Beef Tenderloin Roast

For Christmas dinner this year I made a stuffed beef tenderloin roast. It was a whole beef tenderloin that I butterflied open and stuffed with a mixture of herbs and vegetables.

I started by sauteing chopped crimini mushrooms, onions, and garlic in a mixture of butter and olive oil until they were softened. I then de-glazed the pan with some red wine, added some fresh rosemary and thyme, and cooked the mixture until it was slightly reduced.

The beef was seasoned on all sides with salt and pepper and then the mixture was spread out on one side. With the some help, I tied up the beef with butcher string to close it up and create a roast.

The roast was then rubbed with a little vegetable oil to get it ready for the grill. I prefer to use vegetable oil over olive oil when I am going to cook something over very high heat because its smoke point is so much higher and it will hold up better during the cooking. I cooked the roast over lump charcoal on my grill. I started by searing all sides of the roast over high direct heat to develop a crust. Then the roast was moved off to one side and cooked with indirect heat until my remote thermometer registered 135 degrees. The roast was then pulled from the grill and wrapped in foil. Once wrapped in foil to rest the temperature continues to climb 5-10 more degrees.

We chose some simple side dishes for this meal. I made roasted broccoli and criss- cross potatoes.
The broccoli was made by marinating it in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt, pepper, chopped garlic, and rice wine vinegar. It was roasted on a foil lined sheet pan at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes until some of the edges started to get a nice char on them.

The potatoes are made by first slicing large baking potatoes in half. Then you can slice shallow cuts through the potato in opposite directions. Rub the potatoes with salt pepper and good paprika and then baste very liberally with melted butter. The potatoes get baked at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until crusty and tender.

Homemade Egg Noodles

With cold and flu season upon us, there is likely to be homemade chicken soup in your future. The best accompaniment with chicken soup is some nice thick egg noodles. They are very easy to make and turn your soup into the ultimate comfort food.

Start by making a mound on a clean surface consisting of 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix the dry ingredients well and make a well in the center of the mixture. To the well add 2 whole eggs and 3 tablespoons of water. Scramble the eggs with a fork gradually working the eggs into the flour. Bring the mix together with your hands and knead for a few minutes until it all comes together as a workable dough. You may need to add a few more tablespoons of water to make this possible depending on conditions. Move the dough to a floured surface and roll out to your desired thickness. I rolled my batch out to about 1/8" thick. We like our noodles a little thicker, almost on the verge of being a dumpling. Keep in mind that the noodles are going to just about double in size when they are cooked. Slice your dough with a pizza cutter into your desired width of noodle. Drop the noodles into boiling broth or soup and cover to let simmer for about 8-10 minutes until they are done. The end product will blow away any store bought noodles, and its a great way to add a little comfort to your meal.

Jaeger Schnitzel

To help celebrate Oktoberfest this year I was in the mood to try to make a traditional German dish called jaeger schnitzel. The recipe consists of cutlets of pork, veal, or beef that are pounded out thin, breaded, and fried. The cutlets then get topped with a rich and creamy mushroom gravy. Schnitzel translated to English literally means chip or cutlet. The word jaeger translates to hunter, which my pay homage to the act of hunting the wild mushrooms that were traditionally used in the recipe.

I made this recipe using slices of pork tenderloin. The pork was pounded out to about a quarter of an inch thick and seasoned with salt and pepper. I then used the traditional breading method of flour, followed by beaten egg, followed by bread crumbs. I used panko bread crumbs for a little extra crunch. I then shallow fried them in a cast iron skillet a few minutes on each side until golden brown. The schnitzel were then topped with a creamy mushroom gravy that I made using crimini mushrooms.

For side dishes I made some traditional roasted potatoes and some not so traditional roasted broccoli. The potatoes were large diced, tossed in olive oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried rosemary. The potatoes were cooked at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes and tossed about every 15 minutes during cooking.

The broccoli was a new twist that I felt like trying out. I tossed the large broccoli spears with sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, crushed garlic, pepper, brown sugar, and sesame seeds. The end result was a basic teriyaki marinade. I cooked the broccoli at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes turning half way through cooking. It really turned out well as the sesame seeds toasted nicely lending a nice nutty flavor to the broccoli.

I served the dish with traditional German garnish of fresh lemon and chopped parsley.

Mussels with white wine, garlic, and basil

Mussels have long been a staple of diets in Europe. It seems to me that currently in the U.S. mussels remain an under utilized item. Mussels are now readily available fresh in most of our modern supermarkets. Here is a simple and delicious application for one of my favorite mollusks.

Plan on using about 1 pound of mussels per person. When you get the mussels home wash them in cold water. Discard any that are open, or do not close when tapped on the counter. You may also have to tear of their "beards". Mussels have a small stringy extension outside of the shell that they use to attach themselves to things in the ocean.

