Category: French

Truffle Infused Steak Tartine, Brandy Mushroom Cream Sauce, Homemade Onion Rings

This is not as hard as it looks.  Seriously: it sounds impressive; it tastes professional; it is guaranteed to wow anyone who eats it (even if that person is just you).  There are quite a few steps here, so read carefully, but you’ll be surprised how easy this is.
Let’s dive in.

Time: 90 minutes – 2 hours
Level: Intermediate
Cost: About $7.50 per plate
Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Onion Rings

  1. 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  2. 1 12oz can beer
  3. 1/2 TSP baking powder
  4. 1 egg
  5. 2 cups vegetable or canola oil
  6. 2 large onions, cut into rings

For the steaks and mushroom-cream sauce:

  1.  4 boneless New York Strip Loin Steaks
  2. Salt & Pepper
  3. 2-3 TBSP clarified butter (also known as ghee, recommended), canola oil, avocado oil, or bacon fat – hell whatever you want as long as it has a smoke point of over 400°F
  4. 1 medium shallot, diced
  5. 3 cloves garlic, minced
  6. 80z whole mushrooms, quartered
  7. 1 TBSP unsalted butter
  8. 1/3 cup brandy, for flambé
  9. 1 140z can beef broth
  10. 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

For the Toast:

  1. 1/4 cup good olive oil
  2. 1 TSP Truffle Oil (optional, but worth it if you have it.  Truffle oil is available from Amazon, Sprouts and Whole Foods for not too much and since a little bit goes a LONG way it’ll last you)
  3. 8 thick (1/4 – 1/2 inch thick) slices sourdough bread

Instructions

Preheat an oven to 275°F.

Place steaks on a wire rack over a lined baking sheet.  Rub steaks on both sides with a drizzle of olive oil.  Season both sides aggressively with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Tent loosely with foil to prevent excessive browning and place them in the oven.  Bake in oven until internal temperature is about 115°F.  This will take about 20-30 minutes, but remember:  Cook with temperature not time.  Use an instant read thermometer to verify temperature.

While steaks are coming up to temp in the oven, do three things:

  1. Prep Onion Rings:  Mix ingredients 1-4 in a medium bowl and whisk thoroughly to create a batter.  Slice onions into rings and add to batter.  Stir to incorporate.  Cover and set aside to let rest at room temperature.
  2. Prep Ingredients for Brandy Cream Sauce:  Dice shallots, mince garlic, and quarter mushrooms.  Get brandy, beef broth and cream ready to go.
  3. Prep Toast:  Slice sourdough bread into thick slices.  Add 1 TSP truffle oil to 1/4 cup olive oil and stir gently to combine, set aside and allow flavors to meld.

Once the steaks have reached an internal temperature of 115°F, remove them from the oven and pat dry with paper towels and allow to rest.

Increase oven temperature to 500°F for toast.

While steaks are resting and oven is coming up to temp, heat fat (ghee, clarified butter, avocado oil etc) over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan until almost smoking (about 400°F).  Once fat is up to temperature, carefully place steaks in the pan and sear until dark golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.  You should develop a beautiful fond on the bottom of the pan.  Don’t overcrowd the pan – two steaks at a time is probably good.  Once steaks are seared, remove them and set them back on the wire rack to rest, covered loosely with aluminum foil.  Reduce heat to medium-low.

Carefully add shallots and sauté until mostly translucent, 3-4 minutes.

Note:  Don’t burn the shallots.  If you’re not sure if the pan is too hot, test for temp by tossing 1 little shallot piece into the fat.  If it sizzles and crackles loudly or burns, turn down the heat. 

As the shallots sweat out their moisture, scrape up any fond left behind by the steaks to incorporate.  Once shallots are translucent, add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1 -2 minutes longer.

Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms have absorbed most of the liquid in the pan and the bottom of the pan begins to look a bit dry, 1-2 minutes.  Add 1 TBSP butter to mixture and continue to cook, continually scraping and stirring so as not to burn your fond, until the butter is absorbed into the mushrooms.

Note:  Mushrooms are flavor sponges.  Give them time to absorb the deliciousness in the pan.

Once the mushrooms have absorbed most of the liquid and butter in the pan, and the bottom of the pan is starting to look a bit dry once more, crank the heat up to high for about 20 seconds.  Lower the heat, add the brandy, and flambé.  Once the flames have subsided, add the beef stock and bring to a boil, scraping up whatever brown bits might be left at the bottom of the pan to fully incorporate fond.  Add the heavy cream, reduce heat to medium-low, and allow to simmer until sauce has thickened to a gravy-like consistency.  Stir or shake occasionally to prevent burning.

