Beef – shady morels

Chuck Steak with Potatoes, Arugula, and Chili Oil

Since creating Shady Morels, my approach was always to spare you my personal life story as much as possible, and focus on what really matters — the food.

Now is no time to deviate, so I won’t go into details regarding the lengthy period of time spanning my last post to this one. I will say that my passion for creating food has only increased exponentially; I create something new almost every day, and I’m excited to share some of this with you.

Going forward, you’ll be seeing photos taken with a new lens (Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro), which results in a 96mm equivalent when using our Canon EOS camera.

I’m also going to significantly pare down the recipe instructions. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably viewing this to gain inspiration for dinner, but not necessarily to follow verbatim. I’ll give you the basic ingredients, maybe explain why certain things work together, and briefly go over the preparation concept.

Without further adieu, here is the food.

Ingredients:

For the braised chuck steak:

Some great quality chuck steak, like 63 Acres

Quartered onion, and peeled whole garlic

White wine

For the garnish:

Small potatoes, I used siegliende

Arugula

Garlic, along with some herbs like thyme, oregano, or rosemary

Smokey chili oil, which is simply muddled fresh red chili, garlic, salt, and pimenton

Vibrant green oil for plating

Method:

Chuck steak is seasoned with salt and pepper, seared, then braised (covered) at 315 degrees Fahrenheit with the onion and garlic for a minimum of two hours. During the last 15 minutes, I take off the lid and broil on high to develop a nice crust.

Potatoes are parboiled, then “smashed” and sautéed. Finished with herbs and garlic, and tossed with arugula off the heat.

For plating:

I arranged the potatoes and arugula in a pile in the center of the plate, dappled on some of the smokey chili oil, then topped with the braised chuck roast. As a finishing touch, I did a swirl of vibrant green oil followed by the chili oil to achieve a nice visual contrast.

Why this works:

It’s ramped up meat and potatoes, with some brightness derived from the arugula and vibrant green oil, and contrasted by the smokey chili oil. The chili and arugula is a particularly good pairing in my opinion.

I prefer beef braised with just onion, garlic, and white wine or chicken stock – rather than the typical mirepoix and red wine approach. I find the result is more true to the flavour of the beef, and lends itself well to more interesting derivations from the braised beef. More on this later!

Enjoy with a nice bottle of red, this one was enjoyed with a 2016 Francis Ford Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon.

Porcini Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Reduction and Celeriac Puree

Returning to the Pacific Northwest yesterday from a three week surfing and fish taco eating getaway to sunny Sayulita, Mexico; I’m back with a post containing some very wintery food.

The eating experiences I enjoyed in Sayulita will definitely inspire some future posts once ingredients become available.

This was actually course number three of the previously mentioned epic dinner. I will continue to write about each course of that amazing meal over time, and in no particularly logical order whatsoever.

This was a knockout dish, and one of the favourites of the night. It deserves to be accompanied by a big red, and should be the last served of the savoury dishes for obvious reasons.

I must admit, I did deviate from my typical approach to steak for this dish by cooking in a temperature controlled water bath. The results are astounding in terms of the consistency of cook; it ensures a perfect result for a very expensive steak, which can be nerve racking when using conventional heating methods.

Ingredients:

For the beef:

Four 6 oz. beef tenderloin steaks

10g dried porcini mushrooms, pulverized to a powder in a spice grinder

Clove of garlic

Sprig of fresh thyme

Pinch of salt

For celeriac puree:

1 Whole celeriac (aka celery root), peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

1 clove of garlic

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the red wine reduction:

1 cup medium bodied red wine

A few black peppercorns

2 tbsp butter

Directions:

