Seared Filet Mignon with Creamy Butter Beans, Leeks & Creme Fraiche

For someone who is a die hard steak and mash fan - the fact that I am even suggesting to pair a nice filet with something other than a classic mashed potato must mean this one is a keeper.  I am all about "the perfect bite" when it comes to red meat.  A little bite of steak, the perfect amount of jus, a little butter or garlic mashed potato - maybe a little creamed spinach... mmmmmm.  This recipe, however, brings a whole new spin on a meat and starch combo.  The creamy butter beans are the perfect compliment to the meat.  Mix it all together with some savory leeks which add a great texture, and the creamy and slightly tart creme fraiche and you've got a combo to die for.

Ingredients: serves 2

2 leeks, washed, trimmed and finely sliced
a small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
4 garlic cloves (chopped)
EVOO
1 stick of butter
2 cups white wine
500g tinned or jarred butter beans, drained and rinsed
a small handful of freshly Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/3 cup crème fraîche
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 filet steaks
1 lemon

In a large pan, heat some EVOO on medium heat and then add your leeks, thyme, garlic and butter and let the mixture sweat for about 20 minutes (until they are soft and sweet).  Turn up the heat and add the white wine and bring to a boil.  Add the beans and a small splash of water (the beans should be almost all covered with liquid.  Simmer for 10 minutes until the beans are nice and creamy.  Add your parsley, creme fraiche and a splash of EVOO.  Taste for seasoning.  Keep heat on low.


Heat a separate pan until searing hot.  Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper and then lightly pat evenly with some EVOO.  Cook the steaks to your temperature preference (i suggest medium rare).  For medium rare it will be approximately 4 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the steaks.  Remove them from the pan and let rest for 5 minutes to let the meat rest and the juices run back in.  Squeeze with some lemon juice and drizzle with some EVOO.  Carve in thick slices and plate over the butter bean mixture.  Drizzle with some of the steak juices - serve & enjoy!


xo


Chef Natty

an old faithful... and a 1212 special: Penne with Spinach & Goat Cheese

We've all been there.  University student...living with roommates, and too busy with exams and/or partying to buy groceries.  In this case my lovely ladies of apartment 1212 and I would usually resort to a couple old faithful dishes - this one being the most "gourmet" thing we could throw together with what we had in the kitchen.  The other dishes mostly were made up of canned tuna, a jar of hot peppers one of us had brought to London from their Nonna, chickpeas or a wheel of brie baked in a toaster oven (fancy stuff, i know).  Nevertheless, this pasta creation is a great quick dish, perfect for any novice chef.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
3 cups assorted mushrooms (sliced)
4 heaping handfuls of spinach (roughly chopped)
1 spanish onion (sliced thinly)
1 head of garlic (chopped)
1/3 cup goat cheese (plus more for sprinkling)
1 cup kernel corn (optional)
crushed pine nuts (optional)
Parmesan cheese
EVOO
salt and pepper
450g penne

In a large pan, heat up some EVOO on medium high heat and add your onions and garlic.  Saute until soft and fragrant (do not brown).  In a seperate pan, add a drop of EVOO on medium high heat and add your mushrooms (do not crowd) and cook until lightly brown on both sides.  While the mushrooms are browning, add your spinach to the onion mixture.  Once the spinach has wilted and the mushrooms are browned sprinkle them with salt and pepper and then add the mushrooms and the goat cheese to the onion mixture and stir everything together.  If you are using the corn and pine nuts - add them as well.  Turn down the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add your cooked penne and stir.

Plate each dish and serve with a generous amount of parmesan cheese and some extra goat cheese.

serve & enjoy!

xo
Chef Natty

BEST POPCORN EVER!

For all the popcorn lovers out there - I present to you the most delicious, tasty, healthy and utterly addictive popcorn treat you will ever have.  I'm not kidding - they should steal the 'once you pop you cant stop' tagline from pringles because this is not the kind of snack that ends up back in your pantry half eaten.  it gets raped in minutes.  I actually don't even know if that's the right line ... come to think of it maybe its 'once you pop the fun dont stop?'  - oh well .. thats neither here nor there.  The point is that its positively fantastic popcorn.  The best part? its super low in calories and gluten free.  I am usually the first one to say that the "healthier" versions of snack foods never quite measure up to the original.  Yes, they can temporarily sink a sweet tooth or diminish the chip craving with some low cal, whole wheat, vegan crap version - but do they ever really taste AS good as the real deal? I'm gunna go with no.  However, this popcorn might be the only "healthy" snack food that I would say is even better than the super indulgent kind you get at the movie theatre that can run up a ridic amount of calories - so ridic I wont even mention the number because I like to pretend its a lie.