For the Onion Rings

While sauce is reducing, heat olive oil for onion rings in a large saucepan until it reaches a temperature of about 375°F.

Note:  If cream sauce ends up finishing while onion rings are still being made, don’t worry.  Just off the heat and cover, then continue as follows; it will keep warm long enough for you to finish the other steps. 

Once oil is up to temp, use tongs to remove onion rings from batter one at a time, shaking off the excess.  Fry in oil a few at a time, until golden brown, 3-5 minutes per batch.  Using a slotted spoon, remove and allow to drain on paper towels.

For the Toast:

Brush sourdough slices lightly on both sides with oil mixture.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in 500°F oven for five minutes or until beautifully golden brown.

Final Assembly:

While toast is browning in oven do two things:

  1. Strain the mushroom cream sauce into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer to separate the mushrooms from the liquid.  Reserve mushrooms.
  2. Slice steaks into thin-ish strips on the bias.

When toast is finished, remove from the oven and plate – two slices per plate to make four plates.

Place 4-6 strips of steak on top of each piece of toast, followed by reserved mushrooms, followed by a generous drizzle of brandy cream sauce (Don’t be shy!).  Fan additional slices of steak around toast to look cool, if you like, totaling about 1 steak per person.

Serve with onion rings, steamed asparagus (or any other green vegetable) and a robust red wine.

 

Chicken A La King

I know what you might be thinking.  For many, the thought of Chicken A La King conjures up the worst of that era of the 50s and 60s when everything came from a can.  When people couldn’t figure out what to do with leftover chicken,  they smothered it in cream with canned mushrooms – or worse, just doused it in cream of mushroom soup (shudder).  But Chicken A La King is a misunderstood dish.  Before it was hijacked by the 50s canned-everything era, it enjoyed a place on the menus of some of the finest restaurants in the world – including the Delmonico Steak House in New York City and the Claridge Hotel in London – as far back as the late 19th century.  This version is devoid of canned mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, jarred pimentos, patty shells and leftovers; rather, it is a bright and fresh version closer to the originals from over a century ago that more closely resembles an elegant version of gravy on toast.

Time: 30 – 45 minutes
Level: Easy
Cost: About $3 per plate
Serves: 4- 6

Ingredients

  1. 1.5 – 2lbs chicken breast, cubed
  2. 8oz Crimini or Baby-Bella mushrooms, quartered
  3. 2 TBSP olive oil
  4. 1-2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  5. 2 TSP fresh thyme (or 1 TSP dried)
  6. 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
  7. 1/4 TSP cayenne pepper, or to taste
  8. 2 TBSP butter, diced
  9. 3 TBSP all purpose flour
  10. 1 cup Sherry wine
  11. 1/4 cup Brandy (for flambé, optional)
  12. 1/4 – 1/2 cup heavy cream, or half-and-half
  13. 3 TBSP fresh parsley, minced
  14. Dash of Paprika, garnish
  15. Rustic loaf of bread

Instructions

Prep all your ingredients and get ready to cook – this dish moves pretty fast.

After you’re finished prepping, preheat oven to 500°F for toast (this will take about the same amount of time as it will to cook the rest of the dish).

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat.  When oil is shimmering, add mushrooms and sauté until they begin to caramelize just a bit, 2-3 minutes.  Add diced butter and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is mostly melted.  Add bell pepper and continue to cook until soft, 2-3 minutes more.  Add garlic, thyme and cayenne pepper and sauté until very fragrant, about 2 more minutes.

Optional:  Add 1/4 cup Brandy and flambé

Add cubed chicken and stir to incorporate.  Stir in flour and continue to cook chicken until it is white all around and no pink is visible (it doesn’t need to brown, and it doesn’t need to be cooked through – it will finish cooking in the sauce).

Add sherry wine, bring to a boil, and reduce until the raw alcohol is cooked off, 2-3 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium, stir in cream and reduce until sauce is thickened to a gravy-like consistency, 5-7 minutes over medium heat.

Meanwhile, while the sauce is reducing, thickly slice several pieces of rustic bread – about 1 or 1.5 inches thick – figure on two pieces per person.  Drizzle both sides with olive oil and place them on a baking sheet.  Place them in the 500° oven for about 5-6 minutes or until beautifully golden brown.

