Filet Mignon with Warm Shallot Vinaigrette, Sautéed Mushrooms and Toasted Baguette

Filet Mignon with Warm Shallot Vinaigrette, Sautéed Mushrooms and Toasted Baguette

When my birthday occurred a couple of months ago, Mrs. Stuntman took me out to dinner the day prior because she had to work on the evening of my actual birthday. On my actual birthday, I posted a picture of the dish I ate for dinner on instagram. Call this an update but this could easily be served this weekend for Valentine's Day if you don't want to go out to eat.

Inspiration Behind the Dish

I was surfing the net recently and came across a dish that won a Top Chef challenge in a prior season. It paired halibut with a vinaigrette. Vinaigrettes are ubiquitous in dressing salads, but are more uncommonly used by home cooks as a sauce to complement a protein and I wanted to explore the idea. In addition, the supermarket I normally patronize had USDA Choice New York steaks on sale, however they were a little too large of a portion for my family so I purchased filets instead. A quick review of The Flavor Bible revealed that beef steaks pair well with shallots, mushrooms and Dijon mustard.

Dish Details

I would like to think that this dish would be served at any fine dining steakhouse. I adapted a vinaigrette from Food & Wine but the remaining components of this dish are original.

Ingredients

2 shallots, sliced thinly
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 8-ounce beef tenderloin steaks, approximately 1-inch thick
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 baguette, cut into 1/2" slices on a bias
Basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (for garnish)

Method

1. Prepare the vinaigrette. Combine the shallots and 1/2 cup olive oil in a saucepan over medium low heat and sweat, stirring frequently until softened, approximately 10 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and let it cool slightly. Add the vinegar and mustard into the blender and purée until smooth. Add in the parsley and pulse until finely chopped. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper to taste, then keep warm over low heat.

2. Sear the steaks. Place 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and heat until the oil starts to smoke. While the oil is heating, season the filets with salt and pepper then add them to the skillet to sear, approximately 4 minutes. Flip the steaks to sear on the opposite side but reduce the heat to medium, until desired doneness is reached, approximately 6 minutes for medium rare.

3. Sauté mushrooms and finish the dish. If the skillet is dry once the steaks are removed, add the remaining teaspoon olive oil then the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms until they shrink, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and stir until fragrant, approximately one minute, then deglaze with the white wine, scraping any fond from the pan. Season with salt and pepper and continue to simmer until the wine has evaporated.

While the wine is reducing, put the baguette slices on a aluminum foil lined sheet pan and season with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler, checking every 30 seconds until the desired color is reached.

To plate, follow the classic design of starch at 10 o'clock, protein at 2 o'clock with sauce under the protein and vegetables at 6 o'clock by spooning a tablespoon of vinaigrette onto a plate right of center, then placing the filet onto the vinaigrette at the center of the plate. Using a slotted spoon, drizzle some mushrooms off to the side of the filet then lean a baguette slice against the filet on the opposite side of the vinaigrette and garnish the dish with the chiffonade basil.

Final Thoughts

This dish is about as spontaneous as I'll get because I did not plan to publish it here when I went shopping for the ingredients in the morning I prepared it. In fact, I composed it while I was there in the supermarket based upon the ingredients I knew I had in my pantry. Still, it was well balanced with the baguette offering a texture contrast. In addition, the acidity of the vinaigrette balanced out the sweet flavors in the basil and the savory steak from the standpoint of the flavor profile. From an execution standpoint, I altered my method slightly in preparing a filet because I found that, by following my prior method, the center was too rare for my taste and, in many cases, blue in the center.

Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad for a Fall Flavors #SundaySupper

Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad for a Fall Flavors #SundaySupper

If memory serves me correctly, the team at #SundaySupper has repeated the theme of autumnal foods from last year. I remember this because I paired chicken with a sauce that utilized grapes which are coming into season about now. The repeated theme is okay with me because I'm always up for seasonal ingredients.

Inspiration Behind the Dish

In what will most likely be my last trip to the Redmond Saturday Market this year, I noticed apples had appeared at many of the farms' stands a couple of weeks ago so I purchased a few ruby jon apples and decided to employ the classic pairing of apples and pork. To affirm, The Flavor Bible noted a flavor affinity of pork, apples and mustard. It separately noted that pork chops pair well with arugula.

Dish Details

For the pork chops, I relied upon my favorite which is taken from Tyler Florence on Food Network. For the sauce, I was inspired by a recipe I found on seattletimes.com but I had to make it over.