This kettle corn indulge gourmet popcorn has the perfect combination of salty and sweet .. and its soooo light!  literally floats up from the bowl into you mouth and throws a prom bash on your taste buds - little tasty salty sweet kernals of bliss dancing cheek to cheek to boys 2 men in your mouth.  Absolute heaven. 

Highly recommending everyone goes out - finds a specialty store and snags a bag of these babies ASAP.  Looking into carrying them at the cheesemonger people - stay tuned.

yumyum

xo chef natty

Veal Limone - an italian childs wonderbread pb & j

 

This recipe is like a little piece of my childhood all wrapped up into one perfect dish.  I remember asking my mom for veal limone as a kid.  Being that it is such a simple and quick dish to make - I usually got my wish.  That... and the fact that I was an only child which probably meant I could of asked my Mom to raise the cattle herself so my veal would be the freshest of fresh and she would have obliged.  Love you mum.

I would ask for this dish fairly often - just about as often as a normal child would ask for a pb and j on white wonder bread. and while my school kiddy friends busted out their lunchables and granola bar snack... i'd be busting out my tupperware with my leftover veal.... and pasta snack....

With a slightly modified version of a personal childhood favorite - I now present to you - my foodie bloggie lovers.... 

Veal Limone

You will need: serves 4

* 1/2 cup all purpose flour

* pinch of salt

* 1 tsp fresh ground pepper

* 4 large white veal scallops - pounded to a thickness of about 1/8th of a inch

* 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

* 4 tbsp unsalted butter

* 1 cup white wine

* 1/2 cup chicken stock

* handful of fresh leaf italian parsley - chopped

* 2 tbsp capers

* 3 garlic cloves - chopped

* juice from 1 large lemon

In a plate combine the flour, pinch of salt and pepper and stir to combine thoroughly. Quickly dip the veal into the flour mix and set aside.  Heat the oil in a large pan at medium high heat until it is hot but not smoking.   Add 1 tbsp of the butter and (working in batches) cook the veal until just golden brown on each side (this will take less than 1 minute per side).  Transfer to a plate and set aside.  Next use the wine to deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon, scraping up any brown tasty bits.  Bring the wine to a boil and reduce by half.  Add the chicken stock, garlic, lemon juice and capers and cook the mixture for 6 minutes (the sauce will thicken slightly - if it does not thicken up enough - you may add just a sprinkle of flour and stir vigorously).  Add the rest of the butter and the parsley.  Add the veal back to the pan just to heat through.  Garnish with some extra parsley and serve right away!

Suggested pairings:
Simple Spaghettini with oil and garlic
or
Roasted fingerling potatoes and green beans
or
Mushroom risotto

xoxo
Chef Natty

Liberty Belle Bistro ... the new love of my life

 Hubs, we need to talk....

Move over hubby, mom, dad, besties and yes.. dare I say it...truffles, for a new love has stolen my heart and ran away with it. 

After a long search on Sunday morning for a brunch spot that didn't have people lined up out the door, hubs and I decided to try out a new spot in Liberty Village for our Sunday morning binge.  Now, just to preface the rest of this post, it takes alot these days to really get me wide-eyed and bushy tailed over a meal at a restaurant.  For every fantastic dinner experience there are about 10 mediocre ones in between that leave me satisfied, but not thrilled.  However, this quaint little brunch boutique tucked into my very own stomping grounds of LV might have just earned itself the title of the best brunch of my life - ever.

A very small and comfortable atmosphere that has a very homey feel to it and a mouth-watering aroma wafting to its patrons from the kitchen smelling of everything wonderful tickled my fancy right off the start.  After toying with the menu options for several minutes and probably pissing off my waitress (and hubs) with the number of questions I was asking (pretty standard when I am torn between numerous delish sounding dishes on one menu), I went ahead and ordered.  When everything was put infront of me and I took my first bite it was like instant addiction.  For the next 15 minutes there was no speaking,  no eye contact, no acknowledgement of any kind between hubs and I.  Except about half way through he stopped to let me know that for a minute he actually forgot I was there.  I wasn't offended in the slightest since it was actually that good.

