Friday, February 26, 2010

Thank God it is Friday. Time to eat a little Vino and dance.

This Just dance for the wii is so much fun. My friend over at http://www.obsessivechihuahuadisorder.com/ mentioned we should get one. So I did, and now when I finally get a chance to chill.. we dance! I wake up sore the next day, but happy becuase I know we worked it out on the dance floor. Up to 4 of us can play at the same time so it is a lot of fun. So we will eat, then dance off the calories. Anyone who has a wii should get just dance.


Tip of the day: Whenever, and i mean ANYTIME a recipe calls for chilling or refridgerating an item for a specific time... DO IT! If not it will change the whole outcome of the meal. It is allowing for ingredients to settle and firm up. Read through your recipe first and if there are any that need to be put in the fridge do it in the morning, or the night before. It will be ready for you when you go to cook dinner.

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By the way. I took pictures of everything and my STUPID camera LOST the pictures! "No Images" f#$*@#! so you will have to deal with directions. Sorry. The meal was so good. yum.
Here is a quicker meal less complicated meal.

Bifteck saute Bernaise
carciofi alla romana di stile
patate fritte
Steak Bernaise, Artichokes roman style, fried potatoes


I would start with the artichokes, then move to the potatoes, Do the Bernaise and cook the steak last. All the ingredients really work well together. Here are all the recipes.

Bifteck saute Bernaise

Sometimes it is always best to go back to basics. Julia child covered all the basic sauces (meaning basic french sauces) so I tend to go back to her style when it comes to any steak sauce. While any pasta sauce I would refer to Batali or Hazan.
When I was first learning Julia Childs book explained that the difference between Béarnaise sauce and Hollandaise sauce is the base. Hollandaise is based with lemon, while Béarnaise is based with a wine/vinegar reduction. There is my little knowledge for today. Ha!


¼ cup wine vinegar

¼ cup white wine

1 TB minced shallots (anytime I say this just use green onions people)

½ TB dried Tarragon or parsley

1/8 tsp pepper

And a pinch of salt

SOUS: mince up the 1TB shallots before starting. Seperate 3 egg yolks and set aside.

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and turn to moderate heat until the liquid has reduced to about 2 TB.

1 stick butter

2 more TB cold butter

3 egg yolks

2 TB fresh minced Parsley or Tarragon

This is the only “complicated part” of the sauce. Egg yolks must be heated gradually so they will thicken into a smooth cream. Too sudden will make them granular and they should never get above 160 degrees. AND you can only add a little butter to egg yolks at a time, or they will absorb it too fast. So you have to do it in steps.

Cut the butter into pieces and melt it in pan over medium heat. Then set aside.

Egg yolks go into my kitchen aid mixer and turn on the beater. Beat until they become thick and sticky. Strain in the previously cooked reduced vinegar mixture while beating (hello kitchen aid mixer, have I told you how much I love you today?) Transfer to a saucepan. Add 1 TB cold butter, and thicken over low heat. Beat in 1 more TB cold butter again until thick. Now over low heat, beat in melted butter one droplet at a time. Set sauce aside because you will be adding some steak juice in a bit. Once you add the steak sauce from the below recipe... serve in a sauce boat.

For the steak:
Steak, butter, salt and pepper

A 1 inch steak takes 8 minutes to cook for Medium rare. 10 minutes for medium.

Melt 2 TB butter and 2TB oil (you do this because oil added to butter allows for the butter to cook at a higher temperature without burning) in a large skillet. Place over high heat until you see the butter foam begin to subside. Sauté the steak on one side for 4 minutes. Pick up steak, shake oil around and now cook other side. I like it medium, Hubby likes it raw. So I do 3 minutes each side for his and 5 minutes each side for ours. Medium rare is when you observe a little pearling of red juice beginning to ooze at the surface of the steak.

Remove the steak, salt and pepper it. Keep warm for a moment while completing sauce.

Deglaze the skillet with ½ cup dry white wine then beat the liquid 1 droplet at a time into the béarnaise sauce. Add the sauce to the top of the steak and serve.


This meal is wonderful with sauteed potatoes. While time consuming, the potatoes turn out wonderful if you make them into little olive shapes. It is because they can roll around in the oil as you shake the pan and they cook evenly. I once laughed at Julie Powell cursing Julia childs advice on this manner... only to read her blog later and have her insist that this be done or they won't turn out correct. She is right. It is just worth the extra time.

Patate fritte
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
4 TB butter and 2 TB oil mixed.

Peel potatoes and cut into oval shapes. Dry well in a towel. If they are wet, they will not brown and crisp up like desired.

Heat butter and oil on high heat and when the foam begins to subside put the potatoes into the skillet. Leave them for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes shake the pan back and forth to roll the potatoes and sear them on the other side for 2 minutes. Continue until potatoes are browned all the way around. usually another 5 to 6 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and roll one more time. Lower heat and cover the skillet and cook for 15 minutes, shaking every 3 to 4 minutes to prevent sticking.


carciofi alla romana di stile



4 artichokes
1/2 lemon
3 TB finely chopped parsley
1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp crumbled mint leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup olive oil
You will need a casserole dish with a lid.

SOUS: 3 TB finely chopped parsley,1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic,1/2 tsp crumbled mint leaves.


Preheat oven to 350.


Being careful not to snap off the stems... begin preparing an artichoke by bending back and snapping off the outer leaves at the very top of the artichoke. Do not pull the leaves off all the way to the base because the whitish bottom of the leaf is tender once the central cone is revealed. slice off an inch of it eliminating all the inedible green part. In the center of the choke use a knife with a rounded end and cut off all the little purple prickly leaves as well as the choke underneath them being careful not to cut away any of the heart of edible parts. Rub down with lemon to keep from browning. Pare away The outer green part of the choke and rub down with lemon all edible parts. Taking care not to break the stem trim away the outer green part of the stem.... basically you are peeling the whole gosh darn artichoke. No wonder they were on sale this week.


In a bowl mix parsley, garlic, mint, and salt. set aside 1/3 of the mixture. Put the rest in the cavity of the artichoke that you made. Place artichokes tops down, stems up in a casserole dish. Rub the rest of the mixture you had set aside on the outsides of the artichokes. Soak 2 paper towels in water and cover artichokes with them and then cover with a lid. Cook at 350 for 35 minutes.

2 comments:

  1. It was all sooooo yummy, but I have to say that I really really really enjoyed the potatos, seeing as it took me an hour to make them perfect ovals and my fingers came out looking like I'd spent that hour in the bathtub.
    This is Devon, for some reason it won't let me post a comment unless I do it under "Anonymous"

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know, bummer the camera didn't work to show the perfect potatoes.

    ReplyDelete

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