Remove toast from oven and plate.  Ladle chicken and sauce generously over the toast.  Garnish with fresh parsley and a dusting of paprika.  Serve with steamed broccoli or asparagus.

Cook’s Note:  Due to the richness of this dish, it can come across as a bit overly decadent (even though this version isn’t too bad for you).  But the garnish here isn’t really optional – the parsley and paprika will brighten it up significantly.

 

Chicken Dijonnaise with Brandy Mustard Cream Sauce

This tangy, zesty, creamy dish comes together in a little less than an hour.  It is simple enough to make on a weeknight (with a little hustle) and elegant enough for a dinner party.  Serve with homemade Caesar Salad, because the flavor profiles of the classic Caesar are the perfect compliment to Chicken Dijonnaise.

Time: 45-60 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Cost: About $4 per plate
Serves: 4- 6

Ingredients

For the Chicken Dijonnaise:

  1. 4-6 chicken breasts (1 per person), butterflied but not sliced through
  2. 3 TBSP flour
  3. Salt and pepper, to taste
  4. 3 TBSP ground dried Dijon mustard (available in the spices section of most supermarkets)
  5. Olive oil  (and clarified butter, optional)
  6. 1 shallot, minced
  7. 4 cloves garlic, minced
  8. 8oz brown mushrooms (Baby Bellas or Crimini would work best), sliced
  9. 1/3 cup brandy, plus 1 TSP
  10. 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
  11. 1/4 cup heavy cream
  12. 1/4 cup prepared coarse-ground or stone-ground Dijon Mustard
    • Cook’s Note:  both Safeway and Grey Poupon make this (I believe Grey Poupon calls theirs ‘Country Mustard’ but whatever); any brand will do, and hell, in a pinch, any quality prepared mustard will do as long as you don’t use any of that horrible yellow crap such as French’s (if you use French’s or any other yellow mustard, you are dead to me.  Moving on…)

Instructions

Optional Step:  Brine your chicken breasts by soaking them in a solution of 1/4 cup kosher salt dissolved in 4 cups luke-warm water.  Refrigerate in the brine for as little as 30 minutes or as long as 2 hours.  This will lead to a juicer end product.

In a small bowl, mix flour, dried mustard, salt and pepper.  Whisk to combine well.  (Omit salt if you brined ahead of time).

Pat butterflied chicken breasts dry and place in a large mixing or tossing bowl, making sure that they are fully opened to maximize surface area.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss to coat.  Pour seasoned flour mixture over chicken and toss again until chicken is well coated on all sides.

Heat 2 TBSP olive oil (or 1 TBSP clarified butter and 1 TBSP olive oil) large sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering but not quite smoking (about 375°F).  Add chicken to oil, presentation side down, and cook without moving, 3-5 minutes, until well browned.  Flip chicken over and continue to cook until chicken is cooked through 80-90% (it will finish in the sauce).

Cook’s Note:  Don’t overcrowd the pan.  Every time you add a chicken breast it reduces the heat in the pan which means that less browning will occur.  I find that about 3-4 chicken breasts is a good number in my 12-inch sauté pan.  Work in batches if you have to.

Remove chicken from pan and reserve on a plate; cover to keep warm.

In the same pan, add shallots and sauté until a bit translucent, 1-2 minutes.  Add garlic and sauté with shallots until very fragrant, 1-2 more minutes.  Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until liquid is absorbed into mushrooms and mushrooms begin to lightly caramelize.  Carefully pour in brandy and ignite by slowly moving a lit grill lighter over the pan.  You will get flames; they will be large – so make sure loose clothing, hair, and other flammables are well out of the way.  Keep a lid nearby in case things get out of control (which they probably won’t).

Cook’s Note: It helps to have the brandy measured out in a container such as a measuring cup or glass.  You should be holding the container of brandy in your non-dominant hand and be holding the grill lighter in your dominant hand.  Never pour alcohol into a hot pan directly from the bottle, unless you want to risk blowing the bottle up in your hands.  Anyway, holding the grill lighter in your dominant hand, light it.  Keeping it lit, use your other hand to pour the brandy into the pan.  Wait about 2 seconds for the alcohol to begin to vaporize and slowly move the lit lighter to about 2 inches above the pan to ignite the alcohol – don’t stick the lighter in the pan or it will go out – remember:  You’re igniting the vapors not what’s in the pan.  If you don’t get flames or everything fizzles out, that’s okay.  Just add the chicken stock and cook everything down for 3 or so minutes until the raw alcohol has cooked off.  See How to Flambé for more information.

