Well, so, that is the question.

When a great cut of meat is involved do you sauce it or not?

Denny Howell over at MLive.com gives us one option . . .

Sauce or no sauce?
That’s a big question when you have a good cut of steak. I waiver back and forth depending on the occasion and the rest of the menu, I think a sauce can truly finish the flavors. This was the case on Saturday when cooking for a dinner party.

Now I’m not talking about A.1. Steak Sauce. I’m talking about classic finishing sauces; a Merlot reduction, a Mushroom sauce or Bearnaise. Saturday happened to be a Creamy Cognac Peppercorn sauce with Morel Mushrooms.

I really liked the sauce and the rest of the dinner guests thought it was great! Not only did it go well with the steak but I thought the flavor of it with the mashed potatoes was really harmonious.

Dinner Menu:
Grilled Romaine with Spicy Caesar Dressing
Mushroom Stuffed Filet Mignon with Cognac Peppercorn Sauce
Boursin Mashed Potatoes
Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Serves 6

Grilled Romaine with Spicy Caesar Dressing
The Spicy Caesar dressing is very quick and easy. Just take your favorite creamy caesar dressing and add one or two finely chopped chipotles and about 1 Tbsp of the adobo sauce.

For the Grilled Romaine, cut the romaine heats in half lengthwise brush the cut side with olive oil, salt and pepper then place on the grill until slightly charred.

Serve with anchovies, croutons and grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Tri-Mushroom Stuffed Filet w/ Creamy Cognac Peppercorn Sauce
– (6) 6-8oz filet mignon steaks
– 1 1/2 oz. dried portabella mushrooms
– 1 1/2 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms
– 1 1/2 oz. dried chanterelle mushrooms
– 2 cups cognac (I used Hennessy)
– olive oil
– 1/2 Tbsp butter
– 4 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 cup shallots, minced
– 3 tsp. fresh thyme
– Salt and Pepper

Place all the dried mushrooms in a large bowl. Pour heated, either microwave or stove-top) cognac over mushrooms. Let stand 1.5 hours. Drain mushrooms, while saving liquid for the peppercorn sauce.

Chop the garlic, shallots and mushrooms. Heat olive oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic, saute 1 minute. Add chopped mushrooms, saute another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, cool and add fresh thyme.

Cut a small slit into the side of each steak and move the knife around in the middle to make a pocket. Press the cooled mushroom mixture into each steak. You can secure the pockets with toothpicks. Season the steaks with salt and pepper.

Outside – Prepare Grill. Arrange coals to have hot section to sear and medium section to finish cooking. Place steaks on hot section and sear for 1 minute, rotate 45 degrees and sear an additional minute, on each side. Move steaks to medium section and grill for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and let rest 5 minutes covered with foil.

Inside – Preheat over to 350. On High heat place the steaks in a grilling pan and sear for 1 minute, rotate 45 degrees and sear an additional minute, flip the steak, sear for another minute, rotate 45 degrees and place in the over for 5-10 minutes depending on steak temp. I recommend Med-Rare.

Creamy Cognac Peppercorn Sauce
– 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
– 4 Tbsp. chopped shallots
– 4 Tbsp. crushed green and pink peppercorns
– 1cup cognac-mushroom liquid (drained from mushrooms)
– 1cup heavy whipping cream
– salt and pepper to taste
– 4 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
– Optional
(18) morel mushrooms

In a saute pan over medium heat, melt 3 Tbsp butter. Add shallots and peppercorns. Saute until shallots are soft. Add cognac-mushroom liquid and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream and simmer until sauce slightly thickens, add optional morel mushrooms. Turn off heat and slowly whisk the remaining 1/2 to 1 Tbsp of butter in the sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper and dill.

Spoon over the top of the filet mignon steaks set over the mashed potatoes. Make sure to get some morel’s on each plate!
Boursin Mashed Potatoes
– 3 pounds potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks (peeled if you don’t want the skins)
– 1 package (5.2 oz.) Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs
– 1/4 cup whole milk
– 1/4 cup heavy cream
– Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander. In a bowl, mash the potatoes until they are smooth. Add the Boursin cheese and continue mashing until the cheese is thoroughly mixed. Add the milk and cream and beat in to the potato mixture and salt and pepper to taste.

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans
– 1 pound fresh green beans
– Olive oil
– Salt and pepper
– 1/2lb to 1lb Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Blanch green beans for 3 minutes. Toss them in olive oil and salt and pepper. Bundle about 5-7 green beans and wrap a piece of bacon around the bundle. Place in a roasting pan and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until bacon is cooked.

Enjoy….

