VDay My Way

I made pan seared steaks with blackberry Merlot reduction, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, artichokes, and raspberry vanilla bean cream brulee for Love Day. Natalie taught me how to make steaks in a fry pan like this and I prefer them to cooking steaks on the barbecue because they are much more tender and it is easier to control the desired doneness of the meat. The blackberry Merlot sauce has been a family favorite for many years. I remember having it for Valentine's Day when I lived at home. I usually use filet Mignon, but have found that good quality top sirloins are more inexpensive and the added fat actually adds a lot of flavor. It was a hit with the husband!

Ingredients
Steaks
2 top sirloin filets, about 1/2 pound each
4 sprigs of rosemary, stemmed
1/2 stick of butter
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
salt and pepper

Blackberry Merlot Reduction
2 T minced shallots
2 t minced garlic
2 oz seedless blackberry jam
1 cup good Merlot- I used 05 Meridian
1 cup beef broth

Asparagus
1 bunch of petite asparagus rinsed and ends trimmed off
3 T olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, stemmed
3 T store bought crumbled Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
4-5 small Yukon gold potatoes rinsed and chopped with skin on
1 head of garlic
2 T fresh Italian parsley
1 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the end off a head of garlic and wrap in foil. Place in hot oven for about 20 minutes. Boil medium pan full of water. Add potatoes and cook until you can easily pierce with a fork, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with foil, spread asparagus over baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, thyme, salt and pepper, set aside.


In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together chopped shallots, garlic, jam, Merlot, and beef broth. Bring to a rolling boil and let reduce about 2o minutes until sauce will coat a spoon.

In large fry pan that has sides, slowly heat 1/2 stick of butter, rosemary, and chopped garlic together. Do not let butter burn. Dust top sirloin with salt and cracked pepper, press into sides so it sticks to the meat. When garlic is cooked through and begins to sizzle, add the steaks to the fry pan. Cook about 4 minutes on each side, rotating pan so outer layer browns, but does not burn.

Take seared steaks out of the fry pan and place in a glass baking dish. Pour remaining butter garlic and rosemary mixture over the top. Put a meat thermometer in the center of one of the filets. Put filets and asparagus in the oven about 12 minutes. Cook steaks to 150 degrees in the center (for medium rare).

While steaks and asparagus are finishing in the oven, drain the potatoes and bring back to pan on the stove. Squeeze roasted garlic out of the skins into the potato pan along with 1/4 stick of butter. Mash with a potato masher until blended. Heat half and half in a Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave. Slowly add heated half and half, salt, pepper, and chopped Italian parsley to pot. Whip with potato masher until desired texture is achieved.

Remove steaks and asparagus from oven and plate, plate potatoes, top steaks with blackberry merlot reduction. We enjoyed our dinner with an excellent bottle of Laetitia Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve. It was fantastic!

Braised Leg of Lamb over Marscapone Polenta

I made this last night for the infamous V day. I sort of pieced this recipe together through a variety of Food Network chefs' lamb recipes, except for the polenta. Emeril Lagsse can take credit for the marscapone polenta part (but I lightened it a bit). We searched 7 grocery stores in town to find marscapone cheese— I had no idea it was so hard to come by in SLO! This dish is extremely fragrant and really delicious. I served it with a stuffed artichoke and pistachio creme brulee. I will post those recipes in the near future.















Ingredients
Lamb
4 garlic cloves
1 small piece peeled fresh gingerroot
olive oil
2 pounds boneless leg of lamb steaks, cut into 2 inch strips
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1 onion, diced
1/2 T ground cumin
1/2 T ground coriander seeds
1/4 t cayenne
1 cup chopped drained canned tomatoes
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

Polenta
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups lowfat milk
a drizzle of olive oil
Freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup polenta
1/8 cup half and half
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

Toppings
steamed spinach
toasted pine nuts
diced roasted red peppers
2 T plain yogurt
pepper
balsamic reduction- find the recipe here

Directions
In a blender, combine the garlic cloves with the ginger and about 1/4 cup water, reserve. In a heavy stock pot, grease with olive oil and cook the lamb pieces until browned on all sides, but not cooked in the center. Remove lamb from pot and set aside. In the same pot, fry the cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf and cook for a minute. Next, add the diced onion and cook until translucent. Add the cumin through yogurt ingredients as well as the garlic/ginger mixture and stir thoroughly. Add the lamb back into the pot and fill with a little water until the liquid is half way up the meat. Bring mixture to a boil and then cover and turn to simmer and cook for two hours or until meat is fork tender.

When the lamb has about 45 minutes to go, start the polenta. Combine the broth, milk, olive oil and pepper in a pot and bring to almost a boil. Add the polenta into the pot in a slow stream, stirring constantly to avoid clumping. Bring ingredients to a boil and then turn down to low and cover for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. With 15 minutes remaining, add the marscapone and half and half and adjust the seasonings.

When lamb is done, pull out pieces with a slotted spoon and put into a bowl. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. To plate the recipe, put down a little polenta and then top with lamb and remaining toppings.

This version will feed 3 hungry people or 4 lighter eaters (it is very rich). I assume other cuts of lamb could be used (like shanks or shoulder) but this is all I could get fresh and organic in SLO that seemed suitable for braising. With this dish we had Adelaida Cellars 2005 Version wine.

Beautiful Valentine's Day Cupcakes

I'm not super into Valentine's Day— but I usually try to make the effort to bake something chocolatey. I came across these cupcakes today and they definitely make me wish I had some skills in the pastry decorating department! (We have made some pretty "interesting" Christmas cookies in the past.)

Valentine's Day Cupcakes
Stay tuned- they are supposed to post demos later this week!