Add the chicken stock and cream and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer to reduce sauce, 5-10 minutes.  Once the sauce has thickened a bit, stir in 1/4 cup of coarse-ground prepared mustard.  Add chicken and any juices on the plate back into sauce and flip a few times to coat.  Off the heat and cover to allow chicken to finish cooking in the sauce, 7-10 minutes.  (Verify that the internal temperature of the chicken is at least 155°F using an instant-read thermometer before serving.  If after 15 minutes or so the chicken still isn’t up to temp, slowly warm chicken in sauce over a bare simmer until cooked through.)

Just before serving, having removed the chicken from the pot to serving plates, stir in final 1 TSP of brandy to brighten the sauce.  Spoon sauce over chicken and serve with a crusty french baguette and Caesar Salad.

 

 

Coq Au Riesling (Coq Au Vin Blanc)

A one-pot wonder ready in less than an hour, this dish is a riff on the classic French dish Coq Au Vin.  It is also a somewhat lighter dish, with a slightly tangy but still rich flavor profile, due in part to the use of Riesling, a white wine, rather than a French red.  Classic Coq Au Vin takes several hours to prepare (or if you follow Julia Child’s Recipe it will take you all day… still worth trying though!), but this dish should take you considerably less time.

Time: Around 60 minutes
Level:  Advanced
Cost: About $8 per plate
Serves: 4- 6

Ingredients:

  1. 8-10oz bacon, diced into lardons
  2. 4 chicken breasts, halved crosswise (or 8 chicken thighs, or 2 halved breasts and 4 thighs)
  3. 2 TBSP olive oil, divided
  4. 1-2 TBSP butter (or clarified butter, also known as ghee)
  5. 6 TBSP flour
  6. Salt and Pepper
  7. 2 TSP paprika
  8. 3 shallots, diced (see how to chop an onion, this trick works for shallots too!)
  9. 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
  10. 8oz Cremini or Bella brown mushrooms, halved or quartered, depending on their size
  11. Optional: 1/4 cup brandy, for flambé
  12. 2 cups dry or off-dry Riesling white wine (in a pinch, any dry white will do, and cheap is fine as long as you’d drink it).
  13. 1 cup decent, low sodium chicken broth
  14. 1 cup heavy cream
  15. 1 bunch chopped parsley

Instructions

Mix flour, salt and pepper, and paprika in a medium bowl and whisk together.  You’ll be using this to dredge the chicken in a minute.

In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat 1 TBSP olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the bacon lardons and sauté until lightly browned but not crispy, and some of the fat has rendered.

Add shallots and sauté until mostly translucent.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1-2 more minutes.

Don’t burn the shallots and the garlic!  If you’re not sure if the pan is too hot, before dumping all the shallots into the pan you can test for temperature by tossing in one little piece of shallot.  If it doesn’t react much, it’s probably a good temperature.  However, if it crackles loudly, or if hot fat spatters everywhere, or if it jumps out of the pan, it’s too hot.  Reduce the temperature before adding in the rest of the shallots and garlic.

Sauté shallots, garlic and lardons until shallots are somewhat translucent and garlic is very fragrant, about 3-5 minutes.

Remove lardons, shallots and garlic with a slotted spoon and reserve in a medium bowl, leaving the fat behind in the pan.

Dredge chicken pieces in flour mixture.  Shake off the excess and place each piece into the hot pan with the bacon fat.  Brown chicken on all sides, remove and reserve.

You may need to work in batches; that’s okay – overcrowding the pan will reduce the overall temperature of the pan and make it harder to brown the chicken.  You may need to add about 1 TBSP of fat – either butter or olive oil – between batches; that’s okay too.  Also, note that the chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through at this point – it will finish cooking in the sauce at the end.

Once the chicken has been browned, removed from the pan and reserved, you should still have at least 1 TBSP of fat in the pan.  If you don’t, add 1 TBSP of butter and melt over medium heat.

Add mushrooms and continue to sauté over medium-high heat until they have absorbed most of the fat and begin to caramelize just a bit.

Optional Step*:  Add brandy (or whatever liquor you’re using) and flambe.

You can use a match or grill lighter to do this.  Simply add the liquor and then ignite your flame and hold it OVER the pan.  The vapors will ignite generating an impressive flame.  Don’t freak out!  Simply remove the pan from the heat and shake vigorously back and forth until the flames subside.  For safety reasons, I’d recommend keeping a lid nearby to extinguish any flames, should they become out of control, although this is unlikely to happen.  If this step causes you any trouble and you don’t get flames, don’t worry… just cook everything down for a minute or two until the raw alcohol has evaporated.

