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December 24, 2005
Dinner for two
Nathalie decided this year we should let the children pick what they want for Christmas dinner. It's easier than trying to get them to eat what we pick, and allows us to enjoy at least part of our dinner.
She wanted me to make something special for us, however. I guess she's making the dessert, and turning out some foie gras on toast for the first entrée. My aim is to make two more dishes not too heavy, quick to prepare, and yet a sort of treat. For the second starter I settled on a salmon tartare, inspired by a recipe from a magazine Nathalie bought. It's a two-layer affair for which you get the tartare layer ready and marinating in advance. We didn't have truffles, but did have plenty of fresh ginger root:
For the top:
2 T walnut oil
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1-2 T fresh ginger root
Wasabi
200 g fresh wild salmon
Paprika
For the bottom:
1/2 apple
Lemon juice
200 g celeri remoulade
Parsley (as garnish)
In advance you mince the ginger, then mix it with the oil, soy sauce, sugar for the marinade. I added a hint of wasabi since we have some. The salmon you check for bones and make sure it's dry, then chop it roughly into small cubes. The marinade was so dark I wanted a little paprika mainly for color. It should marinate apparently at least an hour in the fridge.
For the bottom you grate the apple, adding some lemon juice to avoid oxydation. Celeri remoulade is basically grated celery root that you blanch and turn into a salad by adding mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper. You mix the apple with that and build a bottom layer, which I'll do using the preparation ring -- don't know what it's really called -- to make a nice cylindrical pile on the plate, then I'll cover with tartare and garnish with parsley.
For the main dish, I'm doing individual beef tournedos in pastry. By keeping the pastry translucent-thin, I hope to avoid overcooking the meat. Otherwise this is basically boeuf en croute.
2 thick beef tournedos, not wrapped or trussed
2-3 T duck fat
2 small handfuls assorted mushrooms
Parsley
1 clove garlic
1 shallot
1 t dehydrated beef bouillon
1 T cognac or armagnac
80-100 g pâte feuilletée
Well in advance, brown the tournedos quickly on both sides in a very hot, dry, non-stick pan, then take them out to cool. Don't let them cook inside unless you want the beef to be well done.
Turn the heat down and add the duck fat, the mushrooms, parsley, chopped garlic and shallot. Add the beef bouilon and let these cook as the mushrooms lose their juice. Deglaze with the cognac or armagnac and let it catch fire to burn off the alcohol. Turn off the heat.
Roll equal halves of pastry out on a floured board until each is translucently thin. The pastry's not supposed to be a loaf of bread around your meat, just a crust that keeps the juices in. Put the pastry in the pan you'll put in the oven. It'll perhaps be too thin to move once you've added the meat.
Grind your mushrooms and so forth in a mixer to form a paste. Spread this paste equally on the middle of both pieces of pastry, so that each is the same size as the corresponding tournedos. Then put the tournedos on, and close the pastry. I'm guessing that I won't need extra salt and pepper because of the bouillon.
My plan is to cook this in a very hot oven and serve it with more mushrooms cooked lightly in garlic, duck fat, and seasoned with fleur de sel and fresh pepper.
Posted by Mark at December 24, 2005 03:46 PM
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