Stuffed Mushrooms with Steak and Spinach

I saw these mushrooms in the bulk section at the produce department and thought that they would make great stuffers. They did! First, sprinkle them with some salt and let sit on the counter after removing the stem. After they sit and get a little water on them, pat them dry with a towel and arrange them with the hole up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt again and put in a 400 plus oven. Check in some time. They’ll have liquid accumulating in the centers of the caps. Save that liquid; it is mushroom stock and will add lots of flavor to your stuffing.

Steak Spinach Stuffed Shrooms

For this stuffing, I pan fried some steaks. I use cast iron skillets. I cut off all the fat from the steaks and rendered it. Using the rendered grease, I then sauteed a diced onion, set it to the side, and did the spinach the same. Chop up the mushroom stems into a fine dice and saute on high heat until most of the liquid evaporates. Mix all together and add mushroom stock. Warm up briefly in pan. Season as you’d like; me = salt, pepper, garlic powder and sriracha. Use a spoon to stuff the shrooms. I topped these with havarti cheese after they had baked in a 350 oven for about 8 mins, and broiled them to get the crispy cheese!

YUM!!!

Well, I think the title of this post pretty much sums it up. I found some beef tenderloin on sale. We try to buy only the meat labeled no antibiotics and no growth hormone.My mom and I will also sometimes go in on a part of a cow. I love beef. There, I said it. I also love buffalo. After that, the list falls off. Fresh shrimp and lobster are probably next. But chicken might as well be tofu, just a vessel for flavoring. And yes, I eat tofu. Anything is good deep fried.

Beef Tenderloin with Porcini Truffle Gravy over Rice

I recently bought some dried porcini mushrooms. Rehydrate them in hot water. Chop them up and add them and the liquid for super-flavor-blast. I made some hamburger stroganoff, which is probably my favorite food, and added some porcini juice… MMMM! So I rehydrated the porcinis, put two tablespoons of butter in my little steel skillet. No teflon or other coating please. Chopped my last frozen black truffle and a white truffle from Oregon. I got some fresh truffles, when there wasn’t a recession, and my sister chef did also. When I first got them, I went up to a local meat market and got some filet tips, made a truffle butter and let them marinate for hours… MMMM! So, saute the truffles and porcini in the butter for more flavor. Strain in the pan with a fork, and remove. Add 2 tablespoons flour mix well and let cook on low for a few minutes. Add some milk and water to your roux. Add the mushroom liquid and the mushroom chunks are last. DO NOT throw away the mushroom chunks. If you want a smooth gravy, whip out your miniblender and whizz it up. Sear your tenderloin in a heavy cast iron on high heat to your taste (this was perfect with about 1/4″ of cooked and a rare center. Don’t forget the sides. Serve over brown rice, and drizzle (or douse) with gravy.

And, next time, clean the plate before the picture please.

And, o yeah, Happy Valentines Day.

Blue Cheese Bacon Risotto with Poached Egg and Tomato Zucchini Saute

This is a dish I made in Spring of 2011. Risotto is slow cooked rice and, really, it’s not that hard. Put the rice on while you’re prepping the rest of the food. Check it regularly and use some kind of stock. I like Organic Better than Bouillion and I use all three flavors: Beef, Chicken and Veggie. But for the risotto, it was probably just chicken and veggie. When the risotto is done, add some blue cheese and a dash or so of milk to thin it ever so slightly.

Fry the bacon while the risotto is cooking. Slice the zucchini thinly and saute in bacon grease. Yum. Coarsely chop a tomato and add it. As the risotto is finishing up, start poaching eggs.

I think it’s really important to present a colorful plate. I am not referring to these black plates which I think are really ugly but rather to the different colors of each food. So much of the average American diet is just brown or beige which equals bland.

Here’s an introduction to Brother Sister Food. The idea here, is that I’m the best cook I know. My sister over at Sister Brother Food probably feels the same. Fortunately, we only meet a few times a year since she lives on the West Coast and I’m back East. I usually let her cook so that she feels better about herself. So I figured that I’d start a couple of sites to share a (somewhat) friendly rivalry between sibling home chef extraordinaires and the recipes that they create on a regular basis.

I don’t do the main grocery shopping only stopping in the store on an as-needed basis. Basically, my wife gets whatever’s on sale and expects that I will create a masterpiece about 300 nights a year. No fancy ingredients. Well, unless they’re on sale. And I did buy those black truffles that were sent overnight from Oregon… But they were so good in a truffle butter marinade for those filet tips that you can buy at the meat market in Highlands. Nothing like marinating a filet tips (or any steak) in butter to really make it lusciously rich and tender. So the black truffle thing should pretty much explain the philosophy behind my cooking. Yes, Hello, nice to meet you, I have philosophy behind my cooking  :)

This’ll be fun.