SC - Dinner last night, fat ladies and recipes

[grasse at mscd.edu]

Sir Poppa, you made my mouth water... so I have to (hopefully) return the 
favor.

I am a fan of the "Fat Ladies" and was saddened by Jennifers passing.  So 
after warning the household I got creative in the kitchen and produced a 
meal that I think she would have appreciated.

We started with champagne (you can never go wrong with a little bubbly)

For the main course I wanted a smokey element (seeing as the lady did so) 
so I made a 
mushroom and bacon dish to go with the
"Filet a la Oscar Wilde" ( named because it was pretty wild but oh so rich 
and tasty - jsut the kind of thing she would have loved) that was served 
with a
Portwine and gorgonzola sauce
Hot fresh buttered (what else ;-) noodles and
Simple cucumber salad rounded out the main course.
Accompanied by a lovely bottle of cabernet.

I had picked up some premium ice cream for dessert, but we were toooo full 
to even consider tasting it.


And before you ask... NO I did not crack one cookbook in creating this and 
YES, here are the recipes.
_______________________________________
Smoky, bacony mushrooms
1 lb mixed fresh mushrooms (button, porcini, shitake, whatever looks good) 
6 slices smoky bacon
2 shallots, minced
1T chopped fresh parsley (if you dont have fresh omit)

wipe, trim and thinly slice  mushrooms.
dice bacon (roughly 1/4"), in a heavy bottomed pot start cooking your 
bacon.  When bacon is about half to three-fourths cooked drain as much fat 
as possible and RESERVE the bacon fat for later! Return bacon to the heat, 
and add the shallots.  Give shallots a few moments to start to go 
translucent, then add sliced mushrooms.  Season to taste with salt and 
pepper (I found it had enough salt from the bacon.) let cook, stirring 
occasionally, until done.  Just before serving stir the parsley into the 
hot mushrooms.  Serve.

______________________________________________
Filet al a Oscar Wilde (for each serving)
1 filet steak (tenderloin, filet mignon)
1 king crab thigh piece, pre cooked (in one pretty piece) (I happened to 
have leftovers : )
2 stalks steamed white asparagus (I admit to using jar ready, I had on e on 
hand)
Gorgonzola cheese
Port wine (Ruby I think)
Salt and pepper to season
Bacon fat (from mushroom recipe - told you to reserve it for later)
Butter and some additional butter

Season your steak with salt and black pepper
In a HEAVY skillet heat bacon fat and butter, then place filet and cook on 
one side till perfect, then turn and cook other side to perfection (mine 
were crusty brown outsides and juicy rare inside.. perfect to my standards)
While steaks are cooking heat crab and asparagus (I cheated, using the 
microwave to warm them through.)
When the steaks are cooked remove them to a plate and keep warm. Pour off 
the fat, then deglaze the pan with port (for 4 servings I think I used 
about 1/2 cup to start, and then added another 3/4 cup once the first 
steamy clouds had dissipated.  Reduce for a few minutes while scraping all 
the goodies from the bottom of the pan, then crumble in 4oz gorgonzola.)  
Let the cheese meld with the port and reduce the whole a little more (total 
should be about half of your original quantity, but most of the reduction 
takes place before you add the cheese).  Finally bind the sauce with a few 
knobs (maybe 2-3 tablespoons) of butter stirred into the sauce (use low 
heat or you will break it)
To serve arrange Filets on a serving plate, top each with 1 piece crab and 
flank that with the 2 asparagus spears, pour some of the sauce over and 
serve the rest on the side.

_____________________________________________________
Simple cucumber salad
Peel and thinly slice one English cucumber (this is in honor of the Fat 
Lady you remember, otherwise use any cuke ;-)
Season with white pepper (1/2t?)
Salt (pinch)
Sugar (1T)
Vinegar (Gramma used white, so I use white.. otherwise it doesn't taste 
like hers, but feel free to experiment) about 3-4T
Water 2-3T
Dill (2t if using dried)
Stir to blend, and let mellow in the refrigerator for 1 hour (or longer) 
stir again before serving


All in all the meal was very rich and I think did justice to the style of 
the Fat Ladies. (I know the household thought it was pretty darn tasty ;-) 
Not something you would or could eat every day (all that yummy butter) but 
it sure was a tasty splurge!

Gwen Cat (who still salivates at the memory of that meal)
Caerthe

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