaches an inner temperature of about 135-140 degrees, which is medium rare.  If you prefer rare cook until you reach an inner temperature of 125-130 degrees.  Remove the roast from the oven and place on your cutting surface.  Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes before you slice it.  To slice the beef, remove the kitchen twine and slice the roast in 2-inch thick slices.  Serve with the horseradish cream.

Magic Mushrooms

Waking up the last few mornings and feeling the chill in the air I am reminded once again that fall is in full swing here and that the summer days are gone.  Now as depressing as this might seem, here in the Pacific Northwest fall brings a bounty of fruits and vegetables that I wait all year to have, which includes an impressive variety of mushrooms both locally grown and locally foraged.  I have found a new love for mushrooms, which has not always been the case.  When I was pregnant with my daughter the sight or smell of any mushroom sent me running for the hills (gagging as I went) and after having her it took me a long time to formulate a friendly relationship with fungi of the edible variety.  But here I am, a changed woman, and surprisingly writing about a recipe that not only involves mushrooms but is also vegetarian (what warped universe am I in).  The idea for a mushroom recipe came to me while I was at the market the other day, trying desperately to find inspiration for my next post.  Then suddenly I found my muse, large and lovely, just waiting to be bought and cooked............drum roll please..............Portabella mushrooms.  As destiny would have it these lovely jewels were surrounded by other pleasing candidates, wild Chanterelles, Brown Beech, and lobster mushrooms.  One of these varieties might be coming to a blog near you.....just so ya know.
So I brought these beauties home and damned if I knew what to do with them.  They were so lovely so I didn't want to chop them up and put them into something.  No, I wanted them to be the centerpiece.  But I have to say that I wanted whatever I made to be fast, since my three year old was growing more and more impatient by the minute waiting for mummy to finish in the kitchen.  So once again I perused my fridge, trying to put something together, and by the time I had figured it all out my little one was at the end of the line in the patience department.   So to turn that frown of hers upside down I put a little apron on her and she helped me make this dish from beginning to end, and wouldn't you know it, it was absolutely delicious.  However, I have to say that even though the meal was wonderful, the company was so much better, so Ava bug this one is for you.

Ava's Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

3 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots diced

2 garlic cloves minced

16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons fresh Thyme chopped

2 teaspoons fresh Oregano chopped

1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (see note)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
4 large Portabello mushrooms, stems removed and gills scraped out

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place mushrooms in a large glass baking dish.  Brush the inside of the mushrooms with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.  Salt and pepper the inside of the mushrooms with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper.  Set aside.  To prepare the filling for the mushrooms melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and remaining olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Squeeze any excess water out of the thawed spinach and add spinach to the pan, cook until the spinach is heated through, about 3 minutes.  Add the herbs and mustard, stir to combine and cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Remove the spinach mixture from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.  Cool just until the mixture will not be hot enough to cook the egg.  Once the mixture is cooled add the egg, 2/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup of the fresh breadcrumbs, and the feta cheese.  Stir to combine then season with the remaining salt and pepper and set aside.  In a separate bowl combine the remaining Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.  Melt the remaining butter and add to the breadcrumb/Parmesan mixture.  Stuff each mushroom with an equal amount of the spinach mixture then sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over each mushroom.  Put in the oven and bake uncovered until the topping is browned and the mushrooms look cooked, about 35 minutes.

Hummmm.......crab would be yummy here.........so would sausage, but that's not very vegetarian is it.

Note: To make fresh breadcrumbs simply put a piece of day old bread in a food processor until crumbed.  If you don't have a food processor you can substitute the bread crumbs with Panko.