Filet Mignon with Morels in Truffle Butter and Tarragon Marsala Sauce

I have been insanely busy. I feel like all I do anymore is write papers! I had four papers due last week, and a huge one due yesterday that caused Mikey and me to have to postpone our Valentine's Day dinner to last night.

Every year for Valentine's Day I like to make Mikey and myself a gourmet dinner because I think that it's more special than going out to a restaurant and having someone else do the cooking. The meal always has to include: red meat, potatoes, and a chocolate dessert.
Last year I made:

Filet Mignon with Mushroom Brandy Sauce

with

Mashed Potatoes with Pancetta and Leeks

and

Dark Chocolate Souffles with Cardamom Creme Anglaise

It was a brilliant success if I do say so myself. HOWEVER, this year just may have topped it!

Today I'll be sharing with you the main course: Filet Mignon with Morels in Truffle Butter and Tarragon-Marsala Sauce.

In the next few days I will be posting the scrumptiously fresh salad I made, and the INCREDIBLE tarts I baked for dessert!

These steaks were some of the best I have ever had, and that is truly saying something because Mikey and I tend to treat ourselves to the multitude of Prime steakhouses in the Seattle area that charge nearly $100 per steak whenever we deserve a pat-on-the-back.

I'm not saying I'm the best filet cooker in Seattle by any means (though I think I did a pretty excellent job :P). I attribute the amazing flavor to the sauce. It was earthy and rich and absolutely to-die-for! I especially loved the spongy-ness of the morels; they absorbed the sauce beautifully.

I served the steaks with a very simple mashed potato: yukon gold potatoes, butter, cream, salt, and pepper. I think that a good steak sauce always needs a nice starch because I am someone who like to eat everything together. The perfect bite, for me, would be a scoop of sauce-soaked potatoes with a bite of steak on top!

Clearly this meal was not at all low-cal or healthy, but are holiday meals ever supposed to be? Don't answer that, haha. *I* think they shouldn't be!

 Filet Mignon with Morels in Truffle Butter and Tarragon Marsala Sauce

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces dried morels
• 2 6-to-8-ounce filets
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
• 2 tbsp truffle butter, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon + more for garnish
• 1 tbsp dry Marsala

1. Place the dried morels in a 2-cup measuring cup and fill it with warm water to the 1 1/2 cup mark. Let the morels soak for about 20 minutes, until soft. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Cut the morels in half.
2. Pat the steaks dry and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Melt 1tablespoon of the truffle butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add in the steaks and cook to desired doneness (obviously medium-rare is the only doneness), about 4 minutes per side. It is VERY important that you don't move the steaks around while they cook or you won't get a nice sear.
3. Transfer the steak to a plate and tent with tinfoil to rest while you make the sauce.
4. Add the other tablespoon of truffle butter to the skillet. Add in the morels and green onions and saute until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add in the cream, tarragon, marsala, and reserved soaking liquid from the morels. Simmer until the sauce is lightly thickened (it will be quite runny still but that is what you want), about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve the sauce over the steaks, sprinkled with extra chopped tarragon for garnish.

Itty Bitty Mushroom Quiches

After the Winter Olympics, Mikey (my boyfriend) took up an interest in curling (lol), so we found a local curling club that was having an open house where you could go and pay $10 to try it out for the day. Well, needless to say it wasn't my favorite, but Mikey loved it! He signed up for both lessons, and a spring league.
This week, he signed up to bring the snacks for the league. I was so happy to hear that I would actually have people to cook for! I hate to say that a lot of what I make ends up going to waste because Mikey and I just can't handle eating it all ourselves.
I got to work in the kitchen baking up an enormous storm. I made (more) brownies (which will be up later this week), tiny cheesecakes (these will also be up later this week), and these adorable mini quiches!
A while back I had purchased these great Sable & Rosenfeld Party Cups but didn't have a use for them (yes I buy things just because I think they are cool/cute). But after the news that I would be making food for a ton of hungry curlers, I knew they would be great for appetizers.
The quiches turned out great- tons of flavor for such little bites! Plus, they were super easy to make and a real crowd pleaser- they were gone in about 10 minutes!