Mix the salt and porcini powder, reserve half of the mixture. Coat the top and bottom of the steaks with the other half of the porcini-salt rub. Vacuum seal with the garlic clove and thyme, then cook in the sous vide bath at 56 degrees C for 3 hours for medium rare.
Meanwhile, boil the celeriac in salted water until it can be easily pierced by a fork. Transfer to food processor and combine with the remaining ingredients. Blitz to a puree.
Reduce red wine to a third over medium heat. Remove from heat and add peppercorns. Five minutes prior to servicing, re-heat, then add butter and swirl to incorporate. Now the sauce is ready to serve.
Heat a cast iron pan to high and add a glug of olive oil to the pan. Remove the steaks from the sous vide bath and dry any moisture off with a paper towel. Re-coat with the porcini-salt rub, then sear steaks for 30 seconds to one minute per side. Careful not to sear too long, as the steaks are already cooked at this stage. We are just looking to caramelize and achieve a nice crust.
To plate, place a dollop of the celeriac puree on one side of a plate. Using a spoon, spread the celeriac puree to form a tear drop shape. Pour the red wine reduction around the celeriac puree, and top with the steak. Garnish with a roasted wild mushroom, freshly picked chanterelles were used for this dish.

Enjoy!

Serve with an Okanagan Cabernet Franc, Cassini Cellars 2012 vintage would be a great choice!

Rib Eye Steak with Porcini Sherry Sauce and Blue Cheese

This is my formula for steak, and I almost never deviate from it:

Seasoning: Nothing more than a liberal amount of salt and pepper

Cook: Sear and baste with butter, thyme, garlic. Finish in the oven. Rest.

Sauce: Pan reduction sauce with wine or spirits, finished with butter.

Simple right? A great steak should be simple; treat it with care and respect, and let the quality ingredient do the work. When I was learning to cook steak, the sauces would end up over complicated and confusing. What I do now is way more simple and less time consuming, but the results are infinitely superior. It’s funny how a decade of experimenting in the kitchen leads to the pursuit of simplicity.

This recipe is only a slight deviation from the general formula, since re-hydrated mushrooms are incorporated into the sauce in the last step. Some exceptional, crumbly blue cheese is the perfect contrast to the richness of the beef and sauce.

You could also barbecue, but why miss out on the opportunity for a great pan sauce? Save that for the hanger and flat iron steaks.

Please opt for a smaller, but higher quality steak instead of the biggest behemoth you can find. You will end up with a better sear, more flavour, and a far superior presentation.

Ingredients:

For the steak:

1 best quality rib-eye steak you can afford

Generous amount of kosher salt and coarsely cracked black pepper

1 tbsp grapeseed or light olive oil

1 garlic clove, smashed

1 tbsp butter

Couple sprigs of fresh thyme

For the sauce:

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 cup boiling hot water

1 oz dry sherry

1 tbsp butter

Small chunk of good quality blue cheese

Directions:

1. Re-hydrate the mushrooms with hot water in a bowl and set aside. Do not drain or discard the mushrooms.

2. Meanwhile, generously season the steak. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Get a cast iron pan piping hot, add the oil, then carefully sear the steak on one side. Do not disrupt it, this is important! You can take a peak after about two minutes by using a fork to pull up one corner. If you see a rich amber brown all over the full surface, not just the edges, then you can flip it.

3. After you flip the steak, add the butter, thyme, and garlic. Your pan should be hot enough that the thyme crackles as it hits the pan. Tilt the pan so that the butter infuses with the flavour of the garlic and thyme, and spoon the butter over the steak several times. Repeat for about 2 minutes, then toss in the oven for 5 minutes for medium rare.

4. After cooked, remove the steak from the pan and set aside to rest. Put the pan back on high heat, then add the mushrooms, including the brown mushroom stock resulting from the re-hydration. Reduce to a third, then add the sherry and continue to reduce to a nappe consistency. Remove from heart, add the butter, then strain with a fine mesh.

5. To plate, pour the sauce on a plate, arrange a couple stalks of seared asparagus in parallel, then top with some roasted potatoes. Place the steak on top of the garnish, then top with the blue cheese and serve.

Enjoy!

Beef Short Rib Ravioli with Tarragon Beurre Blanc

I’m not going to try and pull the wool over your eyes, this recipe is a lot of work. If you lose a little steam along the way, the braised short ribs served with a little bit of polenta would be a fine meal in itself. However, if you want to go the distance to create an elegant and sophisticated meal, you will be blown away by the results. The flavour combination of the savory red wine jus and the rich and tart tarragon buerre blanc was inspired by the proven combination of filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce and red wine demi glace.