There is not much of a recipe here just a list of ingredients. For two pounds of mussels, I start by sauteing one half of a finely diced red onion, and 8 cloves of crushed garlic, in olive oil over medium high heat until softened in a large stock pot. After a few dashes of salt and pepper, slide in the mussels, and 1 finely diced medium tomato into the stock pot along with 2 cups of white wine and cover. I usually prefer to use a nice chardonnay for this. The wine does get sweeter as it cooks so you want to start with something that is a little on the dry side. Let the mixture cook for 5 minutes, stir, and add 1/4 cup of finely sliced fresh basil and continue cooking for 5 more minutes or until all of the mussels have opened and the liquid has slightly reduced.

The best presentation for this meal is with some warm and crusty french bread and the same nice white wine that the mussels were cooked in. Be sure to serve with extra broth as it is great for dipping the bread in.

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb

The votes were tabulated from the poll I had on my blog and the dish that people most wanted me to make was herb crusted rack of lamb. This lamb dish gets seared on a hot grill, coated with lots of fresh herbs, and then finished in the oven. The end result is super tender lamb with a crispy flavorful coating.

We were serving 4 people so I started with 2 small racks of lamb. The racks had already been frenched, meaning that the extra meat and fat around the bones had been removed. Having the bones exposed makes for a more impressive plate presentation as well as making them easier to handle and cook evenly.

The lamb was given a good coat of salt and cracked black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil to get it ready for the grill. We grilled the lamb over high heat on all sides. What we are looking for here is adding some good color and flavor to the meat. The lamb is removed from the grill while it is still rare and set aside to rest while we make our herb crust mixture.

I start the herb crust with some fresh bread crumbs. I used a store bought loaf of French bread that I sliced, toasted in the oven, and ground into crumbs using a food processor. The crumbs get set aside so that we can next make the herb mixture in the food processor. I started with a handful each of fresh mint and flat leaf parsley. I added in the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh rosemary 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/4 cup of fresh shredded parmasan cheese and gave it a few pulses. Next I added in 3 cups of the fresh bread crumbs and began to combine while adding a drizzle of olive oil to bring it all together. The end result is a bright green speckled breadcrumb mixture.

It is now time to bread the racks of lamb. I began by well coating the lamb with dijon mustard. The mustard is the glue to hold on the crumb mixture. Then I coated the lamb with the bread crumbs and pressed them tightly with my hands. The lamb is now ready to be finished in the oven. I placed the lamb into a 375 degree pre-heated cast iron skillet with a light drizzle of olive oil. After 10 minutes of cooking, I flipped the lamb and continued to cook in the oven for about a total of 20 minutes. I used an instant read thermometer to make sure we pulled the lamb from the oven when it was about medium rare. After allowing the meat to rest for about 10 minutes, I sliced the lamb into individual chops and served.

We served the lamb chops with a porcini mushroom risotto, mashed potatoes with parsnips, and toasted sesame seed asparagus.

Chicken Tinga Tostadas

Chicken tinga is a traditional Mexican recipe that was taught to me by two friends that I met while living in Virginia. They loved this recipe and made it quite often since moving to the U.S. from an area near Acapulco, Mexico. This is a quick and easy recipe that delivers big authentic Mexican flavors. This recipe is made by first poaching 3-4 bone-in chicken breasts with the skin removed in chicken broth with a mixture of 1 chopped onion, 4 chopped tomatoes, garlic, and oregano.

When the chicken is cooked all the way through it is removed from the broth, shredded and set aside. The broth mixture goes into a blender with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The amount of chipotles you put in is up to your own personal taste. The broth mixture gets well blended and then poured into a pan.

The chicken and the chipotle sauce are combined and brought to a simmer on the stove. Once some of the liquid has evaporated and the chicken mixture has thickened it is ready to serve.

I serve chicken tinga on a warm tostada with onion, cilantro, queso fresco, sour cream, avocado, and a lime wedge. It is also equally delicious if you choose to serve it as a filling for tacos or burritos as well.

Green Curry Chicken

If you are looking for huge complex flavors in a simple to prepare dish, curries are a great place to start. Here is a taste of the green curry that I made. I used a canned green curry paste as my base and its primary ingredients are ground green chiles, shallots, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass. The heat of this dish can be altered to taste based on the amount of curry paste you wish to add. We prefer ours a little spicy so we use a ratio of 4 teaspoons of curry paste to 1 can of coconut milk.

My ingredients were sliced chicken breast, red onion, red, orange, yellow, and green bell pepper, baby eggplants, Thai eggplants, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, Thai basil, lime, green curry paste, chicken broth, and coconut milk. Perhaps the hardest to find ingredient in the list is the lime leaves but they are worth a trip to an Asian supermarket. They have an intense citrusy lime aroma that is hard to compare.

