Posts Tagged ‘steak au poivre’

Look Ma! French Food!

// June 8th, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

Yep, I fulfilled my promise to make a French meal and it turned out very, very well, which is even better! I chose to make Filet of Beef au Poivre from the Barefoot in Paris cookbook. This is a classic French dish and whenever Michael and I visit a French restaurant, one of us always chooses it as it is one of our favorites. Simple, yet so tasty.

I did change up the recipe on purpose though because for one, hers called for 6 filets mignon and 1/2 cup of Cognac or brandy. I wasn’t feeling that extravagant so I settled for two sirloins and some red wine. I also marinated my steaks in beer for about four hours before I cooked them. I realize that last step is far from French cooking, but I just think a good marinade, beer especially, ensures your steak is going to be tender. And boy, these were some tender, juicy steaks. I also used my trusty grill pan rather than a regular frying pan. I was blown away with how good these came out! Michael couldn’t even talk during dinner because he was so busy stuffing his face. Honestly, we both inhaled these in record time. The best part is, besides the marinating time, this meal was ready in about 20 minutes. My steaks were thin enough that only about 2-3 minutes of cooking on both sides were all they needed. The shallot mixture that went on top of the steaks took longer.

I also tried to make a cupcake/cookie/mini-pie with sweet potatoes and sugar cookie dough mix. I know that sounds crazy, but my idea worked. I think I should experiment with fruit filling before I unleash any recipes or pictures though.

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I Have No Excuse

// June 2nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Grub

For being such a bad blogger lately. Actually, I can claim I’ve been tired and lazy, but that doesn’t really help my case. May was a busy month, so much so that I neglected to do my Around the World series. In my defense, I had planned on doing a French meal and while I didn’t quite make one, I did enjoy two French restaurants this past month. I’ve promised Michael I’d make this up to him by cooking one of his favorites, Steak Au Poivre. And now that I’ve announced this decision publicly, I’ll have to go through with it.

I even managed to forget to post my recent experience with homemade Tex Mex. I attempted to make mole from a recipe from my lovely new cookbook, “The Tex-Mex Cookbook” by Robb Walsh. Of course, I say I attempted to make mole because I decided to do this on Memorial Day and as usual, didn’t quite have all the proper ingredients I needed. In anticipation of my cookbook arriving, I had ordered a bunch of stuff for my pantry to use for all the Tex Mex cooking I was sure to be doing as soon as I got my hands on that book. What I didn’t realize is that the fancy to cook Tex Mex would hit me on Monday, when the stores were closed and I was forced to make substitutions and rely on the 24-hour pharmacy for missing ingredients. You see one key ingredient of the recipe calls for chocolate, something I didn’t have on hand. So off to the pharmacy I sent Michael and he returned with a Hershey’s dark chocolate bar. I wasn’t deterred though. I made the mole using chipotle peppers and my Hershey’s bar and the too-small-for-enchiladas corn tortillas. What came out was a slightly messing, but strangely tasty concoction of Tex Mex flavors. I wasn’t impressed, but wasn’t ashamed either.

On a plus note, I did find an interesting blog by a former Texan now living in New York City who roams the big apple for all things Tex Mex. I’m hoping I’ll learn about a few hot spots from her.

So now that I’ve reflected on my lack luster month, I’ve decided that I have to really bring my A-Game in June. Along with my make-up French meal and further adventures in Tex Mex (tamale pie is next on my list), I’ve got a big Around the World event. This month Michael has a birthday and he requested that I make a German meal for my monthly series. I’ve made some German dishes before, but now that he’s requested it and I know my dear mother-in-law of German decent reads this blog – I really have to pull this one off.

It is the first Monday morning of June and I’m off to finish my grocery list!