Making ravioli is the kind of action that really allows you to up your cooking game. You’ll need to make your own pasta if you don’t already. You’ll then realize that the intimidation factor of making homemade pasta is really unwarranted; it is one of the easiest things to do in the kitchen, and you may even stop buying dry pasta. After you make your first ravioli, the creative juices will start to flow and you will begin dreaming up new delicious fillings. The possibilities are virtually endless!

Tip: Ensure to roll the pasta dough as thin as possible, since the end result will be double the thickness when you assemble the ravioli. This is the one place where this dish could go wrong, and I’ve made this mistake in the past.

Ingredients:

For the short ribs:

500g boneless beef short ribs, cut into 2 inch chunks

1 Big carrot, peeled and quartered

3 Cloves garlic

1 Shallot, halved

1 Tbsp tomato paste

A couple sprigs of thyme, and a handful of cut parsley stalks (no leaves) tied together with kitchen twine

1 cup red wine

1/2 cup chicken stock (veal stock would be better, but I didn’t have any on hand)

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper, plus some whole peppercorns

For the pasta:

1.5 cups flour

2 eggs

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 egg, beaten

For the filling:

Braised short ribs, pulled apart delicately, excess fat removed

1 Shallot, thinly sliced

1 Lemon, zested, reserve lemon juice for later

100g Firm cheese, I used an aged gouda

Handful of parsley leaves

For the sauce:

1/2 cup white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

200g cold butter, cut into chunks

A few sprigs of fresh tarragon leaves

Pepper

Directions:

To make the short ribs:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Heat a saute pan to high heat, and add a glug of the oil. Generously season the short ribs, and sear each side to get some color (about 5 min a side). Set aside and leave pan on high heat.

2. Sear the carrot, shallots and garlic in the hot pan to get some color, then add the tomato paste and the short ribs. Toss everything around while the tomato paste browns but not does not burn, about a minute.

3. Add the red wine and the chicken stock to the pan and deglaze. Add a bundle of the fresh thyme and parsley stems. Turn off heat, cover with tin foil, and place in the oven for 2.5 to 3 hrs.

4. Once done, remove the short ribs from the liquid and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, skim the fat off the braising liquid then strain and discard the solids. Reserve the jus and keep warm for plating.

While the short ribs are cooking, make the egg pasta.

For the filling:

1. Brown the shallots with a bit of olive oil, and set aside to cool.

2. Add the short ribs, shallots, parsley, lemon zest, and cheese to a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and gently fold ingredients. We don’t want to create a homogeneous mixture, we still want some texture with the filling.

To assemble the ravioli:

1. Roll out the pasta sheets as thin as possible on a floured surface. Cut 4 inch rounds out of the dough using a mason jar lid. Create a couple rows of pasta circles, top one row with filling, and brush the other with the egg wash. For the filling, create little golf ball size mounds, and gently compress with your palms to remove any air.

2. To assemble, drape the top round (brushed with egg) over top of the rounds topped with the filling. Align the edges on one side, the pinch down firmly to create a seal. Gently lift up the ravioli and hold delicately in your flat palm. With the other hand, work your way around the filling, pinching to create a seal. When you have almost made it around the full circle, retrace your steps to ensure any excess air is pushed out, then pinch the final opening together to fully seal off the ravioli. This will take a little practice, but you’ll get it eventually. Dust with flour after completing, to prevent it from sticking to the other ravioli.

For the beurre blanc (make immediately before cooking the pasta):

1. Add the white wine, lemon juice, and shallot to a sauté pan; reduce on medium heat until there is about a tbsp of liquid remaining, then reduce heat to low.

2. Now in the same pan, add the butter 1 cube at a time, whisking to incorporate. Same technique as hollandaise, minus the egg.

3. Gently tear up the tarragon leaves and add to the buerre blanc. Leave on low heat until the pasta is ready.

To cook, bring some salted water to a boil and add a glug of oil to the surface to create a kind of oil slick effect on the surface. Add the ravioli one by one, so that they fall through the oil slick. Once they float to the surface, the ravioli is done. Transfer to the beurre blanc pan with a slotted spoon, it’s okay if a little pasta water follows. Gently toss to get an even coating of sauce on the ravioli.

To plate, slowly pour the strained red wine jus into the bottom of a shallow pasta dish to create about a 4-5 inch circle. Top with the ravioli and garnish with a sprig of fresh tarragon and some cracked pepper.