I started by simply stir frying all the vegetables in a very hot wok until they began to soften. Then a couple teaspoons of the curry paste and all the other aromatics such as lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and kaffir lime leaves go into the wok. Heating the curry paste up with the vegetables will give it a chance warm up and bloom its flavor a little bit.

Next we add the chicken broth, coconut milk, basil and cilantro. Once this mixture comes to a simmer we add the sliced chicken breast allow it to poach in the liquid until it is done. The lemongrass stalks can be removed from the mixture and a fresh sprinkle of basil and cilantro can be tossed in to finish the dish. I served it with lime wedges and a fresh scoop of rice from the rice cooker.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

During my time in Chicago I was introduced to something that is as Chicago as the hotdog is but without the same notoriety. I am talking about the classic Italian beef sandwich. It can be found at corner hot dog huts and sandwich stands across the city. The first names that usually come to mind are Portillos or Al's #1 Italian Beef. Both of these companies have multiple locations across the Chicagoland area. The idea for the sandwich is quite simple really. It consists of very thinly sliced roast beef that is soaked in a rich beef stock that is heavily seasoned with Italian spices. The meat is piled high on fresh Italian buns. Toppings are optional and are limited to cheese and a choice of peppers (sweet bell or hot giardenara).

My choice cut of beef for this recipe is the eye of round roast. Its a little leaner than some of the other options and if you prepare it properly it makes great Italian Beef. For this recipe I started with a large 6-1/2 pound roast...I know thats big but hey its Superbowl Sunday!

How Is It Made???

First I rinse and trim the roast of any visible fat. Then the meat gets a light coating of vegetable oil followed by heavy doses of dried oregano, garlic powder, and pepper. I then sprinkle with a very light amount of salt. I give the roast a quick rub to distribute the spices evenly, and its ready for the oven.I put the roast on a rack and into a 475 degree oven for 7 minutes per pound, so 45 minutes total for this bad boy. After 45 minutes, I removed the roast from the rack and placed it in a pan with a few cups of good beef broth. I then insert my digital thermometer, wrap with foil, and return to the oven at 325 degrees. I watched the readout of my thermometer and pulled it out of the oven when it read 125 degrees in the center. I allowed the roast to rest on top of the stove under its foil tent for 30 minutes and the temperature continued to rise until it peaked at 142 degrees in the center, which is perfect for what we needed. The larger the cut of meat the more the temperature will tend to rise after pulling from the oven. I put the pan with the roast and broth into the fridge to chill until we were ready to eat. It is much easier to thinly slice meat once its given a chance to cool. In the meantime I prepared the sweet peppers by steaming green, yellow, and red bell pepper strips in a little bit of reserved beef broth.

C'mon...Lets Eat!

I removed the roast from the fridge and combined the juices from the pan with the juices from the peppers into a large pot and brought just to a boil. I then turned the heat to low. Meanwhile, its time to get out the heavy equipment. There is nothing like using a real meat slicer for when you need to finely shave meat. I have made this recipe by hand before, it just takes a little extra effort and a sharp knife. I thinly sliced the beef and added into the broth mixture to heat back up to temperature as well as soak up some of the flavors in the broth. A toasted Italian roll with provolone cheese is the perfect place to stack this creation. Pile the meat as high as you can and top it with some of the sweet peppers. Authentic Italian beef houses in Chicago will give you the option of having your bun dipped in the "gravy" or what we called the broth. We usually opt to serve the sandwich with a little cup of the broth on the side for dipping. This is big city comfort foot at its finest.

Babyback Ribs - Two Ways

In Search of Perfect Ribs.....

I decided Saturday night would be rib night. I received Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA cookbook for Christmas and it was time to try some recipes. I went with 2 different recipes. A dry rub style and a jalapeno jerk style with a homemade pineapple-ginger bbq sauce. I did each recipe with one rack of baby back ribs- back membrane removed. Here are my results...


The jerk ribs were marinated in a mix of pineapple juice, jalapenos and cilantro for 4 hours. To the right is a picture of the bbq sauce started with pineapple juice, fresh ginger, and cilantro.

Rubbed and ready...

Starting the coals... I use a mix of natural lump hardwood charcoal and traditional briquettes to get the best of both worlds. The lump burns quicker and hotter, while the briquettes will last a little longer.

The perfect smoking temperature. 225-250F. 3-4 hours at this temperature delivers perfect results.

I cooked these using indirect heat on a rib rack over a water filled drip pan. Twice during cooking I added some wet mesquite wood chips to the coals.

The perfect rib? Juicy, pulls away from the bone, and there is a noticeable pink smoke ring.
We came away very impressed with both recipes. The dry rubbed ribs were great and Trisha said that the jalapeno jerk ribs were the most flavorful meat she has ever tasted.