Menu for Sara from Tuscaloosa Featuring Beef Wellington

Avocado Balsamica
Sliced avocado dressed with balsamic vinegar and a touch of salt and pepper and placed on a bed of greens. Prepare 15 minutes before serving.

Individual Beef Wellingtons with Blue Cheese
Prepare steaks, and if you enjoy mushrooms then the duxelles one day in advance. Wrap beef and duxelles in store-bought pastry and bake 1 hour before serving. Link to a Chef Jim’s recipe: Roast Beef Wellington

Glazed Carrots with Lemon and Mint
See Chef Kevin’s Recipe Online. Vegetables can be “prepped” the day before. Listen to our audio class on how to best store your vegetables.

Mashed Potatoes with Horseradish
Visit Chef Kevin’s Blog for This Recipe
Can be prepared one day in advance. See Do-Ahead Mashed Potatoes for ChefsLine tips on preparing great mashed potatoes.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Zabaglione Semifreddo Recipe

Ingredients
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Marsala wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup crushed amaretto cookies

Fill a large saucepan with about 2 inches of water; bring to a boil over medium high heat. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to low or medium low to maintain gentle bubbles at the edges.

Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the saucepan of hot water, making sure the bottom does not touch the water. Use an electric hand-held mixer or a whisk to beat the mixture vigorously for 30 seconds to 1 minutes, then drizzle in the Marsala wine as you continue to beat. After the Marsala has been incorporated, beat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the mixture has doubled in volume and transformed into a dense, thick foamy cream.

Remove the bowl from the beat and beat for 1 or 2 minutes until the zabaglione has cooled slightly.

Place the heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until firm peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled zabaglione.

Lightly butter (or spray with cooking spray) six 8-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the crushed cokies into the bottom of each. Divide the mixture among the ramekins and sprinkle with additional crushed cookies. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours until completely solid.

To serve, remove from the freezer and let stand for 5 minutes until slightly defrosted. You can run a small paring knife around the sides or briefly immerse the ramekins about halfway into warm water to loosen the dessert. Unmold onto individual plates. Serve with additional whole cookies.

(Adapted from Domenica Marchetti)

Chinese Pork Roast Recipe

Ingredients
For the marinade:
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. oyster sauce*
1 Tbsp. white wine
2 Tbsp. minced gingerroot
1 1/2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce*
1 Tbsp. black bean paste*
1 garlic clove, minced

1 1/4 lbs. pork tenderloin, unflavored
2 Tbsp. honey
2 drops red food coloring

Method
Combine all marinade ingredients in a mix well in a bowl. Place mixture into a large plastic zip-lock bag.

Trim pork of any silver skin and place in zip-lock back and coat on all sides with marinade. Store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Combine the honey with the red food coloring in a small bowl.

Heat oven to 425 and place pork tenderloin on a rack over a foil lined pan. Roast for 15 minutes, turn over and continue to cook another 7 minutes. Remove pork from oven and baste with colored honey, then return to oven for 10 minutes to help set the glaze.

Remove from the oven; let the roast rest on your cutting board and slice crosswise into thin slices. Serve hot or cold.

*Available in Asian section of ethnic food aisle in your supermarket.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kitchen Guy’s Shrimp Appetizer Recipe

Ingredients
20 large shrimp, frozen, deveined, peels on
1 Tbsp. white vinegar or juice from half a lemon
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried ancho chili powder
salt to taste

Method
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add vinegar or squeeze in lemon juice. Slowly add shrimp one or two at a time and let water return to the boil. As shrimp turn opaque pink, remove them to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Peel shrimp, reserve shells for shrimp stock to be made at a later time, Reserve shrimp, covered, in refrigerator until read for second stage of cooking.

In a small glass bowl, mix mayonnaise, garlic powder and ancho chili powder until fully incorporated. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Add minced garlic and swirl around to flavor the butter. Add the reserved shrimp and toss in garlic butter until shrimp are slightly firm. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over shrimp and toss to coat.

Divide the shrimp evenly on plates and serve with ancho aioli.

The Classics:
Vichisoisse
A Parisian staple, the leeks and potatoes are certain to satisfy the palate as well as bolster your immune system.
Escarole and White Bean Soup
This is a soup born in the Tuscan tradition, featuring white cannellini beans that are packed with proteins and hardy greens loaded with vital vitamins and minerals.
The Ultimate Chicken Soup with Perfect Knaidlach
Nourishing chicken soup from scratch never tasted (or made you feel) so good as when you add much-loved matzoh balls to the mix.
Maryland Crab Vegetable Soup
Crabs are big in Maryland, and this recipe has such a loyal following you know it has to be good.

