with wine jus, mushroom and bacon risotto, vegetables, apple tarte Tatin with Chantilly cream.

Beef

1½ pounds centre cut fillet of beef
Salt and pepper as required
1 tsp oil

Have your butcher cut the fillet into 12 thin fillets. If you are doing this yourself, place the fillet into the freezer for 1 hour to firm it up before trying to slice. Pound the slices very gently to ensure they are of even thickness.

Over high, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan large enough to accommodate all of the beef at one time. Season one side of medallions with salt and pepper. Once the oil is shimmering add the medallions seasoned side down. Season the other side. Sear on one side, flip and sear on the other side. Cook the beef just until the desired degree of doneness has been reached. Keep in mind that as the meat rests it will continue to cook. So if you want rare beef, sear only, for medium rare, cook just to rare before resting.

Remove the meat to a heated pan and keep warm while making the sauce. Reduce the heat on the pan to medium.

Jus

½ cup red wine
½ cup good quality beef stock

Once the beef has been removed from the pan deglaze the pan with the wine and reduce by ¾. Add the beef stock and simmer for 1 minute just to combine the flavours. Serve a small amount of the jus over the beef and pass the rest with the meal.

Mushroom and bacon risotto

2 cups good quality beef stock
1 cup Arborio rice
1 tsp butter
8 medium sized mushrooms thinly sliced– use any combination you like
4 strips Canadian bacon cut into strips ¼” across and 1” long
1 tsp butter

Salt and pepper just a sprinkle to season the mushrooms. Do not use too much as you will be adding parmesan cheese to the finished risotto

1 cup water

½ cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
Fresh shaved parsley and fresh shredded parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat the stock just to a simmer. Keep the stock simmering while making the risotto.

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the rice. Stirring constantly, sauté the rice just until all the grains have been coated with the butter. Add half the stock and stir well to be sure that the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once the rice has absorbed all of the stock, add the remainder and continue to cook just until the rice is cooked to your desired degree of doneness, approximately 20 minutes in total.

I know that most risotto recipes say that you need to stir the risotto constantly. I believe this is a rule made by Nonas (Italian grandmothers) to keep their daughters busy so that they stayed virgins until they got married. I have done lots of taste tests and most people can’t taste the difference so unless you want to stand stirring go for it, but there really is no need to do so.

Meanwhile melt the second amount of butter in a frying pan. Once the butter has melted add the bacon and mushrooms and cook until the bacon is cooked and the mushrooms are browned. Remove the mushrooms and bacon and keep warm. Deglaze the pan with the water and set aside.

Once the rice has cooked through, add the mushroom mixture and the first amount of butter and parmesan. Stir through. The risotto should be runny and not thick and gluey. If it is too thick, add some of the deglazing liquid from the mushroom and bacon pan. Garnish the risotto with the parmesan cheese and parsley.

Oven roasted cauliflower

½ head of cauliflower broken into small flowerets
1 tsp good quality olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the cauliflower with the oil and salt and pepper and pour onto a baking sheet. Bake just until the cauliflower is golden brown but still crunchy, approximately 10 – 12 minutes.

Puree of acorn squash

1 small acorn squash, skin removed and cut into small pieces
½ cup good quality orange juice

Place the squash and the orange juice in a small covered pan over medium high heat. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer just unit the squash is tender. Drain the orange juice but reserve. Mash the squash and then pass through a sieve to ensure a small puree. Use the reserved orange juice to thin to desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Note: the puree can be made in advance and then microwave to heat up. Be sure to reserve the orange juice to thin as the heating may dry the mixture out.

Green beans Almandine

20 green beans, trimmed
Salted water to cover
1 tsp butter
¼ cup slivered almonds

Bring the water to the boil and add the green beans. Cook just until the beans are tender crisp, approximately 2 – 3 minutes. This can be done in advance and the beans refreshed in cold water to preserve their colour.

To serve, melt the butter in a pan just large enough to hold the beans in a single layer. Add the almonds and toss well with the butter. Toast the almonds just until they are golden brown. Do not let them burn. Add the beans and toss well with the almonds. Heat until the beans are hot.

To plate, mound the risotto in the centre of the plate. Lean 3 medallions at the front of the rice leaning them against the risotto. Plate the vegetables around the back of the rice. Nap the beef with a bit of the jus and pass the remaining jus with the dinner.

Tarte Tatin

3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch slices – Jazz, Fiji and Gala apples work well. Don’t use Granny Smith as they break down too quickly
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
½ cup sugar

Mix the above together and let sit for 30 minutes to extract the juices. After the 30 minutes, drain the apples well and discard the liquid.

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
Puff pastry to cover, thawed
Milk to brush the top
Raw sugar to sprinkle

Use a very heavy bottomed pan melt the butter. When the butter has melted add the sugar, stirring only at the beginning. Reduce the heat and cook until the syrup starts to turn caramel brown, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately start to add your drained apples. Be careful as the mixture is going to be hot.

Lay your apples neatly on the bottom – remember this is going to be your presentation side. Once you have 1 layer of apples, tuck the rest of the apples in around the first layer being sure to fill in all of the gaps. Return the apples to the heat and bring back to a simmer. Simmer the apples for approximately 10 minutes basting the apples frequently with the syrup. At first the caramel will be too thick to use to baste the apples but after a couple of minutes, the juices from the apples will thin the caramel enough so you are able to baste the apples. After 10 minutes cover with a lid and cook for another 10 minutes or just until the apples are soft and tender.

Meanwhile preheat your oven to 425°F.

Remove the pan from the stove top and remove the lid. Let the apple mixture cool for 30 minutes.

Once the apples have cooled, tuck the puff pastry over and around the top of the apples, tucking the edges of the pastry in around the sides.

Brush the top of the pastry with the milk and cut several slits attractively into the top. Sprinkle the pastry with the sugar and bake in the preheated oven just until the pastry is golden brown and the juices from the tarte bubble up through the slits, approximately 20 minutes.

Cool slightly and serve warm with either a good quality vanilla ice cream or a sweetened, cinnamon Chantilly cream.

To make this meal come together at the same time, here are a couple of helpful hints:

• Prep your bacon, mushrooms and veggies all ahead of time.
• Cook the bacon and mushrooms and sauté the rice ahead of time.
• Have the meat sliced ahead of time. Bring it to room temperature about 1 hour before cooking but don’t season until just before you start to cook.
• Have all other ingredients measure out and ready to go before you start cooking.
• Have your pots and pans ready and on the stove before you start to cook.
• Do your apples ahead of time and have the puff pastry rolled out and in the refrigerator. This can be done a day ahead but you want to leave the final cooking to about 30 minutes before serving.
• Whip the cream and have it ready up to a day ahead of time.
• Have your plates out and ready before your guests arrive.
• Relax, have a glass of wine with your guests before you start your final cooking.

Cathie Hamilton
Certified Culinary Scientist
E-mail Cathie Hamilton

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