Add the Riesling wine and chicken stock to deglaze the pan.  Continue to stir with a wooden spoon and scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (this stuff is called fond and it’s delicious).  Bring to a boil and return chicken and any drippings to the pan. 

 

Add reserved shallots, bacon and garlic back to the pan.

Partially cover, lower heat to a simmer, and allow to cook for about 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the liquid level of the pan – you don’t want it to reduce too much.

After about 45 minutes, the chicken will be cooked through and very tender, and the liquid will have reduced somewhat.  Remove chicken (again) from the pan and stir in the heavy cream.  Reduce by 25-30%, stirring often, until sauce is desired level of thickness.  Return chicken to pan (again) and cook for 2 minutes more.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Serve over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or with a loaf rustic french bread.  Anything to soak up that sauce!

_________

*My original post omitted this step.  It still will work great without it.  However, this step adds a depth of flavor that is quite enjoyable.  In either case, don’t worry about it too much!

Seared Lamb Loin with Garlic and Lemon

Lamb tends to be one of those things that people either love or hate.  For a long time, I hated it because the only way I’d ever had it prepared was slow braised in a crockpot, stew-style, and served with mint jelly.  While that may be some people’s cup of tea, it wasn’t mine.  Then I figured out that lamb could be prepared much like steak – served medium rare.  When served like this, it has a rich, complex flavor that makes an excellent alternative to beef.

Time: 60 Minutes
Level: Easy
Cost: $8-10/plate
Serves: 4-6

This particular recipe uses lamb loins although lamb chops would work just as well.  Lamb loins look like tiny T-bone steaks – which is essentially what they are, just from a lamb instead of a cow (i.e., tenderloin on one side and strip steak on the other).  As such, they are totally delicious.  Because they’re small, they don’t have a lot of meat on them.  My boys and I can easily polish off about four; my wife will eat two.  Even still, if you can find them on special it makes for a pretty economical meal.  Also, this recipe is SUPER easy.

Ingredients

  1. 12 – 16 Lamb Loins (serves 3-4 hungry folks)
  2. 3 TBSP Olive Oil
  3. 6-8 garlic cloves (finely minced or pressed)
  4. juice of one lemon
  5. kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

 

Method

Consider trimming a bit of fat off the outside of the lamb loins if they’re particularly fatty.  1/4 to 1/8 inch or so is probably good.  I probably should have done that for this recipe; I will next time.  In either case, no biggy – they came out great.

Place lamb loins in large tossing bowl and add olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Add garlic, lemon, salt and pepper.  (Note:  Normally I don’t like garlic presses, but in this case I’ll usually opt to press my garlic because it’s easier than mincing them into a paste, which is really what needs to happen).  Cover and refrigerate for as little as 20 minutes or as long as 12 hours.

If preparing in the kitchen, preheat the oven to 300F.  Line a baking sheet with oven-safe parchment paper for easier clean up.  Add 1 TBSP olive oil to a cast iron or copper skillet, and heat to very hot until oil is shimmering and smoking slightly.  Sear lamb loins in batches, 2-3 minutes per side or until nicely browned.  Don’t overcrowd the pan.  Transfer lamb loins to baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 130F for medium-rare.  Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

If preparing on the grill, build a 2-zone charcoal fire or alternatively, on a gas grill,  light one or two burners only.  Shoot for 300F at grate level on the cool side (don’t rely on your grill’s thermometer, spend $5 on an oven thermometer at Home Depot and place it on your grill grate to ensure an accurate reading).  Add a couple of mesquite wood chunks, if you like (mesquite is perfect for this meal because of it’s strong flavor and the short smoking time involved).

Sear lamb loins on hot side of grill with the lid open for 3-5 minutes per side or until nicely browned.  Transfer to cool side and close the lid.  Grill for 15-20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 130F for medium-rare.  Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Remember:  In order to achieve a piece of meat that is perfect medium-rare end to end and seared on the outside (see picture) the meat needs to be the same temperature throughout when the cooking process begins.  I recommend going straight from the fridge to the grill/pan without letting it come up to temp on the countertop.  For more information see The Secret to Perfect Beef Roasts and Steaks.

Serve with steamed asparagus or green beans and rice pilaf.

Pairs well with Malbec (Argentina), Shiraz (Australia) or Red Zinfandel (California)