The Traveling Epicurean

Month: February 2019

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

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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!

Gluten Free Eggplant Rollatini at Page Hardware!

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Gluten Free Eggplant Rollatini at Page Hardware!

This Eggplant rollatini recipe that I demoed at Page Hardware is the BEST recipe out there! It’s light and luscious all at the same time! Like anything in life you have to be able to evolve with the times and that’s what has happened here with my gluten-free recipe. I swap out the all-purpose wheat flour for rice flour and instead of a bread crumb coating the eggplant slices are dredged in rice flour, dipped in egg and then fried. This makes for a lighter eggplant with a soft, silky texture!

 

As always, it’s so much fun at the Page Hardware food demo’s. We had a large crowd this past weekend who were very attentive and excited to sample my eggplant rollatini. There weren’t any left overs! We had regulars at the demo and some new faces too. Page is having a huge red-tag sale with 75% off so we all went into the store before the demo began to see some of the great deals. Every 3rd Saturday of the month, from 12-2,  you can come and sample  delicious foods at Page Hardware while I demo how they’re made. There is a Traveling Epicurean calendar on the home-page side bar of this website so you won’t miss out on up and coming events. See you next on Saturday, 16th of March!

I used to watch my mother fry eggplant when I was little and have been frying eggplant now for over 30 years. Eggplant rollatini is one of those delicious Italian comfort foods and is always better the next day when re-heated.  It is a little bit of a process but if you just organize yourself like I’ve shown you in the photo’s below you’ll get it down to a science.

You should try to fry up at least 2 large eggplants. I like to cook 3 eggplants because I freeze the ones I don’t use. I layer the fried eggplant slices in between durable Bounty paper towels and place into the freezer in Ziploc baggies. This way all your base work is done and now you’re able to pull them out of the freezer and make eggplant rollatini, eggplant Parmesan, or eggplant lasagna in no time at all.

I recommend making my slow cooked pasta sauce to go with the eggplant rollatini which can totally be made days ahead as well. I’m very picky about my ricotta cheese so Liuzzi Chesse in Hamden is the only way to go for the ricotta. There are some Shoreline stores that carry Liuzzi products like Bishop Orchard in Guilford or Saldamarco’s 

If you love eggplant as much as I do you really need to check out Eggplant Balls, Paleo Eggplant Lasagna, and Pickled Eggplant. Then you might be moving on to your satisfy a sweet tooth with “Death by Chocolate Meringue Pie” and another that shouldn’t go unnoticed is Chocolate Pecan Pie! Enjoy! 🙂

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INGREDIENTS:

  • Slow cooked pasta 101 recipe on my website
  • 2 lb. Whole milk Ricotta “Fina Style” Liuzzi Cheeses, North Haven,CT
  • 2-3 large eggplants
  • 9 extra large eggs whisked
  • ½ cup grated Reggiano cheese
  • 1 cup Rice Flour
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Mozzarella block cut into 1/4″ slices
  • 3 1/2 cups canola oil for frying
  • 1 whole roll of Bounty Paper Towels (it’s important to use quality paper towels)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Slice the ends off the eggplants
  2. Using a potato peeler peel off all the skin of the eggplants
  3. Slice up eggplants length wise into 1/4″ slices
  4. Layer the eggplant slices in a large glass bowl
  5. In between each layer sprinkle 1/4 Tsp of salt, and keep layering eggplant, salt, eggplant, salt…
  6. Cover with Saran wrap and place a small plate on top and then some heavy fry pans or large tomato can to weight down the eggplant and into the frig for 2 hours up to 1 day
  7. Drain the purple juice from the bowl
  8. Take the eggplant and pat them dry in layers between Bounty paper towels
  9. Whisk eggs and add ½ cup of grated Reggiano cheese
  10. Get your line-up of bowls in order: eggplant slices – rice flour – whisked eggs
  11. Add 3 1/2 cups canola oil to a large sauce pan and begin to heat up on medium/high heat
  12. The oil needs to be around 350º
  13. Lay out 2-3 cookie racks covered with layers of paper towels to absorb oil for frying
  14. Add slices of eggplant to the rice flour then dip into the egg bowl in batches
  15. Put 4 slices eggplant of egg dipped eggplant into the oil at a time…
  16. They will fry for about 2-3 minutes per side til golden then flip the slice over
  17. While the 1st batch is frying get the 2nd batch ready to fry dusting in the rice flour then dipping into the egg and have them sit briefly until they are ready to go into the oil
  18. Once the eggplant are golden place onto cookie racks with paper towels and dab them with fresh paper towels, flip and do the same to the other side to remove all excess oil
  19. Re-place with a new set of paper towels for the next batch and replace with each batch there after
  20. Then place the eggplant onto the wire cookie racks without paper towels to cool immediately after
  21. Finish frying the rest of the eggplant going thru the same procedures
  22. Get out your favorite baking dish and cover the bottom with sauce
  23. On a cutting board lay 1 slice of honey ham on top of a fried eggplant slice, & add a dollop ricotta (1/4 cup)
  24. Place a 1/4″ slice of mozzarella onto ricotta and roll up
  25. Place the rollatini into baking dish and repeat with the remaining eggplant slices
  26. You should allow for about 3″ room for each rollatini (they expand when they are baked)
  27. When you baking dish is full top with more pasta sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cover with foil
  28. At this point you can either put into the frig until you are ready to bake them or put them into a pre-heated oven at 350º for 55 minutes and then remove foil and 5 minutes more in the oven
  29. OPTIONAL: Remove the foil and add a sprinkle of grated mozzarella and pop the baking dish back into the oven for an additional 8 minutes
  30. Take out let sit for 15 minutes and serve!

