As we continue our efforts to start cleaning out some of the freezer and the pantry, we decided to use some filets we had frozen and create a steakhouse masterpiece with what we had lying around. And masterpiece it was!
First Cocktail - Chambord Martini
Vodka, chambord, lemon juice
Simple, fresh, clean, and tasty! (And a perfect accompaniment to our appetizer salad!)
Appetizer - Strawberry Spinach Salad
Perfection! The dressing is fantastic - do not use some bottled junk in your fridge... take the five minutes to make the dressing. (However - cut BACK on the sugar! We used a heaping tablespoon and it was perfect... 1/2 of a cup would have been crazy. Go tbsp by tbsp until your desired result. We also substituted shallots for white onion, and I would highly recommend doing that as well. The flavor is milder.) The spinach was nice and crisp and the strawberries were juicy and sweet. (And it paired so well with the cocktail!)
Entree - Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon with Port Wine Sauce
Try this recipe. You will not be disappointed. The mixture of blue cheese and panko is divine and when paired with the rich port sauce - superb! We cut our steak into medallions rather than large portions so that we can put more of the topping on, and I would highly recommend doing that. We also let the sauce reduce about 30 minutes and it was perfect! (We substituted shallots for white onions, but I'm sure whatever you have lying around will be fine.) We also grilled and then broiled the topping, but use whatever cooking method you prefer. Fantastic way to jazz up some steaks. (You could probably try this on rib-eyes or strip steaks as well!)
Side Dishes - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Sauteed Green Beans with Almonds
(see picture above)
There is no recipe for this because we simply just improvised. The roasted garlic butter from our steak frites the other week... want to guess where that ended up? We added about 1/2 cup of it to our potatoes with a little cream and mashed away. We sauteed up some green beans in a little oil and then added some of the slivered almonds from the salad and let it cook up. Both were absolutely delicious!
Entree Wine - 2009 JL Chave Selection Silene Crozes-Hermitage
Wine Spectator - 91/100
First off, a little background on our favorite wine shop.... Harry's Wine in Fairfield, CT. If you haven't yet gone... please go. Every Saturday, they offer free wine tastings from 1-4pm from many different vendors and distributors. This place is truly the go-to place when you need the perfect wine pairing. These week, Greg helped us and he truly went above and beyond. After hearing our menu, he said with a slight smirk that he had a "home run" in mind and then went into the back room and came out with this French Shiraz. Rare to find, he was able to find us one of the last bottles they had currently in stock. And because I know he reads this... Greg - we will officially retire the phrase "home run" when referring to wine, because we want to end that phrase on a high note. And high note this was! This red had flavors of black currents, tobacco, and chestnut and was incredibly rich and seductive tasting with no heavy tannin aftertaste. Truly, as he said... a HOME RUN.
Dessert - Chocolate Truffles
Shortly before we starting officially blogging our meals, we had made a flourless chocolate torte for dessert one evening. After the night was over, Jennifer had the great idea of using a melon baller to scoop the torte to create truffle-like pieces. She then froze them for future use. So we defrosted and rolled them in chopped hazelnuts, chopped almonds, and dried coconut and served them with the rest of the port wine. Unbelievable! You would never have known they were previously frozen.
Next Week - A Taste of the South
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