Pistachio Financiers

In all my travels in France, I've actually never tried these before.  I came across the recipe while looking for something to make with pistachios.  They are so cute and not too difficult to make :)

Link to original recipe: https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Pistachio-Financiers/

Recipe below contains my modifications.

Ingredients:

1 stick (8 T.) unsalted butter, plus more for buttering pan
1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4 egg whites
1/2 c. finely ground pistachios
2 T. ground almonds/almond meal
1 tsp. baking powder

Instructions:

1. Butter financier molds (or, as I used in this case, a 24-cup mini muffin pan) and dust with flour.

2. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Cook without stirring until butter starts to brown, about 5 minutes (watch carefully, it only needs to be barely brown).  Pour through a fine strainer into a bowl and let cool.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, salt, and egg whites.

4. Stir in remaining ingredients on list until combined.

5. Add cooled butter and stir in until combined.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.

6. Heat oven to 350°F.  Dip batter into molds, approximately 1 heaping tsp. for each.  Bake for 16 minutes.

7. After removing from oven, immediately transfer cakes out of molds and onto cooling racks.  Enjoy!

Braised Oxtail Ragù

This recipe is very tasty, but I don't know that I could say it is my favorite for oxtail.  It just seems to need a little something more.  And I made the mistake of serving it over regular pasta instead of egg noodles, which I do not think helped.  Still, it's good overall, worth making again to see if I can tweak it to get that extra depth it seems to need.

Original recipe here:
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-oxtail-ragu-recipes-from-the-kitchn-111644

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs. oxtail
salt and freshly ground pepper
flour, for dredging
1/4 c. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped (I did all three together in the food processor)

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
3 c. dry red wine
2 rosemary sprigs
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 300°F.  (If you are a slow cook like me, you can wait until step 4 or so to do this.)

2. Pat meat dry with paper towels.  Salt and pepper to taste, then dredge in flour.  Tap off excess flour.

3. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven.  Add meat and brown on all sides, around 8-10 minutes.  Transfer meat to a plate.

4. Reduce heat slightly and add chopped onion/carrot/celery mix to pot.  Cook, stirring frequently, until softened and slightly browned, around 5-7 minutes.

5. Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to boil and let boil for 5 minutes.

6. Return meat to pot.  If liquid level is not covering meat, add water or beef broth to raise to covering level (I added broth, but not much).  Remove from hat, cover pot, and transfer to oven.  Cook for 3 to 4 hours.

7. Remove bones from meat and remove fresh herb remnants, discard.  Stir sauce to break up meat and combine.  Serve sauce over egg noodles or big pasta noodles, such a rigatoni (pictured below).  Enjoy :)

Garlic and Gruyère Stuffed Mushrooms

I really need to just make these as a meal for myself some night.  I love stuffed mushrooms that much, honestly.

Original recipe here:
http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/garlic-and-gruyere-stuffed-mushrooms

Ingredients:

1/2 c. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
~24 oz. large button or cremini mushrooms (I used button this time)
salt and pepper, to taste
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 c. dry sherry
1 T. dried parsley
2 tsp. dried sage
1 egg white
1 1/4 c. coarsely grated Gruyère cheese
1/2 c. panko

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  Lightly oil a medium baking sheet.

2. Remove stems from caps of mushrooms and chop the stems, set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, toss mushroom caps with salt, pepper, and 2 T. out of the 1/2 c. olive oil.  Place mushrooms stem side down on baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil and the garlic in a 12" skillet over medium heat.  Cook until garlic is golden brown, around 4-6 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

5. Add chopped mushroom stems, shallot, salt, and pepper to skillet.  Cook until shallot is softened, around 3-4 minutes.

6. Add sherry to skillet.  Increase heat slightly and cook until liquid has nearly evaporated, 2-3 minutes.  (I went slightly longer, think the oil was not quite as absorbed on the stems/did not have quite as much as original recipe called for.)

7. Transfer mixture to food processor.  Add parsley, sage, and egg white.  Pulse until coarsely ground.

8. Transfer to a medium bowl.  Stir in drained garlic, the Gruyère, and panko.

9. Turn on broiler to "hi" with rack in middle of oven.  Arrange mushroom caps stem side up on tray, all together.  Stuff each generously.  Drizzle with olive oil.

10. Broil for 2-3 minutes, until tops are browned.

11. Serve up and enjoy!

Sautéed Potatoes

Yet another recipe from French: Delicious Classics Made Easy by Clements & Wolf-Cohen.  This was the first time I'd ever tried these and very happy I did.  They went very well with the amazing filets mignons I made the other day, as pictured:

The potatoes are fairly easy to make; they do need longer to cook than the recipe suggests, though (unless you like crunchy potatoes).

Ingredients:

3 lbs. russet potatoes
4-6 T. oil, bacon drippings, or clarified butter (I opted for bacon drippings--highly recommend)
2-3 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves removed and chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1" pieces (or slightly smaller, like I did).  Place them in a bowl, cover with cold water, and let soak for 10-15 minutes.

