Fed up

trimmed
    Salt
    Fresh pepper
    1 cup beef or veal stock
     
    In a skillet, heat the butter and oil until butter sizzles. Sauté the tenderloin on all sides; if the fats aren’t hot enough, the meat won’t sear. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Finish cooking the meat in a 350° oven until desired doneness, approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
    Deglaze the skillet with beef or veal stock. Reserve these drippings for sauce.
     
    Cognac Wine Sauce
     
    2 tbsp. butter
    1 tsp. chopped shallot
    1 cup red wine
    2 tbsp. Cognac
    1 cup beef or veal stock
    Herbs and spices to taste (salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf)
     
    In a saucepan or skillet, heat 1 tablespoon butter. When hot, add chopped shallot, and sauté. Add red wine, Cognac, stock, herbs, and spices. Reduce mixture to ¼ cup and check seasonings. Add deglazed drippings from tenderloin. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter bit by bit to finish sauce, whisking continuously.
     
    Turned Vegetables
     
    12 large Idaho potatoes, cut in half crosswise
    12 large fresh carrots, cut in half crosswise
    ¾ cup clarified butter
    ½-¾ tsp. crushed dried rosemary
    Salt and fresh pepper to taste
     
    Prepare turned vegetables: Carve or “turn” the vegetables into 7-sided ovals. Steam the vegetables until three-quarters done. Heat clarified butter with rosemary. Sauté vegetables until done. Finish with salt and pepper.
    To serve: Slice beef and serve on warmed plates or platter on top of sauce. Garnish with sprigs of fresh herbs and turned carrots and potatoes.
     
     
     

    Nancy R. Landman
     
    Serves 8
     
    1 bottle dry champagne or sparkling white wine
    Zest of 1 lemon
    1 cup sugar
    ½ vanilla bean
    4 3-inch cinnamon sticks
    24—32 ripe, fresh figs, preferably purple
    Heavy cream for serving
    Fig leaves for garnish, optional
     
    In a large saucepan, combine champagne or wine, lemon zest, sugar, vanilla bean, and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce heat.
    Add figs and poach over low heat until tender but not shapeless, 20—30 minutes. Transfer the figs to a serving dish.
    Reduce poaching liquid to 1½ cups. Remove vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks. Pour sauce over figs. Serve at room temperature with heavy cream. Garnish with fig leaves if desired.
     
     
     

    Barbara Seagle
    Brookline, Massachusetts
     
    Serves 4
     
    1/3 cup water
    2 tbsp. sugar
    2—3 navel oranges, sliced
    Unsalted butter
    Four boneless duck breasts, skin and fat layer intact
    Salt and pepper to taste
    1/3 cup red wine
     
    Combine the water and sugar in a sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the liquid comes to a simmer. Add the orange slices and cook over medium-high heat until the oranges are soft and caramelized to a deep brown color. Swirl in the butter at the end of the cooking. Set aside.
    Score the fat side of the duck breasts in a crisscross (diamond) pattern right through the fat layer, but not cutting the meat. Salt and pepper the breasts lightly on both sides. Heat a sauté pan over a medium-hot fire and add the duck breasts fat side down. They will sizzle and smoke. An amazing amount of fat will be rendered off. Cook on the first side for about 10-12 minutes. Most of the fat layer will be gone, but some should be left. Turn the breasts and cook another 10 minutes. Timing will vary depending on the size of the breasts, but they should be a nice deep rosy pink. Do not overcook. Remove to a serving platter or plate.
    Pour off all the fat from the pan and add the orange mixture and red wine. Cook this mixture down until slightly syrupy. Add the duck breasts and heat through, basting with the sauce.
    Slice the breasts across the grain at an angle into thin slices and arrange in a fan on each plate. Place an orange slice or two beside the breast and top with a dribbling of sauce. Voila!
     
     
     

    Raymond Ost, Chef and Co-owner of Sandrine's
    Cambridge, Massachusetts
    www.sandrines.com
     
    Serves 6
     
    6 large tomatoes, quartered
    2 green peppers, julienned
    2 red peppers, julienned
    2 fennel bulbs, julienned
    2 Spanish onions, julienned
    ¾ lb. butter
    4 cloves garlic, crushed
    2 cups tomato paste
    4 cups white wine
    1 gallon fish stock or clam juice
    3 lbs. PEI mussels
    1 pinch saffron
    Salt and pepper to taste
     
    Sauté the tomatoes, peppers, fennel, and onions in the butter until tender. Add the garlic, tomato paste, and white wine, and cook for 10 minutes. Add the fish stock or clam juice and simmer for 1 hour. Add the mussels and