The Traveling Epicurean

Mini Beef Wellington’s for the Oscars on CT Style!

Mini Beef Wellington’s for the Oscars on CT Style!

Making Mini Beef Wellington’s for the Oscar’s on CT Style yesterday was a blast! What’s more fun then cooking in the kitchen with friends and family? Well, that’s how it is with Ryan Kristafer and Teresa Dufour! I feel like I’m with my siblings, me being the elder of the trio, as we joke and banter back and forth. I can’t describe to good feeling I get when I leave the WTNH studio at Channel 8. Every single one of them are such great people.

This Mini Beef Wellington recipe is very easy to make and tastes like a bite of heaven! A piece of filet mignon topped with a mushroom reduction, called Duxelles, Truffle Mousse Paté, pastry dough, brushed with egg yolk and baked until golden…mmm! I make Beef Wellington, a bit more work, but the mini’s are like taking a short-cut to the same perfection! I have had these mini’s served at gala events years ago in San Francisco and forgot how amazing they are until my friend Chef Marco made them for New Years Eve. When he and his wife, Sheryl, served these Mini Beef Wellington’s at their New Years Eve party I new right away that I needed to show everyone how to make them on CT Style!

It was also National Sticky Bun Day so I made a batch of Sticky Buns too! Here are some other delicious appetizers you can make for your Oscars party, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Baked Asparagus wrap in Prosciutto with a cream cheese-onion smear on the inside, Pesto, Mozzarella and Roasted Tomato Crostini, and or the amazing Panzanella Salad! 

 

Mini Beef Wellington INGREDIENTS Makes 16 (Each 1 1/4″ slice of filet makes 8-9 mini’s):

  • 2 Slices of Filet Mignon 1 ¼ “ thickness cut into 1” approx.. cubes
  • ¼ tsp. salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 box, pastry dough thawed, 2 sheets rolled out , then cut into 2 ½” squares
  • 1 slice Truffle Mousse Paté, ½” thick slice
  • 1/4 c of Italian Blue Cheese
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 egg yolk, whisked

Duxelles Ingredients (reduced mushroom/shallot/herb):

  • 1 lb. Bella Mushrooms cut into quarter pieces
  • 1 extra large shallot finely diced
  • 1 tbsp. fresh thyme OR 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • ½ tsp. salt for mushroom mixture
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 2 tbsp. dry sherry (Savory & James Medium Sherry)
  • 2 tbsp. butter

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Heat large sauté pan on med/high and season filet with s&p
  2. Add olive oil to the pan and sear whole filet pieces on all sides for 1 minute total
  3. Remove and set aside to completely cool, then cut into 1” approx. cubes
  4. To make Duxelles add mushrooms and shallots to food processor, pulse until very fine mash
  5. Add butter, mushroom mixture, thyme & sherry to the same lg. sauté pan & sauté for 50-60 minutes on med/low to remove moisture until you get more of a crumbly texture
  6. Set aside mushroom mixture to cool completely (you can do this the day before)
  7. Simmer ¼ cup Italian Blue Cheese with 2/3 cup heavy cream in a small sauce pan
  8. Whisk to get to a smooth consistency as the cheese melt then keep on a low simmer to thicken slightly
  9. When duxelles is cooled, add ½ at a time to a small bowl, then mix in 2 tbsp. pate
  10. NOTE: you can freeze this wonderful Mushroom Duxelles mixture without the paté for future use so only mix ½ at a time
  11. Put 1 tbsp. flour down and roll out to thin pastry dough a little, then cut 2 1/2 “ squares with a knife
  12. Put 1 tsp. Duxelle/pate mixture in the middle of each square, then place a cube of filet on top
  13. Begin to pull up the sides wrapping the filet cube like a present
  14. Put seem side down on cookie tray and brush the tops with egg yolk mixture
  15. Then bake on Convection 425˚ for 10 minutes until golden
  16. Pour the warmed blue cheese sauce onto a platter and then place golden Mini Beef Wellington nuggets on top and serve…yummmm!

Chicken Piccata-Easy Gourmet

Chicken Piccata-Easy Gourmet

My Chicken Piccata-Easy Gourmet recipe really is an uncomplicated dish that will knock your socks off! The chicken cutlets are so tender that they are almost falling apart in it’s delicate wine-shallot sauce with capers, paper thin Baby Bella mushrooms and fresh squeezed lemon is truly amazing. It has a delicate zing from the capers, and a brightness from that fresh squeezed lemon at the end. I serve up this chicken piccata with fresh sautéed spinach and mashed potatoes that just seems to pull it all together almost making it a comfort food with the mouth watering wine gravy and mashed potatoes. It is a dish that you may just start to crave! It only takes about 30 minutes to make so it should definitely be part of your cooking repertoire considering how incredible it tastes!