What was on the menu you might ask?  Well, the first things brought out were our pear and blueberry juices - freshly made minutes before.  Totally cured the Sunday morning slight hangover we were suffering from due to one to many $16 beers at the leaf game the night before.  Then came brunch - Eggs Benedict.  Not just any Eggs Benedict - but Eggs Benedict with the most amazing slow braised pulled pork all on top of a freshly made croissant.  A side of frisee, rosti hash potatoes and homemade - yes homeeemadeee ketchup.  Each bite was like heaven.  Obviously in true Natty+Hubs form we couldn't leave it at just that.  No, no, no we complemented this already stellar dish with a side of boar sausage (cranberry and red wine) and the most amazing strip bacon i've ever had in my life.  No exaggeration.

All in all I left thrilled - not just satisfied - and cannot wait to go back again.  Hats off to Aiden Pascoe, the head chef of this new favorite.  With perfect and unique dishes like this, Liberty Belle Bistro is sure to give School a run for its money.

Liberty Belle Bistro is also open for dinner which I have not have the pleasure of trying just yet - but I plan to do that ASAP so I can update my foodie loves.

Liberty Belle is located at 133 Jefferson Ave and open 6 days a week (closed mondays)

xo
Chef Natty

Recipe to Riches? Unfortunately for me it was more like Recipe to Red Wine Binge.

I cooked, I went, I lost :(

Soooooooooo....I dared to try out for this recipe to riches contest yesterday.  If you are a true foodie like moi you should have heard about it as its been all over Food Network for the past couple months.  Basically its an amateur chefs version of American Idol.  You enter a recipe and compete against other people to win some cash and the privilege of having your dish made into an actual product for Presidents Choice.  After alotttt of waiting yesterday, I was finally put infront of the judges (Laura Calder being one - someone I usually watch most mornings on French Food at Home), and within seconds the dream was crushed.  stomped on, pulverized, punched in the face, and basically raped.   Something I was shamefully unaware of - apparently butter sauces can not be used for frozen entrees (one of the prerequisites for this competition as it would be turned into a PC frozen entree). TAKE NOTE PEOPLE - if you find yourself in a similar situation at some point in your cooking lives - stay weary of the butter sauces!

So there it was - butternut squash, ricotta & sweet honey ravioli in sage BUTTER with orange zest - pushed aside for something a little more PC friendly.  I took my loser tush down to the lobby bar post rejection with some of my fan squad and drowned my sorrows in my best friend of all - booze.

If any of my lovely readers would care to boost my shot ego back up - feel free to try this original recipe of mine that was sadly dismissed by Laura Calder and co.

Butternut Squash, Ricotta & Sweet Honey Ravioli with Sage Butter & Orange Zest

Servings: makes approximately 18 ravioli

Ingredients for the filling:

1 medium butternut squash (approximately 1 ½ lbs)

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

4 tbsp honey

250g ricotta cheese

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

Ingredients for the dough:

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

4 large eggs

Ingredients for the sauce:

8 tbsp unsalted butter

16 fresh sage leaves

¼ tsp Kosher salt

2 pinches of brown sugar

Zest from one large orange

Garnish:

Sprinkle of finely chopped parsley

Fresh orange zest

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the butternut squash length-wise and remove seeds with a spoon.  Place both halves, face up, on a baking sheet and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and 3 tablespoons of the honey.  Season generously with salt and pepper and then roast for 1 hour until tender.

When the squash is done, remove from the oven and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.  Add the ricotta cheese, nutmeg, cinnamon and the final tablespoon of honey and mash.  Taste for seasoning and set aside.

To make fresh dough for the ravioli, pour your flour into a small hill and then create a well in the centre.  Crack the eggs into the center and gently beat them together.  Using a fork, slowly incorporate the flour from the walls of the well into the eggs.  Be sure not to break the walls of the well.  Once the dough has reached a consistency where it does its not runny, use your hands to begin kneading the dough with the palms of your hands, slowly adding more flour as needed.  Work the dough for 3-5 minutes until it is one cohesive ball.  Wrap in saran wrap and let the dough rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.  Use a pasta machine to roll out the dough into thin sheets (the first setting).

Use a round pastry cutter (or the top of a water glass if you don’t have one), and cut rounds out for the ravioli.  On a lightly floured surface, scoop 1 tsp of filling into the center of a ravioli round and using your finger, gently boarder the edges of the round with some warm water.  Place a second round over the first and, pressing all the air out, seal up the edges into a neat, circular ravioli!  Repeat this process until you run out of rounds.