Fat Tuesday Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya on CT Style!

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Fat Tuesday Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya on CT Style!

Planning for a Fat Tuesday celebration with this 1 pot dish of Shrimp & Sausage Jambalaya was the theme of my cooking segment on CT Style recently! As usual, I love cooking for everyone at the Channel 8 studio. They are all such great foodies and enjoy eating what ever I’m cooking up not to mention all the fun I have with Ryan and Teresa, it’s never a dull moment! How lucky I am to be a part of this duo that brings CT Style to life every day! Teresa is a firecracker and Ryan with his boundless good energy…priceless!

March 5th is just around the corner and sometimes it’s a good thing to plan for your party. “Marti Gras” is actually french for “Fat Tuesday” and it’s a big celebration, the last night of indulgence before the Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday.

This shrimp & sausage Jambalaya is a rice based dish made Creole style which means it’s has tomatoes. I use 2 different smoked sausages, Andouille and a smoked kielbasa. There’s extra large shrimp, chicken stock, peppers, onions, garlic, fresh herbs and Creole spices! Oh my goodness, there’s flavor bursting out from every where! My last but not least favorite part about this amazing Jambalaya recipe is using only 1 pot!

Can’t wait for you guys to try this scrumptious shrimp & sausage Jambalaya. Since this is a night of indulgence you’ll to end you night with some irresitable sweets like Pavlova, Baklava, Drunk Blondie Bars or Cinnamon Rolls-Sticky Buns!

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 8 oz. Andouille Sausage OR smoked ham (Tasso if you can fin it) cut into ½” cubes
  • 8 oz. Smoked Kielbasa sliced to ¼” pieces
  • 1 lb. med/lg size peeled & deveined shrimp with TAILS REMOVED
  • 3 cups Jasmine long grain rice, RINSED
  • 6 cups chicken broth, homemade if you can
  • 1 lg. green pepper diced
  • 1 extra lg Vidalia sweet onion diced
  • 2 celery stalk diced
  • 1 jalapeno finely diced
  • 3 garlic cloves grated or garlic press
  • 1 28.oz whole peeled tomatoes diced up
  • 1 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 bunch sliced scallions- ½ c. (save 1/4 cup for garnish)
  • ¾ c. fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tbsp. fresh chopped oregano
  • 1 tbsp. fresh chopped thyme
  • 1 tbsp. pink Himalayan salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper (black pepper if you don’t have the white pepper)
  • 1-2 tsp Creole or Cajun seasonings (or ground red pepper flakes work well too)
  • ½ tsp smoked Spanish paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 5 shots of Tabasco

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Add olive oil to a large Dutch oven and sauté on med/high cubed up Andouille sausage or smoked ham and sliced smoked Kielbasa for 5 minutes
  2. Add in 1 tbsp. butter and the chopped peppers, onions, celery and jalapeño and sauté on med/high for 5 minutes more until veggies are soft
  3. Add in grated garlic, chopped fresh oregano & thyme, diced up whole peeled tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth and bay leaves
  4. Bring to a low boil on med/high and simmer for approx. 5 minutes
  5. Add in the rinsed rice, salt, garlic & onion powder, pepper, creole spice (or ground red pepper) and smoked paprika
  6. Stir, bring back to a simmer and then turn down the heat
  7. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes on low
  8. Remove from heat and add all the shrimp, ¼ c. green onions and ½ c parsley
  9. Stir, replace cover and let sit for approx. 12-15 minutes for raw shrimp to steam thru
  10. Serve with a sprinkle of sliced green onion and fresh chopped parsley…yummm!