Even my kids love it although I do put aside several pieces for them at the point right after I deg-laze with wine and before I add the mushrooms and capers because that’s just not their thing …yet! -This way everyone is happy.

I don’t use too much butter in this recipe. I don’t think there is a big need for that with all these amazing layered flavors from the chicken, shallots, mushrooms, capers, white wine, chicken broth and lemon juice.  The light flour coating on the chicken when dredging it to sauté helps to thicken the sauce right there.  I see many recipes adding a ton of butter “to thicken” it and it’s just not necessary. Enjoy making this tasty dish and be sure to watch it on my Chicken Piccata cooking show video either posted right here (listed under “videos” tab above) or on my YouTube channel.

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Ingredients: Serves 4-6 people if served with mashed potatoes and fresh sautéed spinach

  • 3 lg chicken breasts or 4 med. sliced into 3 and pounded thinly
  • 3 tbsp lg capers (or sm if you prefer…they’re all good)
  • 3 tbsp. finely chopped shallots
  • 2 cups white wine (approx. 1/2 cup for each chicken deglazing and 1/3 c. for mushrooms and approx another 1/2 cup at the end to simmer…NOTE in my video I did say 1/4 cup at each stage but oops I used a little more than that : )
  • 1/3-1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 6 lg BABY BELLA mushrooms sliced PAPER thin
  • 1 wedge of lemon for the end
  • 6 lg garlic cloves just smashed to sauté and flavor olive oil
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper for flavoring flour
  • 1 recipe fresh sautéed spinach (can leave out garlic in recipe)
  • 1 recipe mashed potatoes (can leave out red onion)

Directions: Approx. 30-40 minute to prep and cook

  1. Either buy chicken breasts pounded out at your local butcher or cut each breast into 3 horizontally and pound out each one gently to 1/4″ thickness
  2. Put flour into shallow dish and season with s & p
  3. Dredge pounded chicken breasts in flour and leave in flour dish ready to sauté
  4. Heat large, shallow pan on med/high
  5. Add 3 tbsp-1/4 cup olive oil to pan while heating
  6. Add 3 garlic clove to olive oil and sauté til golden to flavor pan
  7. Remove garlic cloves and begin to sauté chicken breasts filling entire pan (this will be done in 2 batches)
  8. Make sure the pan stays hot enough on med/high heat while cooking breasts
  9. Cook chicken approx. 2 1/2 minutes on each side
  10. Add 1/4 white wine and deglaze, place cover over for 1 minute
  11. Remove cover and remove first batch of chicken to baking dish using a spatula to scrap out all of the gravy and bits
  12. Put pan back on med/high heat and repeat #5-#11.
  13. Now add 1 tbsp butter, finely chopped shallots and paper thin sliced Baby Bella’s to the pan and sauté til water renders out of mushrooms and they are a light golden
  14. OPTIONAL: you can finely chop the golden sautéed garlic cloves and add them back in at this point or not
  15. Deglaze mushroom and shallots with 1/4 cup wine and cover for 30 seconds
  16. Remove cover and add all the chicken breasts back into pan
  17. Add 1/4 cup wine and 1/4 cup chicken broth to pan and turn down to med/low
  18. Simmer 5 minutes ONLY …don’t want too much of the sauce to evoporate
  19. Either serve immediately or put into frig until your guests arrive and then PRE-HEAT oven to 325º and warm for approx. 30 minutes with pan COVERED-if too much of the sauce evaporates you can add a splash of white wine and chicken broth
  20. Add s & p to taste
  21. Right before serving squeeze a wedge of lemon on chicken breasts ( about 1 tbsp) and serve over mashed potatoes and fresh sauteed spinach

 

Seafood Stuffed Artichokes

Seafood Stuffed Artichokes

Artichokes, any way you cook them are simply a treat because they are a seasonal veggie here on the east coast. 100 percent of all artichokes that are commercially grown in the U.S. come from California where you can pretty much buy them year round. My artichoke recipe is a tasty concoction of shrimp, sea scallops, fresh spinach, mushrooms, onion, garlic, Reggiano Parmesan, bread crumbs, red wine, extra dry vermouth and chicken broth. They are a lot of work granted but it’s not like you make these all the time and once you taste them you’ll want to set aside time in the future to plan for these babies!

