Sunday Night Dinner

Delicioso!

Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce
Basic Mashed Potatoes
Roast Brussel Sprouts

wine: Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2005

Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce
from Giada DiLaurentiis via FoodNetwork.com

It was absolutely, delicious. Sauce was above-par, fantastic. Roast beef suffered a little keeping it warm in an evidently still-too-warm oven, but was delicious. Mashed potatoes we whipped with a little whole milk and butter. The brussel sprouts we added a little bit of the juice from the roast beef pan in the last ten minutes of cooking, could not recommend this MORE.

Try it, you'll like it.

Sunday Night Dinner

I made this for dinner last night, and it was AWESOME and spectacularly easy. Served it with sweet potato fries and haricots verts with shallots. YUM.

Balsamic Roast Pork Tenderloins

Sunday night dinner

Going to make this tonight provided the husband approves, Pork with Pesto. Although I'm going to make it with my own personal traditional pesto recipe, with penne on the side.

Pork with pesto...

1 whole pork tenderloin, weighing about 12 ounces

1 heaped tablespoon all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

About 3 tablespoons bottled or homemade basil pesto (recipe follows)

½ cup medium sherry or white wine

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

Trim the pork tenderloin, then cut the meat on the diagonal into 1-inch slices; you should get about 10 slices. Place the slices on a board and flatten them with the base of a saucepan or a meat mallet until about ½-inch thick.

Preheat the broiler. Spread the flour out on a plate and season well. Put the pork slices on the flour and turn to coat. Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the pork slices for 2 minutes on each side.

Transfer the slices of pork to the rack of the broiler pan. Set the skillet aside. Spread the top of each pork slice with pesto and broil for 30 to 60 seconds until bubbling. Transfer to warm plates and keep hot.

Add the sherry or wine to the skillet and stir over moderate heat until well mixed with any sediment and meat juices in the pan. Pour over the pork.

To serve: Garnish with fresh basil and serve immediately.

Cooking: Steaks with Shallot and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

Sunday night dinner tonight will be another new recipe, we'll be serving it with roast red potatoes and green peas...

This recipe was found on Central Market's web site, credited as noted.


Filet Mignon with Shallot and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

Courtesy of: Meesha Halm and Kathryn Kleinman
30 minutes or less!!!
2 servings

2 beef filet mignons (approximately 8 ounces each). cut 1 1/4- inches thick
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1/4 cup homemade beef broth, or low sodium canned broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Pat the filets dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the filets and cook until the undersides are brown, approximately 3 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, approximately 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the filets are medium rare, approximately 2 minutes, or until they reach desired doneness. Transfer the filets to a cake rack set over a plate. (The rack helps the filets hold their juices, which would be released if the filets were on a flat surface, such as a plate.)

Return the skillet to the heat and add the butter and the shallot. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until the shallot softens, approximately 1 minute. Add the broth and increase the heat to high. Boil, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet with a wooden spoon, until the broth is reduced to 2 tablespoons, approximately 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar and cook for 30 seconds.

Transfer the filets to warmed dinner plates and pour the sauce over them. Serve immediately.

Sunday Dinner: Shrimp Linguini

Tonight, a simple favorite, Ina's Linguine with Shrimp Scampi...

Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes


Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

Sunday Dinner: Swordfish Milanese

Tonight, I'm making Giada's Swordfish Milanese, with asparagus and saffron rice...

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
3 large eggs
4 (5-ounce) swordfish steaks, each about 1/2-inch-thick
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons light olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups lightly packed arugula
1 bunch watercress, stemmed
Place the panko in a pie dish. In another pie dish, beat the eggs to blend. Line a large cutting board with plastic wrap. Place 2 swordfish steaks on plastic wrap, about 2 inches apart. Place another sheet of plastic wrap over the steaks. Using the flat side of a meat mallet or a heavy rolling pin, gently flatten the swordfish steaks to 1/4-inch thick. Remove top plastic wrap and sprinkle the swordfish with salt and pepper on both sides. Set aside the swordfish steaks and flatten and season remaining 2 steaks, using the plastic wrap to help again. Dip each steak into the egg, then the panko, coating completely and patting to adhere.

Working in batches, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoon of light olive oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Place 2 coated swordfish steaks in pan and cook until brown and crisp and just cooked through in the middle, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a cooling rack set on a baking sheet and lightly tent with foil to keep warm (do not seal with foil or the breading will become soggy). Repeat with the remaining butter, olive oil, and 2 swordfish steaks.

Whisk the lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil in a large bowl to blend. Add the arugula and watercress, and toss lightly to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the swordfish steaks to plates. Top with the salad and serve.

Sunday Dinner

I've been wanting to recreate the old idea of Sunday family dinner with my friends, but lately i'm wiped out by the time Sunday dinner rolls around and don't have the energy for company. So for now, we'll stick to cooking for just me and the husband.

Tonight's menu:
Grilled pork loin with rosemary marinade
Orzo risotto
Haricots Verts with shallots