Enjoy with a nice Okanagan merlot!

Beef Cheek Ragu with Pappardelle

Ragu is simply meat braised with tomato, mirepoix, wine, and stock. It’s a beautiful thing on its own, but it turns magical when elevated with lemon, parmesan, and arugula and served with fresh pappardelle pasta.

Pappardelle noodles are thick and broad, you can even use lasagna sheets cut up in lieu of having actual pappardelle on hand. If you’ve never made pasta noodles before, pappardelle is a great starting point since you can get away with making it without having a machine.

Ingredients:

1.5 lb beef cheeks (about 2) cut into 2 inch pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

3 small shallots, halved

2 garlic cloves, whole

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 carrots, peeled and cut into diamonds

1/2 cup red wine

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 cups chicken stock

1 lemon, zested

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp fresh Parmigiano Reggiano,

handful of fresh arugula leaves

Salt and pepper

Enough pappardelle pasta for two, homemade if you do that kind of thing

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Season beef cheeks liberally with salt and pepper. Heat an oven proof pan on the burner to medium high and add the olive oil. Sear beef shins until they have a nice golden colour, about 8-10 minutes.

2. Add the shallots and garlic to the pan, and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Toss the pan a bit while sauteing to ensure the garlic and shallots are browning.

3. Add the tomato paste to the pan, and continue to saute for 1 minute while lighty tossing or stirring the ingredients. The tomato paste will brown quickly, but this is what we want.

4. Add the wine and mustard to the pan, let cook down for 30 seconds, then add the chicken stock (the liquid should almost cover the beef). Transfer the pan to the oven. Braise until the beef can be pulled apart easily with a fork. This should be about 3 hours. If you decide to braise longer, just ensure that there is enough liquid to prevent the beef from drying out.

5. While the braise is finishing, boil some water for the pasta and salt generously. Then toss in the pappardelle pasta. While you’re waiting of the pasta to cook, remove the beef from the oven and add the lemon zest, butter, and Parmesan. Stir to incorporate, then fold in the arugula. Once the pasta is al dente, transfer with a slotted spoon to the pan with the beef. It’s okay if a little water transfers over in the process, if not preferred. Gently fold all the ingredients together and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Simple Sous Vide Beef Shank

Originally, I imagined that any cheap cut of meat cooked with the sous vide method would emerge tender and juicy after many hours. This is simply not true. I have learned that sous vide cooked meat can emerge tender, flavourful, and even medium rare but bizarrely enough also dry. For this reason, the beef was somewhat underwhelming directly out of the sous vide bath.

I sought to improve the dish by changing the sauce, which worked, but I also think this method for beef may simply benefit a different style of dish. It would work very well for a ravioli or other stuffed pasta, where the lack of moisture would actually be a benefit. I am intending on trying this in a future post, so stay tuned. I am also planning on documenting several different iterations of temperatures and cooking times to see if the moisture level can be improved by changing these variables.

I compared this dish with two sauces, first was a simply sherry pan sauce (pictured above) and the second was a red wine reduction sauce. The red wine reduction was a far superior accompaniment to the beef, and also filled the gap that I felt was missing due to the slight dryness of the beef.

Ingredients:

500g beef shank, bone removed

1 sprig thyme

1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise

8 whole peppercorns

1 tbsp olive oil

For the red wine reduction:

1/2 cup red wine

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp butter

1. Set sous vide bath to 75 degrees C and timer to 12 hours.

2. Lightly season the beef shank with salt, and place in the zip lock bag with the olive oil, thyme sprigs, and garlic clove. Remove air with the water bath method, seal tightly, and place in the sous vide bath for 12 hours.

3. Once the beef is done, remove from the sous vide bath and ziplock bag. Heat a pan to medium-high heat, add a glug of olive oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the beef and sear for 90 seconds a side, or until a nice caramelization develops. This will happen a lot faster than with raw beef, so monitor the beef closely when it is searing. Set the beef aside, and reduce the heat to medium.

4. Add the red wine and shallots to the hot pan and reduce by a half. Add the mustard and whisk to incorporate for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from heat and add the butter while whisking continuously. Serve with the beef.

Enjoy!