Ingredients

For the pork:
4 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt plus more for seasoning, divided
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed with the side of a knife
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 bone-in pork rib chops, approximately 1-inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
4 ounces arugula
Juice from 1 lemon
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Brine the chops. Stir together the water, 1 cup kosher salt, sugar and apple juice until the sugar and salt has dissolved. Add the peppercorns and thyme into the brine, then the pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

2. Prepare the chops. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Remove the chops from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the chops dry with paper towels, then season them with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sear the chops, two chops at a time if they don't fit, approximately 3 minutes per side. Remove them to an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan, then roast the chops in the oven until their internal temperature reaches 140° Fahrenheit, approximately 30 minutes.

3. Prepare the pan sauce. While the pork chops roast, return the same skillet to the stovetop over medium heat and add the oil. Once it starts to smoke, toss in the onions to sweat, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the apples and brown lightly, approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Deglaze the pan with the apple juice, then stir in the mustard. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Reduce until the sauce is thick enough so that when you slide your finger across a spoon dipped in the sauce, it holds its shape. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the nutter until it melts. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

4. Prepare the salad and finish the dish. Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Toss the vinaigrette with the arugula. To plate, place a pork chop in the middle off center, spoon some sauce over the chops then garnish with arugula on the side.

Final Thoughts

I must confess that the dish you see above isn't the dish I had originally conceptualized. I wanted to present it with a fourth component of a polenta cake. When I visualized the dish, I imagined the chop to rest against it with the bone raised to give the dish some height. I even had the chops frenched similar to the dish I published about a year ago. That being said, the dish was still very flavorful. The spice of the mustard balanced the sweetness of the apples nicely.

Check out A Guide to Apples plus Best Fall Recipes Ideas for #SundaySupper and this week's recipe collection:

Breakfast

• Apple-Currant Dutch Baby Pancake by The Weekend Gourmet
• Apple Swirled Pumpkin Yeast Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread by Party Food and Entertaining
• Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart by Pies and Plots
• Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits by Tara’s Multicultural Table

Appetizers and Sides

• Butternut Squash, Cauliflower and Cabbage Soup with Lentils by Monica's Table
• Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins by Pancake Warriors
• Pumpkin Spice Roasted Sweet Potatoes by Love and Confections
• Roasted Veggie Tart by Books n’ Cooks

Main Dishes

• Acorn Squash Stuffed with Roasted Veggies & Couscous by Momma’s Meals
• Butternut Squash Lentil Curry Soup by Food Done Light
• Curry Beef Pies by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Fantasy Rice by The Petit Gourmet
• King Prawns in Red Sauce – Mauritian Style Creole Sauce by Peachy Tales
• Pasta with Creamy Butternut & Bacon by Cooking Chat
• Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Pork Chops with Glazed Apples and Vegetables by The Complete Savorist
• Quinoa and Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash by Feeding Big and More
• Roasted Tomato Soup with Bacon/Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich by A Gouda Life
• Salt Roasted Salmon over Roasted Butternut & Yam Soup by Lifestyle Food Artistry
• Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken, Delicata Squash and Olives by Foodie Tots
• Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Alfredo Sauce by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup by Eating in Instead
• Whole Roasted Chicken with Vegetables by Life Tastes Good

Desserts and Cocktails

• Apfelkuchen by Curious Cuisiniere
• Applesauce Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirls by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Apple Gingersnap Refrigerator Dessert by Recipes Food and Cooking
• Autumn Bellini by An Appealing Plan
• Autumn Spice Cookies by Desserts Required
• Caramel Apple Napoleons by The Crumby Cupcake
• Caramel Apple Pie Bundles by The Freshman Cook
• Caramel Apple Streusel Muffins by The Redhead Baker
• Caramel Apple Swirl Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Cheesecake Swirl Pumpkin Muffins by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Chestnut and Pear Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream by Caroline’s Cooking
• Dark Chocolate-Espresso Pumpkin Tiramisu by Brunch with Joy
• Dutch Apple Pie by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butterscotch Drizzle by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Pumpkin Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Pumpkin Crisp by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake by Flour On My Face
• Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies by Palatable Pastime
• Roasted Maple Pears by Amee’s Savory Dish
• Spiced Pear Cake by Simply Healthy Family
• Spiced Pumpkin Bread by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
• Sweet Apple Skillet Cake by Nosh My Way

Plus, A Guide to Apples plus Best Fall Recipes Ideas for #SundaySupper

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It's easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Presenting: Warm Spinach Salad with Cannellini Beans and Shrimp

Warm Spinach Salad with Cannellini Beans and Shrimp

Like millions of us in the United States, Mrs. Stuntman has wanted to start 2015 eating healthier so I thought I'd use it as an opportunity to practice my photography skills. This dish can be found on foodandwine.com appeared in the results of my winter salads google search. It appeals to me because the preparation was more involved than simply tossing some raw vegetables together with a vinaigrette, but I was hoping the pink color in the shrimp would have been brighter to contrast the cannellini beans.