Cook the ravioli in salted boiling water for about 2-3 minutes (they will start to rise).  At the same time, melt the butter in a pan at medium heat and then add the sage, salt, orange zest and brown sugar.

Plate the ravioli and spoon out some of the butter sauce on each plate.  

Pappardelle with Carbonara, Spring Peas & Mint

This dish quickly became a fan favorite for hubs.  He's a big carbonara fan and this recipe has a nice little twist on the original dish by adding an incredible freshness with the mint.  Makes for a fantastic spring dish.  Or (as I did), bring a little spring flavor to your table this February as the streets pile higher with ugly brown, dirty snow, the vicious winds blow the tarps away that are covering your patio furniture, and Jack Frost taps at your window just waiting to give you frost bite. (Does anyone else hate winter as much as I do? I'm thinking no).

Nevertheless this baby's a keeper.

You will need (serves 4):
500g of Pappardelle (I prefer egg pasta)
1 1/2 cups of fresh peas
1 egg
200 ml cream
12 - 15 slices of thick smokey bacon (chopped)
3 sprigs of fresh mint (roughly chopped, leaves only, plus more for garnish)
2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt & fresh ground pepper

To begin, in a mid size bowl whisk the egg and cream with a dash of salt and pepper.  In a large pan, cook your bacon until slightly crisp and golden.  At the same time, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pappardelle.

When the pasta is almost cooked, reserve a little bit of the cooking water and then add the peas to the pan with the bacon for 1 minute and then turn off the heat.  Add your pasta and stir in your mint.   Next, quickly mix in the egg and cream mixture *(note: you need to do this while the pasta is still hot so the residual heat from the pasta will slightly cook the egg but not to the point that they turn into scrambled eggs.)  You should have a nice smooth sauce.  If you need to, add a couple tablespoons of the reserved cooking water.  Add your parmesan cheese and some more freshly ground pepper.  Garnish with some mint and some more cheese, serve & enjoy!

xo Chef Natty

Garliky, Peppery, Oniony, Chili...y, Rapini Linguine!

Big shout out to Daddy-O for introducing this baby to me.  There is just something about the fabulous mixture of the bitterness from the rapini, with the sweetness of the peppers, with the saltiness from the cheese and a little heat from the chili's that make this pasta an absolute flavor explosion in your lucky lucky mouth.  A little tip for my bloggy lovers - if you have never had reheated leftover pasta before - this is the recipe to try it out with.  And no I don't mean pushing start on the microwave reheating, I mean sizzling up your leftovers in a pan with some olive oil on high heat so it gets that niccceeee crisp.  The flavours are more pronounced, the pasta has an amazing texture and i'm not even kidding, sometimes it's even better than eating it fresh!  However, in order to "reheat" leftovers, you've gotta make the dish first so let's take it one step at a time shall we.

Ladies and Gents.... I'd like to present you with this special gift of a recipe... Pasta a la Natola

You will need: (Serves 4)
500g good quality linguine pasta
2 bunches of Rapini (Broccoli Rabe)
2 Red Bell Peppers (sliced thinly, lengthwise)
1 Large Spanish Onion (roughly chopped)
1 Head of Garlic (chopped)
2-3 tsp dried chili peppers
A generous handful of grated Parmesan cheese - plus more for serving
EVOO
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper

To start, fill up a steamer pot with 2 inches of water, place your rapini in the steamer insert, bring to a boil, cover and steam!

While your rapini is steaming, bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil for your pasta.   At the same time, in a large deep bottom pan, add 3 tbsp of EVOO and saute your onions and garlic on medium high heat until slightly soft (about 3 minutes), add your peppers and chili peppers and some salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium heat until the onions and peppers are soft.

When the rapini has steamed and is cool enough to handle, roughly chop it and then add it to your pepper mixture.  Add some more EVOO if needed.  When your pasta is cooked al dente, all it to the pan, add your handful of parmesan cheese and toss thoroughly.  Serve with some extra parm on top and voila!

Serve and Enjoy :)


Chef Tip:
For day-after reheating,  simply add a couple tablespoons of EVOO into a hot pan,  add your pasta and let it sit (untouched) for a few minutes before stirring (this way you get a nice light brown crust on the noodles).

xo Chef Natty

the "Counter" ?.... how about the "Craphole", the "Can't cook food" or the "Closing because we suck" - much better.

