Archive for » February 8th, 2008«

Juicy Thick Steaks with a Morel sauce and Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois
I made this the other night as an experiment it was so good, very rich and full of flavour, I am sure it is not to everyones taste, but my self and my husband loved it. You will see from the photo we were rather piggy and our steaks were huge, I think they were about 300g each, it was aged Argentinian beef. The fillets were so juicy and tender and bursting with flavour, becuase of the size I did have to cook for about 20-25 Min’s for medium rare.

Ingredients

4 Steak fillets (200-250g each I was a little piggy on the weight as you can see from the photo.)
160g Fois gras pate (40g cut round slices to top each steak.)

Sauce

Olive oil
1 Shallot, chopped finely
1 Cup Madeira wine
2 Teaspoons beef stock granules (Mine is quite hearty, so adjust for taste with the brand you use.)
1/2 Cup water
2 Teaspoons French mustard
3 Tablespoons morels, chopped finely
1-2 Teaspoons cornflour


Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois

1Kg Potatoes, sliced into thin slices
2 Cups milk
2 Cloves garlic, smashed
11/2 Cups Gruyere cheese
1 Cup thick double cream
1 Cup light cream
25g butter
Pepper to taste

Method

1. Cook steaks on a BBQ or under the grill or in a pan until desired doneness, my steaks were huge so mine took about 20-25 Min’s and that was for medium rare.


Sauce

1. Add a small amount of olive oil to a pan, add shallots and cook until tender, add madeira, water and beef stock, simmer for a few minutes.

2. Add mustard and stir to combine, mix a little water with the cornflour and add to the sauce to thicken, lastly add chopped morels, serve over steak.


Potatoes Au Gratin Dauphinois

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (360ºF).

2. Put the potatoes in a pan and cover with milk. Add one of the smashed garlic cloves, cover and bring to the boil, turn heat down and simmer uncovered about 10 min’s, until potatoes are just tender.

3. Mix the 2 creams together until well combined.

4. Rub a ovenproof dish with garlic and grease it well with butter. Transfer half of the potatoes in the gratin dish. Add half the cheese, cream and pepper to layer. Put the second half of the potatoes and pour the other half of th cream over, top with remaining cheese.

5. Put the dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour. Gratin Dauphinois is ready when the top is gold and brown.

This makes 6 servings

To Serve: I served mine on a bed of spinach with garlic, mushrooms and bacon. Place steak on plate top with pate and pour sauce over, serve dauphinois on the side.

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Ginger Tuna with a Wasabi Drizzle and kumara Ginger Fritters
This dish came together by accident and it was absolutely delicious, I have been experimenting again lately combining new ingredients and flavours.Some of them have been ok, but not a wow, and some have surprised me and my hubby has just raved through the entire meal. This dish is really good, Tuna is always yummy and it is such a healthy meal.

The Kumara (sweet potato) fritters were oh so yummy, the recipe below makes between 16 and 20 fritters depending on how big you dollop the mixture into the pan. It is the right amount if your making this for 6 but I was only making this for 4 so I had fritters left over, instead of throwing them out, I saved them and they were still great the next day. As they were already cooked I just heated a pan first, then added them and just cooked for a few minutes to re-warm it made for a great lunch.

Ingredients

4 Tuna steaks
80ml Olive oil
3 Teaspoons ginger, grated
2 Red chillies, seeded, chopped finely
2 Tablespoons lemongrass, chopped finely

Wasabi Drizzle

1 Cup dry white wine
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
80ml Cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon wasabi, I used powder (I say 1 as I did 11/2 and it was a bit to much for my hubby, I thought it was great so just adjust for personal taste, if I had my way I probably would have added 2 but my hubby can’t handle too much spice.)
180g Sour Cream

Kumara Ginger Fritters

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Onion, chopped finely
1 Medium zucchini, coarsely grated
2 Teaspoons ginger, grated
2 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce
2 Medium sized kumara (approx 400g), coarsely grated
1 Tablespoon coriander, finely chopped
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
oil for deep frying

Chili coriander yogurt
180g Natural yogurt
11/2 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped
3 Teaspoons sweet chili sauce


Method

1. In a large bowl combine oil, ginger, chili and lemongrass, add tuna. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 Min’s or until required.

2. Drain tuna over a small bowl, reserve marinade.

3. Either BBQ tuna or as it is winter where I am, I placed tuna on a wire rack in an oven proof dish and cooked under the grill about 4 inches from the heat, for about 3-4 Min’s a side.

Wasabi Drizzle

1. Combine wine, sugar and vinegar in a pan, heat until liquid just comes to the boil, turn down and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half, cool slightly, stir in wasabi and sour cream.

Kumara Ginger Fritters

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onion, zucchini and ginger, cook until onion softens, stir in chili sauce.

2. Combine onion mixture, kumara, coriander, egg, flour and seeds in a large bowl

3. Heat oil for frying, add mixture in 1 tablespoon lots to oil, cook until browned on both sides and cooked through, drain on absorbent paper.

Chili Coriander Yogurt

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix well.

To Serve: Place tuna on a plate and drizzle with wasabi sauce, arrange some salad greens on the plate top with fritters and dollop yogurt on the top of each fritter. I served 3 fritters per person but serve as many as you like.

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.