Photo and excerpt courtesy of Denny Howell at MLive.com.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know my sister-in-law Sandy takes every meal to another level of flavor-infused goodness.

Even something like tacos become THE BEST TACOS YOU’VE EVER HAD.

Here, Sandy tells us just what she did to wow our family with a smorgasbord of flavors, colors, and amazing scents — all the things that make a great meal.

Taco Night.  Our first meal in Florida as a large group came together pretty quickly.  Nothing fancy, but everyone really enjoyed it.  I think there were about 14 of us on taco night, and this meal came together in less than an hour. 

I think the secret to good tacos is using good quality beef and cooking it well, without quite as much seasoning as those little packages suggest you use.  Try using a little less (I use only about a third a package per pound of meat) and seasoning the meat with a little salt and fresh ground pepper and your favorite salsa or picante sauce.  This is a super quick meal that is fun for a crowd, and can really be put together very quickly if you get organized.  Do all of your chopping to start, then start on what takes longest.  Get your guests to help – chop garnishes, make margaritas, etc.

0.  Prep Garnishes and/or recruit volunteers to prep garnishes and get drinks going.

1. Begin Rice.  Dice all of the onions needed for the recipes (1 ½) and peel and dice carrot for rice. Start rice pilaf by cooking vegetables, and then adding rice, cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and set timer for 20 minutes. 

2. Begin Black Beans and Taco meat  : chop bacon and add to cold frying pan. Turn heat to medium and cook bacon until brown, add beans and picante sauce and cook over low heat until thoroughly warmed thru and beans are tender.  Meanwhile, heat oil and begin taco meat preparation as directed below. Add liquid to beans as necessary to prevent beans from burning. Mash beans as desired with potato masher, fork or handheld blender.

3. Preheat oven for crispy taco shells when the rice has just a few minutes left.  The taco shells take less than 5 minutes to warm up- don’t let these suckers burn, they go quickly!

Quick Tacos for a Crowd

1 Tbsp Canola or vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced small

3# Ground Beef, 85%-95% Lean Ground Sirloin or other good quality Beef

1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 pkg taco seasoning (for 1# ground beef)                                                                                

Heat oil over medium/high heat in large heavy bottomed skillet or saucepan until shimmering, then add onion and cook until translucent.  Add ground beef, salt and pepper.  Cook until ground beef is brown.  If there is excessive fat, beef may be drained at this point.  Add taco seasoning and water as directed on package.  Cook as directed, adding salt and pepper and or hot sauce as necessary and to taste.

Scrumptious “Refried” Black Beans

6 strips bacon, chopped

2 cans black beans or “refried” style black beans

½ cup picante sauce or salsa

½ cup cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese

Spanish Style Rice

2 carrots, peeled and diced

½ onion, diced

1 package yellow rice, plus water for package directions (may substitute ½ cup picante sauce for ½ cup of the water called for on the package directions)

Taco bar Condiments:

Shredded Lettuce

Diced Tomatoes

Salsa

Diced Avocado or Guacamole

Shredded Cheese

Crunchy Taco Shells

Tortilla Chips

At our little castle in the sand over the holidays we were very spoiled by the food.

Great meals just kept on coming.

One night we enjoyed bacon-wrapped filets with oven-baked potatoes and veggies.

Most of us in the house were in at the word “bacon.”  But, then, we were treated to buttery-tender filets that were to-die-for.

There was, however, a word of warning on the box that I must show you . . .

The Kansas City Steak Company totally had our number. They knew they were dealing with pigs who would just dive right in — pin and all. Thanks, guys! You saved us an emergency trip to the dentist in a state none of us live in. Appreciate ya.

To start the meal, first, Sandy pan-seared the filets after sprinkling each filet with the seasoning that came with the steaks.

She also cooked the bacon a bit and re-wrapped them. You can see them above being placed on aluminum foil and then sent out to the grill to be manned by the cutest griller around. (Okay, it was my husband.)

Why the foil? Because we don’t trust other people’s grills. Remember, this was a rented house. Plus, that grill had seen better days and we weren’t taking any chances with this meat.

Some in our group like their filets pretty well-done and not so thick. So we simply cut one in half so we had two filets that were half as thick. Voila!

While those were grilling we worked on the sides. We made oven-baked potatoes that were quickly cooked in olive oil, salt and pepper in a skillet and then baked in the oven.

Here is the final product (after the pins were removed). This baby didn’t last long after the picture was taken.

By the way, this was our Christmas Eve dinner. A special and exciting night for us all. Can you imagine a better meal?

Well, wait ’til you see what else we cooked that week . . .