So, few days before Christmas I am looking for the Christmas dinner menus, and I found out it just same as Thanksgiving dinner menus with all the turkey, ham, mashed potato, salad, etc. Whoaaaa.........TURKEY??? I never bake it and I don't know how to make turkey, so I decided to make steak (again!) as the main menu for our Christmas dinner. Ok, the problem solved! But, wait a minute, what kind of steak I'll make?? Hmmm.........by the power of Mr.Google, at last by combine few steak recipes and a little suggestion from Christine, I made Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce :). It tasted so good, and my hubby liked it!! :)
At the end, our Christmas dinner menus are:
2. Blue Cheese Gourgeres
3. Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce
4. Baked Potato with Bacon
5. Broccoli and Carrot with Fusion Salsa
Also, I baked this man of the day.........he is Mr. Gingerbread Man :). For this one, my hubby told me that he never like gingerbread before, but this time he likes my gingerbread :). Despite of it's true or not, it made my heart so flowery when I heard that :).
And here we are with the recipes :
Blue Cheese Gourgeres
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
4 tbsps unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp Emeril's Original Essence (recipe follows)
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 pound blue cheese, or other creamy blue cheese (Belzy -- I used crumbled blue cheese)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400`F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (Belzy -- I used muffin pan).
In a large saucepan, combine the milk, butter, salt, black pepper and Emeril's Essence over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Add the flour, and stir constantly with a large wooden spoon to incorporate, about 1 minute. Return to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after the addition of each. Add the cheese and beat until mixed well and a slightly soft dough forms.
Drop the dough by the spoonful on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350`F, and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately, or at room temperature.
Emeril's Essence:
2-1/2 tbsps paprika
2 tbsps salt
2 tbsps garlic powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dried leaf oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
Yield: about 2/3 cup.
Beef Tenderloins with Red Wine Sauce
Ingredients:
4 pounds petite beef tenderloin steak (about 4 pieces)
Marinade:
1 cup red wine, such as Zinfandel (Belzy -- use any kind red wine is ok)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, pasted with mortar
1-1/2 tsps dried rosemary
1-1/2 tsps dried thyme
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Red wine sauce (recipe follows)
Directions:
Whisk all of the ingredients in a large bowl to combine. Immerse the tenderloin in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least to 2 hours and up to overnight. Drain the tenderloin and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.
Set the oven at broil, position a rack in the center (3 inch below the the heat). Rub the tenderloin with oil and season with the salt an pepper. Place in baking sheet (line in with alumunium foil), broil it for 8 to 12 minutes for medium raw or 15 to 17 minutes for medium rare (at this point, a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should read 135`F for medium rare; for medium well, broil it for 3 minutes more). In the middle of broiling, don't forget to flip up the meat.
Remove from the oven. Tent tenderloin with foil, allow to rest for 10 minutes (if you want to eat it warm), or directly served it if you want to eat it hot.
Red Wine Sauce:
Ingredients:
The remaining marinade sauce
3 egg yolks
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
Directions:
Cook the marinade sauce in a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Blend 3 egg yolks and red wine sauce reduction together in a blender on low speed until combined. With the blender running on medium speed, add one-third of the butter in a slow, steady stream. Once the mixture emulsifies (it will become thick and satiny), turn the blender speed up to high and add the remaining butter. Warm it a little on low heat. Ready to serve.
Baked Potato with Bacon
Ingredients:
6 pieces medium size potatoes
Broccoli, small size cut, washed and rinsed
4 slices bacon, diced and half fried
Butter/margarine (for spreading purposes only)
Mozarella cheese or any kind melted cheese, shredded
Directions:
Scrub and wash all potatoes, wipe and dry it. Rub the potato with salt (do not peel the skin, but if you dislike it you can peel the skin off and no need to rub the potato with salt).
Wrap tight the potato with alu foil. Bake it in the preheated oven 350`F (approx. 1 hour). Test the potato with insert a toothpick in the middle of potato, if the toothpick easily pushed into the potato, it's the time to turn off the oven.
Crossing slice the potato, do not slice it to the end of the potato. Push up the bottom of the potato until the edge of potato widely opened. Spread it with butter. Put in bacon, broccoli and shredded cheese. Bake it for another 5 minutes or until the cheese are all melted. Dish it out and ready to serve!
Gingerbread Men
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsps ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (or 1-1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
Directions:
Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg, beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350`F. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minuts or until edges of cookies are set and just begin to brown. Cool on baking sheets 1 to 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks, cool completely. Decorate cookies as desired. Store cookies in airtight container up to 5 days.
