Sauces

Every now and then it’s nice to indulge in an extravagant dinner.   That could mean going out to a favorite restaurant or as we did last night “put on the Ritz” at home.  This dinner had its origin in our daughter Katie’s obsession with mushroom hunting. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, which is a mushroom hunter’s paradise.  She sent us a few jars of her dried mushrooms.  Her dried morels were the basis of a  delectable sauce for a marvelous steak.

These dried mushrooms plump up beautifully once soaked in warm water for 15 minutes or so.  It’s hard to tell they were ever dried.

There’s actually a novelty song called “I Just Love Morels Too Much.”

Sautéed morels.

I’ve learned that the best filet mignon are found at our local Whole Foods store.  You will pay dearly, but they are worth it.  The Whole Foods filets are in a category of their own.  They are trimmed beautifully, tender and flavorful.

Demi-glace is a key ingredient in this recipe and a little goes a long way.  We like the veal demi-glace from Williams-Sonoma.

Red wine, shallots, thyme and a bay leaf.  The liquid is reduced to just a few tablespoons as shown above. The thyme sprigs and bay leaf are removed and  the demi-glace is added to the reduction.   Soon you’ll have one of the best home-made sauces imaginable!

Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

Serves 2 (Recipe can be doubled or tripled to serve more)

Ingredients

3/4 ounce dried morels

2 teaspoons butter or olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup chicken or beef broth

2 tablespoons Williams-Sonoma demi-glace (veal or beef)

1 cup red wine (or white wine for the red wine sensitive)

2 small shallots, finely diced

2 four inch sprigs fresh thyme

1 small bay leaf

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 six to eight ounce filet mignon rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with coarse sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, grilled or pan fried to desired doneness.

Bearnaise Sauce recipe

Preparation

Rehydrate morels in a bowl filled with warm water for about 15 minutes.  Drain and pat morels with paper towels to absorb excess water.  Chop morels into small pieces and sauté in butter or olive oil until warm, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Heat and whisk the chicken or beef broth with the demi-glace in a small saucepan until blended into uniform consistency.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place red wine, diced shallots, thyme and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over medium – medium high heat and reduce until most of the liquid is gone (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and discard thyme and bay leaf.  Add demi-glace mixture and morels.  You can prepare the sauce up to this point earlier in the day and store in the refrigerator.  Just before the steaks are done, return the sauce to the stove over medium heat.  Once warm, stir in the butter then whisk in the sour cream and reduce if a thicker sauce is desired.

Spoon Morel Bordelaise sauce on a dinner plate, place filet mignon on sauce and top with a dollop of Béarnaise sauce.  Excellent accompaniments  are Potato & Leek Gratin and Glazed Carrots with Tarragon.