Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving so the flavors have a chance to blend.
Here’s a special Mother’s Day menu that I love. It’s a throw \back from the 70’s when Veal Oscar was on every fine dining menu. I love it still but with a thick filet mignon. It may seem like a lot of work (but mom’s worth it, right?). It’s not difficult but it will take some organization. Be sure to read through the recipe before you begin and make sure that you have all the ingredients.
A couple of tricks for you begin with what you can do ahead of time. You can ‘poach’ the potatoes the day before then let come to room temperature before roasting. Brown the steaks ahead of time and refrigerate, let come to room temperature also before placing into the oven. If you brown the steaks at the last minute, put the potatoes on the sheet tray and begin roasting, when the steaks are browned place alongside the potatoes in the oven to finish at the same time.
Make the strawberry sauce ahead of time and keep refrigerated. You can even make the whipped cream ahead of time as well. It will hold for a long time.
And last but definitely not least is the Bearnaise Sauce, I’ll forgive you if you decide to use the package mix but it’s really a sad imitation of a real Bearnaise sauce. Try making it on your own, you can even make it an hour ahead of time. Again, it’s important to read through the entire recipe before you start. Be adventurous! Happy Mother’s Day!
Stonyriver Steakhouse
Menu
Filet Oscar
Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes
Strawberry Shortcake
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Bring steaks to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Heat a large skillet.
Dry the filets with a paper towel.
Brush the filets lightly all over with the oil. Season both side wells with sea salt and pepper.
When the pan is hot, add the steaks and sear evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side or until well browned. If the steaks won’t release from the pan, wait another minute or so and it will release when browned.
Arrange the steaks on a parchment lined baking sheet and place into the oven and cook until 120°, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
Asparagus and Crab
While the steaks are cooking you can lightly steam the asparagus or cook it in the still hot pan that you cooked the steaks in.
Cut the stems from the asparagus so the spears are all the same length. Lightly toss with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook until you can pierce with a knife, about 5 minutes. Let rest until you’re ready to assemble the dish.
Warm the crab in a steamer basket over simmering water for about 5 minutes.
Make the bearnaise sauce. I’ll let you cheat here and use the package sauce from Knorr. If you can’t find bearnaise sauce use the hollandaise sauce and add with a little fresh chopped tarragon.
If you want to make the sauce yourself the recipe follows.
Assembly:
Place the steaks on two plates, top with asparagus spears, then add the crab and drizzle with sauce.
Yield 1 cup
In a small saucepan, add vinegar, wine, shallots and 1 TB. tarragon leaves with a little sea salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat until liquid is reduced to about a tablespoon. Cool slightly.
Transfer the cooled mixture with the egg yolks into a blender. Blend 30 seconds.
With the blender on, slowly pour the hot butter through the opening in the lid. Add the remaining tablespoon of tarragon leaves and blend for only a second.
If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon of white wine to thin.
Note: To make the sauce in advance, prepare an hour before serving and allow it
to sit in the blender. Before serving, add 1 tablespoon of the hottest tap water
and blend for a few seconds.
Adapted from Ina Garten
Serves 2
Preheat oven to 400°. Line a small baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Cut potatoes in half unless really tiny.
Place them in a large pot covered with cool water. Bring potatoes to a boil, add a heaping tablespoon of salt and cook for 7-9 minutes or until you can pierce them with a knife, they won’t be fully cooked. Drain and arrange on baking sheet. Toss with olive oil, sea salt and pepper and cook for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Mash half of the strawberries in a large bowl. Add the sliced strawberries, sugar, Grand Marnier and mint and chill.
Beat the heavy cream into soft peaks, add the vanilla and sprinkle in the powdered sugar while mixing just a little more until you have stiff peaks but don't over beat it. If you over beat it (where is looks separated) you need to start over.
Slice the pound cake and place on plates, top with strawberries and whipped cream.
Melt 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the butter until it is browned, about 2 minutes. Salt and pepper your scallops before adding them to the pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side and transfer to a dish, covering to keep warm.
Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and grapes; sauce until the shallots are golden brown, about one minute. Stir in fresh lemon juice and any accumulated scallop juice from the plate of cooked scallops. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Stir in almonds and parsley.
Place scallops on individual plates and spoon the sauce over them. Serve immediately
Oh all those beautiful rosy peaches from the farmers market! They smell like summer and I don’t know about you but I wait all year for them to show up!
I have a peach tree but that in no way yields enough peaches to satisfy my sweet tooth. Seasonal peaches are available in California from June to Sept.. Peaches from other parts of the world are usually picked hard and mostly premature and will never develop that sweet summer flavor.
The following is part of the prologue to David Mas Masumoto’s book ‘Epitaph for a Peach’, he is talking about the Sun Crest peach but I think it reflects all good peaches. “Sun Crest is one of the last remaining truly juicy peaches. When you wash that treasure under a stream of cooling water, your fingertips instinctively search for the gushy side of the fruit. Your mouth waters in anticipation. You lean over the sink to make sure you don’t drip on yourself. Then you sink your teeth into the flesh and the juices trickle down your cheeks and dangle on your chin. This is a real bite, a primal act, a magical sensory celebration announcing that summer has arrived. “ That sounds like a juicy summer peach to me, what about you?
Choose peaches that yield slightly to pressure, hard fruit isn’t ripe and though it will get softer, it won’t get tastier. Peaches need to develop flavor and sweetness while still hanging on the tree, color will vary with peach varieties but avoid peaches that show any sign of green. Smell the peach for sweetness and you’ll be fine.
Peaches should be kept at room temperature until soft and then refrigerated but don’t wait too long to eat them or they’ll over ripen.
I find it pretty easy to peel a ripe peach with a sharp paring knife or you can blanch in boiling water for a few seconds, don’t over do or you’ll start to cook the fruit flesh.
Here’s my favorite cobbler recipe that I pieced together from two different recipes that I love. One from my favorite boysenberry pie and the cobbler batter from Marcy Masumoto’s ‘French Peach Cobbler’ recipe in the Masumoto Families new book, The Perfect Peach: Recipes and Stories from The Masumoto Family Farm.
Filling
4 cups peeled, chopped fresh peaches
1 cup sugar, approximately
¼ cup cornstarch
pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup Grand Marnier
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Batter
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter a 9” square baking pan and set aside.
Filling:
Add peaches to a medium sized bowl and toss gently with sugar. Depending on how sweet the peaches are, add more or less sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch, sea salt, cinnamon and Grand Marnier. Toss the peaches with the cornstarch mixture and lemon juice.
Add the filling to the prepared pan.
Batter:
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt, mix well. Add the butter and egg, stir together until the batter is smooth.
Drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the fruit mixture and bake 40 – 45 minutes or until bubbly and golden.
Remove from oven and cool before serving.