The Counter..... ohhhh The Counter.... where do I begin.  I'm sorry Mr. Thompson Hotel but I am gunna have to go ahead and add your "diner" to my hate list.  Yes, they are few and far between, but the garbage can meal that was served to hubs and I today makes the cut to my " you are so shitty, i hate you, make better food or close" pile.

Now,  before I begin I would like to completely exclude our wonderful waitress from this blog bash as she was wonderful.  Very attentive and understanding to how horrid the kitchen was functioning and she deserves nothing but sunshine and rainbows.

As for the rest of "The Counter". you suck. alot.  Mr. Head Chef.  you cannot cook.    As we enter we were sat right by the drafty door - which ok fine - I understand someones gotta sit there - but that just started it on a bad note right off the bat.  After we placed our order (which I was quite excited about because the vast menu does offer alot of choices that you think would be delish), it took about 1 hour for our food to come out.  We watched table after table get their food before us - even tables that had been seated over 30 minutes after us.  We could actually hear our sunshine rainbow waitress in the kitchen yelling for our food.  My guess?  A past nemesis was working the kitchen and did not want us to eat. ever. 

Once our food did arrive - our waitress took one look at the onion rings she had suggested to us - and immediately asked the kitchen to bring us out a new order because they looked so horrid in comparison to the pile high crispy rings covering every table around us.  We were going to send them back anyway - but they were SO bad she beat us to it.  About 25 minutes later our onion rings arrived.  So prompt.  Hubs had already finished his meal by then (worst Reuben of life), and I had completed picking at the supposed "best thing on the menu" - the truffle mac and cheese which was so bland it made La Castile's vegetables look OVERspiced.  Seriously people its mac and cheese - a newborn orangutan with no arms could have done a better job.

The funny thing is, as the food is coming out - it looks like it is going to be a fantastic meal.  Big diner style plates full of deceiving goodness.  However, once you take a bite you can't help but wonder if the kitchen is trying to play some kind of sick joke on you.  It's got to be a look-a-like placebo meal right?  My waitress is behind THAT wall RIGHT now with my REAL mac and cheese right? The one that doesn't taste like curly drywall shavings soaked in skim milk?  But alas you will find the joke is on you.  They have stolen wasted calories from you that you will never get back.  What a waste of a suppose to be delish Sunday fat brunch with hubs.  I will be cursing you tomorrow "The Counter" when I am reluctantly on the tredmill.  a-holes.

xo

Chef (my mac and cheese rocks) Natty

Seared Sirloin Steaks with Marsala Mushrooms

Foodie friends?  Are you there?  Have your been anxiously waiting for my long overdue return to bloggage? (just say yes).  After a long, eventful and most importantly, delicious holiday season followed by a glorious vacay to aruba I am now back with bells on to start sharing all the yummy treats 2011 will bring.  It's simply way too cold and snowy to go outside these days - so blogging it is.

To kick off 2011 lets start with a lil MEAT.  yes please.  I took my tushie all the way to McEwan's grocery store to get a couple really nice sirloin steaks for this recipe and though its more than just a hop, skip and a jump away from L Village, it was well worth the trip.

Usually I reserve the marsala sauce making for veal - since its a natural pairing and its probably what most people are used to seeing on a dinner menu, but I decided to mix it up and pair this amazing, sweet mushroom sauce with my steaks and it was simply fantastic.  Throw in a side of maple glazed roasted winter vegetables and you've got yourself a great time.

For this recipe you will need: (serves 2)
2 8-9oz sirloin steaks (do not cut off the fat)
4 heaping handfuls of button mushrooms (lighted washed and halved)
3 shallots (minced)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 cup sweet marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 fresh rosemary sprig (leaves only)
EVOO
2 tbsp butter


Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and melt 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add your sirloins and cook for about 4 minutes each side for a nice medium rare.  Transfer your meat to a plate and let rest.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the same skillet. Add your shallots and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add a touch more oil if you need it and then add in your mushrooms.  Saute the mushrooms until they are tender and the juices evaporate (be sure not to crowd your mushrooms or they will not brown!) This should take about 4 - 5 minutes.  Season them with salt and pepper and then add your marsala and reduce it by 1/2 - about 4 minutes.  Add the broth and the rosemary leaves and simmer until reduced by half.  Stir the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper.  Pour over your steaks and enjoy!

xo Chef Natty