Use What’s In Season:
Buttercup Maple Squash Soup
Winter squash makes for great soup, and this recipe really represents the flavors of the holiday season.
Cauliflower Squash Bisque
Another elegant use of squash and other vegetables. Healthy eaters never had a better reason to rejoice.
Thai Pumpkin Soup with Chile and Lemongrass
This soup is a fusion of the flavors of winter with the powers of peppers, ginger and garlic to fight off colds that so many people simply swear by.
Winter Vegetable Soup with Barley
Loaded with all the good stuff, and if you like you can add a meat of your choice to make it even more hearty.

The Basics:
Instant Miso Soup
Miso is an effortless but nutritious treat. Add tofu for extra protein.
Chicken Stock
When you start from scratch, you’ll be happy to have this one in your repertoire.
Vegetable Stock
Of course, you don’t need meat to make great soup.

Tips:
1. Take your time with soups (and sauces), if you have it to spare. If you are at a high altitude (2000 feet above sea level or higher), you may want to take even more time to let the soup cook, since water boils at lower temperatures. In fact, you will actually get a better soup if you make it ahead of time (a day or two), since the flavors become richer. It’s also a great opportunity to remove fat from the soup, since once it’s refrigerated the fat coagulates, rises to the top, and is easy to scrape off.
2. Although great soups begin with homemade stock, it’s not always practical, and if we only had soup from scratch we wouldn’t have soup very often. Broth from a carton or can as well as bouillons are perfectly good options when planning soups. Sometimes fresh ingredients are unavailable or inconvenient, so keep in mind that canned and frozen veggies are still pretty high quality, namely peas, beans, corn, artichokes, etc.
3. Serving soups in warmed bowls will keep it hot while you sip it.
4. Wine and beer make good soup ingredients, but a little generally goes a long way.
5. Use caution when adding spices and salt, because you can always add more but it’s difficult to remove the flavor elements after they’re in there. Most of your intense flavor components can be added toward the end of the cooking time. If you do over-spice the soup, you can simmer raw potatoes in it to absorb some of the excess flavor.
6. When preparing stocks and consommes for clear soups, keep in mind that almost as important as richness in flavor is its transparency. Don’t stir the stock, and keep the heat low. To further clarify it for consomme the next day, you can make a clearmeat mixture of lean low-fat meat, egg whites and mirepoix (finely chopped carrots, celery and onions) and heat the cold stock back up gently with that. The clear meat mixture will float, and will act like a magnet for particles that cause a clear soup to become cloudy. Remove and discard the clear meat mixture.

Potatoes Dauphine Recipe

Ingredients
1 large Russet potato
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 large egg
pinch of salt, pinch of nutmet
vegetable oil for frying

Method
Bake the potato in a preheated 500 degree oven for 50 minutes. Halve the potato and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Force the scooped potato flesh through a ricer into a large bowl.

In a saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons water, the butter, salt and nutmeg. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to medium and beat the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes or until the paste pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove from the heat and add the egg, beating the mixture until it is smooth and shiny.

Add the potatoes and beat the mixture until it is combined well.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Transfer the potato mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, or place in a plastic freezer bag and snip off one corner. Pipe the mixture into the hot oil, cutting the potato at 2-1/2 to 3 inches. Fry the croquettes, turning them with a slotted spoon for about 3 minutes until they are crisp and golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Pumpkin Potato Soup Recipe

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 28 oz. can solid-pack pumpkin
1 14-1/2 oz. can chicken broth
1 large Russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

Method
In 6-quart saucepan or soup pot, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Add onion, and cook 15 to 20 minutes until tender and golden, stirring occasionally.

Add garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook another minute. Stir in pumpkin, chicken broth, potato cubes, sugar, salt and pepper and 6 cups of hot water. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 20 minutes or until potato cubes are fork tender.

Remove pot from heat. Use a stick blender to puree the mixture until very smooth, or carefully ladle mixture into a blender in 2 cup amounts and cautiously blend as hot liquids tend to expand and splash up. Pour blended soup into a large bowl.

Reheat over medium heat until hot. Serve with plain yogurt and toasted, spiced pumpkin seeds.