The Artichoke is actually a relative of the thistle so if you ever see one fully mature they open into this incredibly gorgeous giant purple flower. That’s where the choke comes in because it’s a cluster of immature florets at the center of the artichoke which is not edible. This hairy-like choke in the center MUST be removed when you stuff them. I show you how to prep the artichokes and scrape out that choke in the photos below. This seafood stuffed artichoke recipe is delicious with my sun-dried tomato aioli sauce for dunking the leaf ends and heart and you can make this aioli dip a couple of days ahead. After these stuffed artichokes you may need a sweets recipe that you can make the day before like pavlova with fresh pineapple and berries, or chocolate-avocado mousse.

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Ingredients – Serves 4 People at 1 Stuffed Artichoke Each:

  • 1 recipe of sun-dried tomato aioli sauce
  • 4 large artichokes
  • 3 large sea scallops cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 10 lg shrimp cut into 1/2″ pieces (about 1/2 lb)
  • 3 strips of Boars Head Bacon
  • 6 button mushroom caps sliced thinly and then chopped
  • 6 oz. fresh spinach leaves coarsely chopped (a handful less than a bag)
  • 1/2 large spanish onion or Vidalia onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves put thru the garlic press
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan
  • 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp red wine (1/4 cup to deglaze onion/mushroom mixture and 2 Tbsp in the stuffing and 1/4 in baking dish with vermouth and chicken broth)
  • 3/4 cup dry vermouth
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 Tsp salt (1 Tsp for boiling the artichokes)
  • 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

  1. Fill a large bowl with cold water and sliced up lemon
  2. Cut the ends off of the artichokes
  3. Cut 1  1/2 ” off the top
  4. Using your thumbs in the center of the artichoke pull apart as much as you can to loosen the inner layers a little
  5. Insert pointy spoon and begin to dig in to the center removing the purple pointy leaves and keep digging til you reach the hairy choke and then remove all of that too
  6. Rinse the center holes of the artichokes to fully remove any left over choke
  7. Always keep the all the artichokes in the lemon water bowl while working on them (it helps them from not turning too brown)
  8. Pour the whole bowl of lemon water and artichokes into a large pan and add 1 tsp salt
  9. Bring to a boil ( this will take about 15 minutes) and then simmer for 30 minutes
  10. Drain Artichokes and turn them upside down in a baking dish to further drain
  11. Cook up 3 pieces of Boars Head Bacon til crispy, chop and set aside
  12. Sauté the chopped onion, mushrooms caps and garlic cloves put thru press in 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp butter, and 1/2 Tsp salt til golden about 12-15 minutes
  13. Add in 1/4 cup red wine to de-glaze pan, let reduce for 1 minute
  14. Add in fresh chopped spinach and cover for 2 minutes
  15. Mix spinach with tongs and take sauteed onion/mushroom/spinach mixture off of the stove  and put into a fresh bowl to let cool
  16. Wash, dry and chop sea scallops and shrimp to 1/2″ pieces
  17. When onion/mushroom mixture is cooled add in scallops, shrimp, Gruyere, Parmesan, chopped bacon, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and 2 Tbsp red wine
  18. Mix items gently together
  19. Turn artichoke over in baking dish, drain any water left over at the bottom
  20. Stuff the artichokes with the seafood stuffing making sure to add in to all the layers of leaves going around the artichoke as shown in the photo
  21. When the artichoke is stuffed add in 3/4 cup extra-dry vermouth, 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/4 cup red wine to the bottom of the baking dish
  22. Cover the Artichokes with foil and bake for 35 minutes
  23. Take Foil off and bake 5 minutes more
  24. Serve with sun-dried aioli sauce on the side for dipping the leaves and dunking the heart …mangia!

