Picture Perfect

Seared Sirloin Beef w/ Reduced Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
4 - 8 oz of your favorite cut of beef

1 cup of heavy cream
1 shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup white wine
2 T all purpose flour
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper (to taste)

1) Heat up a pan on high heat. Drizzle surface of pan with olive oil.
2) Season sides of beef with salt and pepper
3) Sear the beef about 8 minutes per side (for medium rare)
4) Remove the beef and cover with aluminum foil. Allow to rest at least 5 min before slicing.
5) Using the same pan that the beef was cooked in, pour in the wine to deglaze the pan. Be sure to stir in the brown beef bits into the wine to capture the beef flavor
6) Put mushroom and shallots into the mixture and allow to sautee
7) Stir in heavy cream and allow to simmer
8) Sprinkle sauce with flour and allow to thicken (stir constantly to prevent chunks)
9) Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce over sirloin steaks

Tip: The juices that come from the steaks when it is resting shouldn't be tossed out! Dump the juices back into the sauce. ALL OF THAT IS FLAVOR!!!!

Tip2: The reason steaks are allowed to rest before slicing is because it allows some of the juices to remain in the steak while it is cooling. If you automatically start slicing, the juices run free and a lot of the moisture is taken out of the meat. Also even when taken off the grill, the steaks are still cooking because the temperature is still high. Take that into account when you are looking to cook your steak perfectly to (medium, rare, well done) because the meat is still cooking after being taken off!

Garlicy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
2 medium sized pototoes, peeled
4 cloves garlic
2 T butter/olive oil spread
1/4 cup cream or milk
salt and pepper to taste

1) Cube the potatoes into even sized portions (approx 1.5"x1.5")
2) Peel garlic
3) Emerse potatoes and garlic with cold water
4) Boil contents for at least 15 minutes (or potatoes are fork tender)
5) In a large mixing bowl, mash the potatoes and garlic
6) With a spatula, mix in butter and cream
7) Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste

Tip: By boiling the garlic, the pototoes still have the nice garlic aroma without being too overpowering or leaving garlic breath!

Highlights of This Week

Here are a few things I made this week. Most of it is pretty self explanatory but I included the recipe for Potato and Cheese Patties (it's like mashed potatoes with a crispy side that tastes like a cracker/potato chip if done correctly).

Spiced Pork Tenderloin with a side of Mango Salsa

Peanut Chicken Egg Noodles

Grilled Salmon with a Tomato Basil Salad

Turkey Burger


Potato and Cheese Patties
Ingredients
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled quartered into large even size cubes
3/4 cup of Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup scallions (green onions), chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
olive oil

(1) Put quartered potatoes into a pot emersed in water. Bring to a boil (make sure you are heating water and potatoes together and not dropping potatoes into boiling water)
(2) Boil for 15-20 minutes or until tender
(3) Mash potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cool off for 15 minutes. Stir in cheese and green onions.
(4) Section off the mash into 6 even sized balls and press onto a plate into even sized patties
(5) Refridgerate for 10-15 minutes or until the patties seem firmer
(6) Heat a flat pan on medium high. Drizzle surface with oil. Place a few patties on the surface at a time leaving 1-2 inches between the patties. Sear each side for 3-4 minutes or until brown. (Do not flip too soon or a crispy brown skin will not form)