Beefsteak tomatoes with garlic and basil & Sole stuffed with leeks and mushrooms

Beefsteak Tomatoes stuffed with garlic and basil

Ingredients:

6 Medium beefsteak tomatoes 
3⁄4 C dry bread crumbs and optional parmesan 
30 leaves basil, chopped 
1 clove garlic, minced 
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped 
1 t. piment d’Espelette or 1⁄4 t. Cayenne pepper 
1 t. salt 
 
Procedure:

• Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C). Trim top 1/3 off tomatoes, and save for another dish. 
• Scoop out seeds and water with teaspoon handle, but leave tomato ribs intact for structural support during baking.
• Mix all other ingredients, sprinkle a bit of salt into bottom of tomatoes, and stuff till piled up on top of tomato. 
• Optionally replace 1/3 of the breadcrumbs with ground parmesan.
• Bake in oiled pan on bottom rack about 30 minutes, using top heat at the end if bread crumbs have not yet browned.

Sole stuffed with leeks and creamy mushrooms:

Ingredients: 

12 small filets of flatfish such as sole, flounder or plaice Or 6 medium filets 

2 leeks 

6 large crimini or button mushrooms
6 small sprigs fresh dill 

1 C heavy cream 

1 C fish stock 

Procedure: 

• Count 3 fillets of sole or flounder for a main course, 2 small or one large for starter. 
• Rinse saved fish bones, cover with cold water and 1/2 C. dry white wine, and bring to boil with one onion, 1 bay leaf, 2 thyme branches, 1 stalk celery and 1 carrot chopped. Reduce to 1-2 cups liquid, strain, and reserve.
• Trim leeks and slice thin rings, then rinse out grit under cold water. Drain well. Melt 1 T butter in a wide saucepan and add leeks. Cover and soften over low heat about 10 minutes with a bay leaf and 4 sprigs fresh thyme. 
• Finely slice the mushrooms after cleaning, and add to leeks with 1 T olive oil. Cover and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Stir and continue cooking till mushrooms are tender and the pan is quite dry. 
• Add 2 T. chopped fresh dill, chives or tarragon, the cream and stock and bring to simmer. Season with sea salt. Either scoop out leek mix with a slotted spoon, enough to stuff the fish, or pour all through a sieve, saving the sauce. 
• Season filet and place 1 T of leek/mushroom mix at small end of filet, rolling around it, and securing with toothpicks. (Cut large filets in half to have 2 rolls from each.)
  Add extra leeks to cream sauce, season with salt and your choice of chives, tarragon, parsley or dill, and pour all into baking dish just big enough to hold sole rolls. (After rolling fish in following step and placing in dish.) 
• Count 15-20 minutes oven time at 375 F, depending how crowded the baking dish is. Before serving, remove one from center and cut open to be sure they've cooked through. Serve with their cooking liquid as sauce.

Enjoy!

Red Mullet Broiled With Roast Garlic, Fennel And Sweet Onion Confit

                                                 yield: 6 portions

Ingredients:

1 bulb garlic

6 red mullet, fillets only, skin on

2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and quartered

4-5 large sweet onions

1⁄4 C. dry white wine

Olive oil 

Chives,reserved fennel fronds 

Procedure:

