Steak Diane

Wow. Great meal. The recipe suggests making this with a side of Parmesan polenta. Blech! I, instead, made just regular old mashed potatoes. Delicious.

The only thing, and I stress only, I would change in this recipe is I'd lessen the amount of red pepper flakes. It was a tad too spicy for me. But otherwise, this recipe was delicious. Oh and I BBQ'd the steak instead of pan fry it. I'm a BBQ girl, I can't help it.

Steak Diane

Photo courtesy of Cuisine at Home

Courtesy of Cuisine at Home

Serves: 4

• 4 beef tenderloin filets, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 5 c button mushroom, quartered
• 1/4 c shallot, minced
• 1 T red pepper flakes
• 1 c beef broth
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Sear both sides of filets in oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat until deep brown; about 5 minutes per side. Transfer filets to a plate and tent to keep warm.

Saute mushrooms, shallots and pepper flakes in butter in the same pan. Cook until mushrooms are golden and most of the moisture has evaporated, about 15 minutes. (Note: don't salt the mushrooms until they are cooked. Salt makes them release their juices and makes them harder to brown.)

Combine broth and dijon,then deglaze pan with the mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice, then return the filets to the pan. Simmer until sauce has thickened, 1-2 minutes, turning meat a few times to coat.

Bombay Chicken and Parmasan Orzo

Not that the two of those were served in one meal. No. Instead they are two of the three recipes I've picked out of the bowl this week.

Parmesan Orzo - good but not fantastic. I most likely won't make it again, but stranger things have happened. Of course, in typical Jenn fashion, I added/deleted from the recipe.

Parmesan Orzo
Makes 3 cups

• 1 c dry orzo
• 1/4 c Parmesan or Asiago cheese (I used Parmesan)
• 1 T olive oil
• Salt to taste

Cook the orzo according to the package. Put it in a bowl. Add Parmesan, olive oil and salt.

I added 1 T of butter. It helped with the consistency and made it creamier.

Bombay Chicken
Quite a good recipe. I didn't let it marinade for as long as it should have (read: I didn't read the recipe correctly at first) and wonder how that would have changed the flavor.

Bombay Chicken

• 1 1/2 c fat free plain yogurt
• 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
• 2 T chili powder
• 2 T paprika
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (I didn't have this and so didn't use it. See my note below.)
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 lbs bone in chicken thighs and legs; skin removed (big shock, but I used chicken breasts instead)

Note: I didn't have cardamom and didn't want to spend $14 for an entire bottle. I checked a few websites and they said a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg will give you the same flavor. So I used the required cinnamon in this recipe and used 1/8 tsp of nutmeg.)

In a large ziploc bag, combine all the ingredients except the chicken. Mix well. Add the chicken and let it marinade overnight. (I let it marinaded for 2 hours)

Grill chicken, covered over direct medium hot heat for 15 minutes. Turn, grill for 10-15 minutes longer until juices run clear.

MMM. Enjoy!