London Broil with Mushroom Vinaigrette

London Broil with Mushroom Vinaigrette

Yikes! Has it really been two weeks since my last dish? Where has the time gone?

I was supposed to participate in the Father's Day #SundaySupper event but the Thursday before I emailed that week's host, Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen and withdrew because of my busy schedule leading up to Sunday and didn't think I would be able to prepare my dish in time. Last week, I had an idea for a restaurant-caliber dish but still haven't fully conceptualized it yet.

Way before I even conceptualized the idea of a food blog, my mother gave Mrs. Stuntman and I a Rachael Ray cookbook when we first moved in together. In all honesty, it sat several years collecting dust but found it recently started to flip through it and found this dish.

Now, let's just say that you could safely put me in the category of a Rachael Ray critic. I think she has great charisma to be relatable to a very wide audience and her dishes are approachable to the novice home cook. After all, she must be doing something correctly considering how successful she's become. My problem lies in the food she prepares. It lacks creativity, imagination and technical expertise. Why would you feature one of her dishes here, then? This dish will set a baseline and inspiration for my own London Broil dish I'll publish later, hopefully improving on the dish.

The Challenge

Inspire my own London Broil dish.

The Source

Adapted from page 146 of Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats by Rachael Ray. (This recipe is also known as recipe #164 in the book.)

Ingredients

1 2-pound boneless London Broil
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
5 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 8-ounce package cremini mushrooms, cleaned, then quartered
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped plus more for garnish

Method

1. Prepare the London Broil. Place a rack in the oven closest to the broiler heat source and preheat the broiler to high. Combine the 1/4 cup olive oil and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place the London Broil in a resealable bag and pour the Worcestershire/oil mixture over it, rub it into the meat and set aside to marinate at room temperature, approximately 5 minutes. Place the marinated steak on a broiler pan and broil for 6 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from heat, set aside covered in a foil tent to allow for carryover cooking while the mushrooms are prepared. Speaking of...

2. Prepare the mushrooms. While the London Broil cooks, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the mushrooms and brown, stirring occasionally for approximately 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, then add the onions, garlic and thyme in addition to seasoning the mushrooms with salt and pepper and sweat the mushrooms, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Next, stir in the white wine vinegar and mustard. Remove the skillet from heat, then stir in 1/2 cup parsley and remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil.

3. Plate the dish. Slice the London Broil thinly across the grain. To plate, fan the slices out on a warmed plate, top with mushrooms and garnish with parsley.

Successful?

I ran into a minor execution issue because I left the London Broil in the marinade too long so I wasn't able to sear it under the broiler. Other than that, the vinaigrette was tasty and the execution was quick, however this dish is just not my style. I'll follow up with my revisions later. Until then...

Presenting: Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Dates

Radicchio and Arugula Salad with Walnuts and Dates

This post will read very similar to the Asian chicken salad I published a couple of weeks ago. Today, my daughter is graduating from Kindergarten and the class scheduled a pot luck-style picnic at a nearby park afterwards. I volunteered a salad and decided to make this one. A quick check of The Flavor Bible yielded a flavor affinity of endive, arugula and radicchio but when I went to purchase my ingredients, two supermarkets didn't have Belgian endive in their inventory so I substituted some iceberg lettuce.

Some other adaptations: I toasted my walnuts in a dry sauté pan instead of in the oven and I also used Emeril's balsamic vinaigrette which has become my go-to mainly because the Dijon holds the oil and vinegar together.

Other than the changes noted above, the main recipe can be found from Food & Wine magazine's website.

I'll be back Sunday with a dessert for Dad.

Pan Roasted New York Steak with Demi-Glace and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Pan Roasted New York Steak with Demi-Glace and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Oh, the irony!

The most popular dish I've ever published on this website is my Chicken with Mushroom Demi-Glace I prepared for #SundaySupper last autumn. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite dish I've ever profiled.