• Brush garlic with oil and place on a pan in a pre-heated oven (350F) for about 30 min., till soft, browning, and oozing. While warm, squeeze out flesh of garlic and reserve. ­
• If using mortar and pestle, grind garlic cloves with pestle. Add olive oil a little at a time until you have consistency of moist paste. The oil should all be absorbed. If using a hand mixer, purée the garlic in the mixing tumbler, then add olive oil with as little mixing as possible to avoid developing bitterness.
• For the red mullet, rub flesh-­side with garlic paste, and place skin-­side up on oiled cookie sheet or baking pan. Sprinkle with salt and place under broiler in preheated oven at 400 F for about 5 minutes, till skin is crispy and fish just cooked through.
• For the fennel confit, place quarters in bottom of wide saucepan in a single layer, cover half way with cold water, and bring to simmer. Add 1 t. salt. Flip after 15 minutes simmering, and continue another 10, lid off. All liquid should be evaporated, so watch closely to avoid burning, adding a bit of water if necessary. Fennel will be tender at this point.
• To finish, sprinkle liberally with olive oil and optional drizzle of honey, then sauté over medium high heat to brown all sides (ideally in non-­stick pan.) If you want enhanced licorice flavor, add 2 T. aniseed liqueur or the chopped fennel fronds in the last minute of cooking. Or simmer a piece of star anise alongside for the entire length of cooking.
• Peel and thinly slice 3 sweet white onions (red will make a nasty grey colour when cooked. If you only have red onions, try to finish the cooking with red Porto instead of white wine) Heat medium pot, coat generously with olive oil, and cook over medium heat, stirring, covered, about 30 minutes, with 1 bay leaf and 2 sprigs thyme.
• After onions are completely soft and reduced in volume, simmer with lid off a few minutes to evaporate extra water. If intended with red meats or oily fish, feel free to brown the onions, and add honey or sugar for increased caramelisation.  
• For poultry or delicate fish, keep onions from browning. Add 1/4 dry white wine and simmer 5 minutes till evaporated, or simply add 2 T. lemon. Salt lightly and plate in a cylinder to give a little mound for your fish to lean against. Sprinkle with fresh chive and olive oil.

 

Cook'n With Class Boutique

We are pleased to announce a new addition to our Boutique – The Cook’n With Class professional Knife set.

Used in all our cooking classes, the set is composed of a 20cm Demi-Chef knife and 10cm Paring knife, you can take them home to continue cooking like a grand Chef or offer them as a gift!

We chose K SABATIER as they are one of the most reputable French knife manufacturers for quality, endurance and hygiene.

Some information about the knives:

“K SABATIER" knives are 100% forged stainless steel knives and are all hand-made by artisans in FRANCE. 100% forged means that the knife is made entirely from one piece of metal/ No joints, welds or sintering means that no food can get trapped and every knife is very hygienic. Each K SABATIER knife is truly 100% French- from the metal through the manufacturing process.

Many world renowned chefs' very first knife was a K SABATIER knife; including Chef Eric Fraudeau head of Cook’n With Class.

We are proud to work with a family owned business with a truly genuine product and we hope that you will enjoy many cooking hours with them too!

If you would like to purchase a set please don’t hesitate to contact us:

info@cooknwithclass.com

or drop by our boutique at the school where they are on sale.

Pork Tenderloin with Fig Sauce

Preparation for pork tenderloin:

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed 
1 head of Swiss chard (or spinach, bok choi, etc) 
4 slices of jambon (prosciutto), or ham or cured lard 
optional: raisins, pine nuts, chunks of aged cheese 
--- 
salt/pepper 
canola oil/butter 
cooking twine

Procedure:

• Wash, blanch and shake the chard leaves. Pat dry. 
• Cut the meat lengthwise to obtain a thin rectangular shape, pound the meat to make it as thin as possible. 
• Season lightly with salt and pepper, then cover the meat with the leaves, add at this point raisins/pine nuts/cheese if you like, then add the prosciutto slices. 
• Roll the meat to form a long, compact log-shaped roast and secure with cooking twine at regular intervals.
• Preheat a skillet with oil and butter, season with salt and pepper and then sear well. Remove from the pan, slice to portion it (cut in between the twine loops so that the individual portions don't fall apart) and then return to the pan to sear the flat sides of the portions.
• If the slices are thick you can finish them in the oven while you complete the side- dishes and srat plating them.
  Cook until inside is only slightly pink, do not overcook or it will dry out.

Preparation for Fig Sauce:

Ingredients:

4 or 6 ripe figs, washed, chopped 

1c red wine (chianti, bordeaux, cote du rhone...) 

1 cinnamon stick 

1 tsp black peppercorn 

1 tsp balsamic vinegar 

1 tsp honey 

2 bay leaves 

1 cup Heavy cream (35%)

Procedure:

• In a small saucepan add figs, wine, cinnamon and pepper. Bring to a boil.
• Let alcool evaporate, then reduce by half.
• Off heat, remove cinnamon stick.
• Puree in a blender (add a bit of water if too thick), then strain through a fine mesh.
• Add balsamic vinegar and honey. Adjust thickness with water if necessary. 

Serve Pork Tenderloin and Fig Sauce with potato puree or other seasonal vegetables.