Itty Bitty Mushroom Quiches

recipe adapted from here

makes 20-30 mini quiches

ingredients:

• 20-30 party cups
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 5-10 crimini mushrooms, diced (you want 1/4 cup of sauteed diced mushrooms)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 heaping tbsp freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1-2 tsp diced chives
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set out the party cups on a baking sheet and set aside.
2. Heat a smal saute pan over medium-high heat and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add in the mushrooms and cook for 5-7 minutes until nice and brown. Turn off the heat and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, cheese, salt, and pepper. Add in the mushrooms and chives and combine.
4. Spoon about a teaspoon of the egg mixture into each party cup. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops begin to turn ever-so-slightly golden.

A Valentine's Feast Part 1- Filet Mignon with Mushroom Brandy Sauce and Mashed Potatoes with Pancetta and Leeks

I like to make Valentine's dinner for Mikey and myself because I think it's more special than going out. Last year I made an Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb, Hasselback Potatoes, Lemon-Butter Green Beans with Pine Nuts, and Mocha Pots de Crème. It turned out delicious but I was still fairly new to cooking and I recall feeling pretty stressed. This year I decided to take on a bit more since I'm now more comfortable in the kitchen. I chose recipes that I could prepare a couple of hours ahead and just let stand at room temperature until I was ready for them. It made everything so much simpler!

The meal (FEAST!) was so incredibly good. I was actually really surprised by how wonderful it all turned out! It was truly a special treat and I think that Mikey honestly appreciated a lot :).  

The sauce for the filets was to-die-for. It would be good on anything and I loved how it soaked into the potatoes. Oh the potatoes! Let's just talk about those babies for a second. They had a nice woody flavor from the time that complemented the mushrooms in the sauce in a beautiful way. The pancetta imparted such a tasty savory flavor that paired nicely with all of the veggies within the potatoes (BTW these potatoes got my boyfriend eating both leeks and zucchini which he hates!). They were the perfect accompaniment to the juicy filet (which I perfectly cooked to a glorious medium-rare despite the fact my thermometer would not read anything besides 100 degrees). I HIGHLY recommend this meal, and just wait until you see dessert (coming in Part 2)!

Filet Mignon with Mushroom Brandy Sauce

recipe adapted from here

ingredients:

• 2 filets (I got a 6 ounce for me and an 8 ounce for Mikey)
• coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 2 big handfuls crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup low-sodium beef stock
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• fresh chives, to garnish

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add in the shallots and mushrooms and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the brown sugar and stir for about a minute. Add in the chicken broth, beef stock, and brandy and simmer until the sauce is reduced to about 1/2 cup, about 30 minutes. Add in the cream and stir. (This sauce can be made 1 day ahead. If making ahead, cover at this point and chill until ready to use.)
2. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Melt the other tablespoon of butter in a medium to large skillet over high heat. Add in the steaks and sear on all sides, DO NOT TOUCH STEAKS WHILE SEARING (I seared mine for about 4 minutes per side, and then just quickly seared the edges). Transfer steaks to a plate and and top with aluminum foil to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. 
4. Pour the sauce into the skillet that you just cooked the steaks in and be sure to scrape up and browned bits in the pan. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Serve steaks with Mashed Potatoes with Pancetta and Leeks (below), spoon sauce over top, and garnish with chives.

Mashed Potatoes with Pancetta and Leeks

recipe slightly adapted from here

ingredients:

• 12 ounces yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled (this doesn't look like a lot but it's more than enough for two people)
• 3 ounces sliced pancetta, chopped
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped leeks, white and pale green parts only
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/3 cup zucchini, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, saute pancetta in a large skillet over medium- high heat until crisp. Remove from skillet and set aside on a small plate.
3. Add one tablespoon of the olive oil to the same skillet. Reduce the heat too medium-low and add in the leeks and dried thyme. Saute until the leeks are tender, about 5 minutes. Add in the carrot and saute for another 4 minutes. Finally, add in the zucchini and saute about 1 minute longer, until veggies are crisp-tender.
4. Drain the potatoes. You can peel them now too if you wish but I like my mashed potatoes with skin-on. Return the potatoes to the same pot, add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mash away! Stir in the pancetta and vegetable mixture and season with salt and pepper. (This can be made up to 2 hours ahead of time. Keep at room temperature until ready to use and then reheat over low heat.)

No calorie calculations for this meal :)! Valentine's Day is a day for indulging.