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Usually I make these stuffed peppers with beef but a good friend has me converting to turkey and I am really loving it. I don’t even wish for the flavor of beef in the stuffing because the turkey hold its own!  These peppers are juicy, tender and sweet made with sautéed mushrooms, onions, fresh chopped parsley, rice, grated Reggiano Parmesan, pinot noir and a porcini red sauce.  My porcini sauce gives this recipe a really nice flavor but if you don’t have time for it you shouldn’t let that stop you from making these savory stuffed peppers.  You can buy a favorite store sauce for convenience or use one of your own.  I have you slice the mushrooms paper thin here and then cut those in 1/2 and that keeps the flavor delicate and the mushrooms very tender not chewy …. they almost melt into the stuffing when baking. The onions are finely chopped so I love to use my vegetablehand chopper because it saves a ton of time when you are doing all this prep work unless you have a sous chef that is. Now you of course can use any color pepper you like. I like using the green ones because I like the strong flavor they render, but here I went with the pretty colors and the peppers are a little sweeter when you go to the reds, oranges, and yellows.  I don’t believe in using “instant rice” ever because it doesn’t have a great texture. Making rice is a simple process …see “TIP” below.    These stuffed peppers are a few step process so it’s a good idea to get some of the work done the day before like making the porcini red sauce and the rice.  This dish  is so worth the effort …. It just may become your go to Sunday dinner and you can even end this delicious dinner with a bang making a quick and easy German pancake recipe or chocolate-avocado mousse!

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Ingredients: For Porcini Red Sauce:

  • 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes (I use Sclafani)
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup water for the porcini mushrooms
  • 1/3 cup pinot noir wine
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • 1 Tsp pepper
  • 1 Tbsp sugar

Directions: 

  1. Put the dried porcini mushrooms in 1/4 cup water and let sit for 1/2 hour.
  2. Sauté 4 large garlic cloves in 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium sauce pan until golden.
  3. Add whole tomatoes and golden garlic cloves to food processor and purée for 1 minute.
  4. Add this back to the pan.
  5. Take the soaked, softened porcini’s out of the water and coarsely chop.
  6. Add the porcini’s and their juice to the sauce pan along with 1/4 cup pinot, salt, pepper and sugar.
  7. Bring to a simmer, lower heat and keep simmering for 1/2 hour.
  8. Remove from the stove and cool.

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Ingredients – For Stuffed Peppers – Serves 6 people:

  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • 6 large bell peppers, 2 red, 2 orange, 2 yellow
  • 2 1/4 cups porcini red sauce (1 c. in the stuffing, 2 1/4 c. in the bottom of baking dish)
  • 1 cup cooked Basmati or Jasmine long grain rice
  • 1 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 8oz. pkg of baby bella brown mushrooms (finely sliced)
  • 1 large spanish onion FINELY chopped
  • 1 1/4 cup pinot noir (1/4 c. for mushroom/onion mixture, 1 c. for baking dish)
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 Tsp salt
  • 1/4 Tsp pepper
  • 2 Tbsp live oil (for sautéing)

Directions: 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350º.
  2. Cut 1″ off of the top of the peppers, pull out the centers with your hands and clean out the inside white part of the pepper.
  3. Place into baking dish.
  4. Clean your mushrooms with either a damp paper towel or a mushroom brush … you should NEVER wash your mushrooms or submerse them in water because mushrooms are porous.
  5. Pop out the mushroom stem and finely slice them and then slice that pile in 1/2…don’t need to be neat about it.
  6. Finely chop a large spanish onion…I’m all for using one of those choppers for this!
  7. Add onion and mushrooms to 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté on medium heat for 10 minutes…add 1/4 cup pinot, let evaporate.
  8. Remove from the stove and let cool.
  9. Add Turkey, grated cheese, 1 cup cooled sauce, 1/3 cup pasley, and all of cooled mushroom/onion mixture to a large bowl and gently mix.
  10. Fill the peppers gently with the stuffing, don’t pack it down.
  11. Add the rest of the porcini sauce (approx. 2 1/4 cups), 1 cup pinot, and 1/2 cup boiling water to the bottom of the baking dish.
  12. NOTE:  If the porcini sauce was refrigerated you should warm it a little to room temperature so it doesn’t prolong the cooking process of the stuffed peppers.
  13. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan, cover with foil and bake at 350º for 1 hr.
  14. Remove the foil after 1 hour and continue for another 15 minutes at 350º (check the tenderness of the pepper… You don’t want them mushy just tender).
  15. Then up the heat to 400º for another 20 minutes uncovered
  16. Keep an eye on it at this point so the tops don’t blacken too much (everyone’s oven is a little different)
  17. Total cooking time approx. 1 hour/ 35 minutes
  18. Take the peppers out of the oven, cover back up with foil and let them sit for 10 minutes.

TIP:  RICE- To make Basmati or Jasmine rice measure 1 cup rice and put into medium pan. Run cold water over rice and drain using your hand to hold back the rice.  Then add 2 cups water (1:2 ratio or water level is 1 knuckle over rice), cover and bring to a boil, turn down heat IMMEDIATELY to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from the heat and keep covered letting it sit for another 10 minutes and voilà.  Fluff with a fork