I'm still baffled by it. The recipe is from Chef Robert Irvine who is one of my favorite Food Network personalities, but more than that, the demi-glace is a derivative of an espagnole sauce which is taught in culinary schools. If it's profiled there, I assume it's fundamental which indicates I failed miserably the first time around. The other issue I have is with my garnish. I intended to top it with a small salad but the only thing that made it on the plate was a bit of bacon and a couple of spinach leaves.

I had to rectify this situation.

The Challenge

...can be summed up in one word: Redemption

The Source

I used the method described on page 41 of Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio. I used a salad by Alton Brown from foodnetwork.com and a basic demi-glace from Le Cordon Bleu.

Ingredients

8 ounces baby spinach leaves, washed and patted dry with paper towels
2 large hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
1 8-ounce container sliced white mushrooms
8 slices thick-cut bacon
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, sliced thin plus 1 shallot minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 New York steaks
2 sprigs fresh thyme plus 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons cut into small cubes unsalted butter, divided
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, crushed with the side of a knife
1 bay leaf

Method

1. Make the salad: Combine the spinach, eggs, mushrooms and sliced shallot in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove to a paper towel lined plate and crumble into bits. Reserve 3 tablespoons bacon fat and pour into a small saucepan and set aside separately from the spinach.

2. Roast the steaks: Using the olive oil, steaks, thyme sprigs and 2 tablespoons butter, prepare the steaks as I described in step 2 previously. While you allow for carryover cooking...

3. Prepare the demi-glace and finish the dish: Discard the leftover oil from the pan you roasted the steaks. Place it back over medium heat and add the chopped shallot, beef stock, chopped thyme, red wine, peppercorns and bay leaf. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the fond and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce by about half or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the butter cubes one at a time until melted. Place the saucepan with the bacon fat over low heat. If the fat has solidified, render again then whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and mustard over low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss with the spinach and bacon bits. To plate, place the steak off to one side, spoon some demi-glace over it with the salad off to the opposite side. I also served with mashed potatoes.

Successful?

I didn't realize it at the time but the demi-glace I describe above is a bit of a short cut, however it tasted much better than my earlier iteration. The salad was flavorful and complemented the beef well.

Presenting: Grilled New York Steak with Béarnaise Sauce and Arugula Salad

Grilled New York Steak with Béarnaise Saude and Arugula Salad

So my kitchen has finally been put back together but the day it was finished, Mrs. Stuntman took off with my daughter and my sister-in-law to Southern California for a week to help her move. I still had a little money leftover from what my apartment manager gave me for food while my kitchen was not usable, so I ate out...often. I admit, I was lazy and didn't want to go through the trouble of cooking from scratch for one, but after more than a week of self-inflicted take-out hell I was ready for a good home-cooked meal, no matter how many were eating. Since it was just me, myself and I, I figured I could purchase something a little luxurious and not break the bank so I chose a New York strip steak.

A quick check of The Flavor Bible yielded a flavor affinity of beef steak, arugula, balsamic vinegar and parmesan. In addition, I saw Béarnaise sauce noted several times under the category of beef so I googled it. Béarnaise is a derivative of a Hollandaise which is one of five mother sauces of French cuisine. These sauces are an emulsion of butter and egg yolks but are flavored differently.

This isn't a very creative dish because these are classic pairings but I thought I could use the opportunity to practice my plating and I skipped my Presenting: series in February so I wanted to compensate for it here.

The Challenge

Improve food presentation and photography.

The Source

For the Béarnaise, I used a recipe from Heather of girlichef and the arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette and parmesan I took from Emeril via foodnetwork.com. Please check their respective links for the recipes.

For the steak, I seasoned both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and used a grill pan set over medium-high heat, cooked at a 45 degree angle for two to three minutes then turned the steak the other direction (i.e. from right to left to create the cross-hatch grill marks) for an an additional two to three minutes and then flipped the steak over and repeated the process. Once finished, I removed the steak to a plate and rested for 5 minutes to allow for carryover cooking.

Successful?

I now understand why these ingredients work so well together. The steak, salad and sauce complemented each other nicely. I would adjust the heat to medium instead of medium-high when I prepare it again because I like my steaks medium-rare to medium, but it was still the best meal I ate all week. From a presentation standpoint, I'd use less sauce next time but I like the color contrast of the plate.

Lastly, if you're not familiar with Heather, get to know her. She can be reached several places, namely: twitter, facebook, instagram, flickr, StumbleUpon, pinterest, G+, and LinkedIn.