Story by Estella Tullgren | Photographed by Deb Peterson. M! Jun/Jul 2011.
I like nothing better than planning, shopping, prepping, and then cooking a meal for family and friends. So when the opportunity came along to donate a dinner at our house for the auction at our annual Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation Donor Banquet last year—oh boy, I was ready! Josee Schliemann and Gerry Bluemlein purchased the dinner and invited eight friends. Tom and Deborah Knox furnished once-in-a-lifetime wines—2005 Domaine Vincent Girardin White Burgandy with the fish course, and 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley’s Chateau Montelena with the main course. Absolutely remarkable!
I hope you will enjoy these recipes. All of them have been prepared many times and are favorites. We served them with Ruby Red Grapefruit Martinis, Wild Rice Bake, and Deborah Knox’s Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Shallot Saute and Toasted Pine Nuts. Contact deb@marvmag.com for these recipes.
Bob Cogburn, one of my dear foodie friends, well-known for his culinary expertise, was on hand, as always, to help me with the event—thanks Dr. Bob. A very special thank you to my foundation family for making the dinner so much fun: Barney Larry, Cindy Costa, and Justin Woods—you all are the best!
GRILLED AHI TUNA WITH WASABI VINAIGRETTE
Makes 4 -5
Chris and I have found this to be our very favorite way to prepare fresh tuna. I saw Ina Garten from Food Network make this dish and knew I had to try it. I added fresh tomatoes to her recipe and made it a bit spicier. You will crave this dish!
2 pounds fresh tuna steak, 1-inch thick
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 2 limes
6 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (3 limes)
1 tsp. wasabi powder
2 tsp. soy
10 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 firm, ripe Hass avocados, large diced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup minced scallions (2), white and green parts
1-2 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
Cherry tomatoes, halved
For the dressing: in a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, wasabi powder, soy sauce, Tabasco, 1-1 ½ tsp. kosher salt and ½ tsp. pepper. Set aside while grilling tuna and preparing other ingredients.
Toss avocado chunks in a little bit of dressing, and then arrange on plates.
Brush both sides of the tuna with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan on high for 2 minutes, add the tuna steaks and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until seared on the outside and still raw inside. Remove to a plate and allow to cool slightly; then cut into large bite-size cubes. Arrange on plates with avocado chunks; add sliced red onion and halved cherry tomatoes. Drizzle with more dressing and sprinkle with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature.
THE BEST TENDERLOIN EVER
Serves 16-20
I have been using this recipe for the last 15 years and it has been perfect every time. Beef tenderloin is an awesome cut of meat and there is absolutely no waste. Have your butcher trim and prepare the meat for you. The Mushroom Wine Sauce and Horseradish Cream are a must to go along with the meat—you won’t be disappointed. Anything made with whipping cream has to be wonderful!
1 cup ruby port wine
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp. ground pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
Several dashes hot pepper sauce
1 4-6 pound beef tenderloin
16-20 slices bacon
For marinade: combine port wine, soy sauce, olive oil, pepper, garlic, bay leaf, and hot pepper sauce. Place tenderloin in a plastic bag set into a shallow dish. Pour marinade over tenderloin. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight, turning 1-2 times to distribute marinade.
Preheat oven to 425. Drain tenderloin. Wrap bacon slices around tenderloin, securing with toothpicks. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of meat. Place on rack in a shallow roasting pan, tucking the thin end under to make it as thick as the rest of the meat. Roast for 25-35 minutes for rare (140 degrees) or medium rare (150 degrees.)
MUSHROOM WINE SAUCE
Makes about 3 cups
1/3 cup butter
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (3 cups)
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 cup water
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
In an 8-inch skillet, melt butter; add mushrooms and shallots. Cook and stir over medium-high heat 4-5 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
After removing the meat from the roasting pan, remove drippings from pan. Skim and discard fat, reserving pan juices. Add water, beef broth, and wine to roasting pan. Bring to boiling, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Stir in pan juices, lemon juice, and tomato paste. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced to about 2 cups. Stir in mushroom-shallot mixture. Cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
HORSERADISH CREAM SAUCE
Makes about 1/2 cup
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
1/8 tsp. white pepper
Salt to taste
In a small bowl, beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. In a custard cup, stir together horseradish, vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, thyme and white pepper. Fold horseradish mixture into whipped cream. Season with salt.
CHOCOLATE SIN WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND BERRIES
Serves 10-12
This flourless cake rises light and lovely in the oven, then comes back down to earth as it cools to create a most unique chocolate cake…moist and intensely flavored.
butter and flour for preparing pan
10 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup lightly salted butter, cut into 8 pieces
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. Kahlua
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 tbsp. powdered sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting
Place oven rack in lower third of oven, heat oven to 375 F. Butter and flour bottom and sides of 8-inch springform pan.
Melt chocolate with ½ cup butter—best to do this in a double boiler. Keep chocolate warm.
Beat egg yolks in large mixing bowl at high speed, gradually adding ¾ cup sugar. Beat until yolk mixture is pale yellow and thick—4 to 6 minutes. Add chocolate mixture to the yolk mixture; beat until completely smooth. Add Kahlua and vanilla; beat until blended.
Beat egg whites in medium miximg bowl at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat remaining ¼ cup sugar into whites; continue beating until stiff but not dry peaks form. Fold whites gently but thoroughly into chocolate mixture. Pour batter evenly into reserved pan; smooth top.
Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 and bake another 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 250 and bake 30 minutes longer. (Total baking time is 1 hour.) Turn off oven; prop open oven door and allow cake to remain in oven for 30 minutes.
Remove cake from oven and cover top with damp paper toweling; let stand 5 minutes.
Remove toweling and cool cake completely. Dome of cake will crack and collapse; this is normal—press top of cake down lightly to smooth top. Remove springform and transfer cake to serving platter. (You are only removing side of springform pan.)
Whip cream in chilled mixing bowl on high speed until soft peaks form. Continue beating, gradually adding 1 ½ tbsp. of the powdered sugar, until stiff peaks form. Dust top of cake with remaining powdered sugar just before serving. Serve cake at room temp with whipped cream and your choice of berries.
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M!
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