Keeping it simple

Really not in the mood for spending the entire day in the kitchen this week. Decided to go with a simple steak and veg. Skipped the appetizer altogether and went with broccoli soup as a starter.

First off was the broccoli soup. Simple recipe (courtesy of Gordon Ramsay) using boiled broccoli. The broccoli was then puree'd in a blender, adding a little bit of salt and pepper and then topped with goat cheese, roasted almonds, and a bit more pepper. I forgot to drizzle it with olive oil.

Steak was ribeye stuffed with cremini mushrooms, garlic, shallots, and blue cheese. I had initially intended to do this on the grill, but with the wind I opted to prepare it on the stove. Veg was fennel. The fennel was first pan seared and then placed in the oven along with garlic, celery, tarragon, parsley, and white wine. The fennel was also a Ramsay recipe.

Lastly, served baked apple. I used Granny Smith apples. These were cored and then stuffed with a mixture of dried cranberries, gold raisins, Cointreau, sugar, and butter. After cooking, I drizzled the apples with heavy cream.

Simple French

At the beginning of the day, I didn't have the slightest clue what to make. So... I browsed on the internet and decided on Chicken Cordon Bleu and an "Americanized" French menu. The French food is coming, but Julia Child and I have some work to do before we dive into the real thing. Big menu tonight, with a large portion of things I've never made before. As usual, I made a big mess of the kitchen.

I started the day making bread. I used the bread machine to mix the dough, but then did the rest old school. Rise, pound down, shape, rise, cook. Looked pretty good. Tasted better.

For the starter, I made French Onion Soup. Can't say it turned out that well. It was just okay. I cooked the onions until tender and then added them to a beef broth with a little salt and pepper. ...and then added more salt... and some more... and some more... Still seemed too sweet. The best (and worst) that you can say about it was that it tasted like onion soup out a can. Thanks Gail for that. ;)

Next course was the salad. The recipe called for oranges with the arugula, fennel, and olives, but I went with tangerines instead. The dressing was lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. The salad alone was okay. Can't say I cared for the arugula and the fennel is something that doesn't taste well alone. Black olives... are just black olives. The dressing I tasted as well and it was sort of hideous. Oily sticky sweet and peppery. Put together though, the salad and the dressing was surprisingly good. Best surprise of the night. Worth doing again.

Main course was Chicken Cordon Bleu. Never made this before, and it was less effort than I imagined. It was good. Not spectacular. I think it needed more salt. If/when I do this again, I think I might go with prosciutto instead of ham. Served with some steamed asparagus that I added at the last moment simply because I wanted to have a vegetable with the protein. Probably could have left that off. I've made better asparagus before. The veg was cooked just about five minutes too soon and I let it warm in the microwave. Mistake.

Lastly, I made crepes with warm berries, and bananas, and vanilla ice cream. It tasted like the after thought that it was.

Oh... have to say. Maggie and Brian stopped by BevMo for me yesterday. I asked for a couple of bottles of Sauvignon Blanc. Gotta say... the 2010 Vigilance was TASTY! Also had a bottle of 2007 Starmont and it was good, but not memorably so.

Big menu. Big mess.

Menu:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

French Onion Soup

Arugula Fennel and Tangerine Salad

Bread

Crepes