2. Drain, rinse, and drain again, then dry thoroughly in a kitchen towel.  (I forgot to rinse them and still turned out ok...oops.  I also laid them out to dry on paper towels since I was busy cooking the other dish.)

3. In a large non-stick heavy frying pan, heat about 4 T. of the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the potatoes and cook for 2 minutes without stirring to seal/brown the potatoes on one side.

4. Shake the pan and toss the potatoes to brown on another side.  Repeat until potatoes are browned all over.  Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add remaining oil and reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook and stir potatoes for 25 minutes (or most likely more) until tender when pierced.

6. Around 5 minutes prior to being done, add rosemary and stir to blend in.  Enjoy!

Filets Mignons with Bourguignonne Sauce

Oh. my. goodness.  If you are looking for something amazing to make for a special occasion (or just want to try it because it sounds wonderful, like me in this case), this is it, hands down.  Even better?  It's not difficult or tricky :)

Original recipe here:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/filets-mignons-with-bourguignonne-sauce.html

As you can see, this recipe comes from one of my favorite recipe sites, Williams-Sonoma.  I had originally selected a different recipe on there; it required an ingredient that I was going to buy there (demi-glace), as I have a coupon to use there.  However, I foolishly expected the store to be open when I drove by, saw all the lights on, parked down the street, only to walk up at 7:15pm and see that that they closed at 7pm.  Silly me.  Slightly bummed, I continued on my way home and chose a different recipe I'd seen during my search.  This one also contained an ingredient to be purchased in the store: Cabernet Sauvignon wine reduction.  Hmmm, I thought...I've done wine reductions, I bet I could make my own.  Once again, Google happily provided; I got a quick recipe on the first hit of my query.  That recipe is in yesterday's post.

Ingredients:

4 (or 3, like I used) filets mignons, 6 oz. each, 1 1/4" thick
kosher salt and coarse ground pepper
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 extra-thick bacon slices, cut in 3/4" pieces
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 T. bottled minced garlic
3/4 lb. cremini (or button, as I used), stemmed and quartered
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. beef stock
1/3 c. Cabernet Sauvignon wine reduction
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced

Instructions:

1. Season the filets with salt and pepper on both sides.  Let rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

2. In a cast-iron skillet (or sauté pan, as original recipe suggests), heat 2 T. of the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Cook steaks 5 minutes on each side for medium-rare.  Transfer to a plate to rest, tent with foil if needed to keep warm (I put mine at back of stove, which was plenty warm).

3. Reduce heat to medium and add the bacon.  Cook, stirring frequently, until just crisp.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper-towel lined plate.

4. Reduce the heat just slightly and add onion and garlic.  Cook and stir frequently for 2 minutes.

5.  Add the mushrooms and stir.  If more moisture is needed, add remaining olive oil (I added around 1 T.).  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.

7. Add the stock, wine reduction, bacon, and thyme, and any accumulated juices from the steaks.  After stirring to combine, add steaks back to pan and cook for 2 minutes.

8. Serve with generous portion of sauce and enjoy a lot!

Cabernet Sauvignon Reduction

This is very easy and I'm willing to bet it's similar to what is sold in Williams-Sonoma (no idea, since I didn't get the chance to buy any, and now, probably never will).  I forgot to get a final pic, so I'll have to add that in later.

http://winefolly.com/update/red-wine-reduction-sauce-recipe/

1 T. butter
1 small shallot, minced
1 T. flour
3/4 c. Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 sprig fresh rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add shallot and flour.  Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes.

2. Add wine, vinegar, and rosemary.  Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer until reduced by half; this does not take long, so watch carefully (think it was 3-5 minutes at most for mine).

3. Add salt and pepper if desired (I did not, since I was using in another recipe).  Remove rosemary sprig and strain if desired (I did).

Easy Pseudo Chocolate Mousse

Real chocolate mousse is wonderful, but what if you want a similar flavor, less work, and something kid-friendly (read: non-alcohol version)?  Voilà...a recipe is below for just that :)  I'm not sure where I got this recipe, have had it in my box on a notecard for quite some time.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 T. water
2 tsp. vanilla extract (increase to 1 T. if you use regular Cool Whip)
1 tub vanilla flavored Cool Whip, thawed in refrigerator
1/4 c. powdered sugar

*note: when I made it this time, I used regular Cool Whip Lite instead; this does not give quite the same 'mousse-like' consistency, but still tastes good :)

Instructions:

1. Over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan, combine chocolate chips and water.  Continue cooking and stirring until sauce is smooth.

2. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Let mixture cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, whisk Cool Whip and powdered sugar together in a medium bowl.

4. Slowly add chocolate mixture and fold in.  Place mixture in refrigerator, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes before serving.

5. Spoon some up and enjoy!