Good morning everybody.

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Since we’re all encouraged to remain home and not host a gathering with anyone outside of our household I recommend that you all stay home, drink refreshing adult beverages and grill the fuck out of things. I believe I’ll do the same.

Hell, maybe you’ll see some new recipes from these grilling adventures in a future episode of Sunday Gravy.

Beaches in LA are closed this weekend but I’ll take a walk that gets me at least a view of the ocean.

All of which has absolutely fuck-all to do with what we’re cooking today.

Steak Diane.

Steak Diane is seriously old school shit and was first documented in the 1940’s. Point of origin is unclear but guesses include an origin of New York, London or Hell maybe Australia.

“Diane” comes from Diana the Roman goddess of the hunt. It’s believed to have been used to prepare game meats, such as venison or elk, in original preparation. The idea is a piece of delicious red meat, sauced up and sauteed.

It was huge in the 1940’s through the 1960’s and there’s no question that some of its allure is due to the “stage show” part of the preparation, usually done table side, where the dish is finished in front of the patrons with the flambé of lighting the alcohol in the dish on fire.

Cool isn’t it?

This is where you say, “Hey, didn’t you light shit on fire last week?”

You’re an observant motherfucker. Yes, we did when we prepared Julia Child’s Coq au vin.

Where do you think the inspiration for today’s meal came from?

It’s because I still had some of this business leftover.

And it’s also because lighting a dish on fire is fun as fuck to do.

One thing to know about this dish is time-wise it’s very quick to prepare but you better have everything prepped and ready cuz this shit comes together fast.

I’m no stranger to cooking this dish. It’s one of my go-to meals when hosting a romantic dinner. Having the person you’re trying to impress watch the meal assembly only helps that situation.

Since the meal is quick to assemble I figured with the spare time we could make another loaf of homemade French bread. You know the drill by now but a quick refresher.

French Bread

(copied and pasted from a previous effort)

Yes, we’ve done this before but to save you having to search for it:

3 to 3 1/4 cups of flour

1 package of instant yeast

1 cup of warm water at a temperature of 110-115 degrees. This is important dammit.

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

some cornmeal

1 egg white

1 teaspoon of cold water

Add the yeast to the working bowl of your mixer then add in the water. Let bloom for a couple of minutes. Now add in the oil, salt, sugar and the first 2 cups of flour. Put your paddle attachment on the mixer and give it a spin.

Then get that hook attachment on there. Let the mixer knead for 10 minutes.

This is where my bread making epiphany happened. The texture of the dough is the key. If that dough sticks, even slightly, during this part of the process it won’t work. Add flour a little at a time until the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Then you do the “shape into a ball, cover with a towel, let rise for an hour, punch down, rise another half hour” thing.

After that go ahead and shape that thing up.

Shape is also mission critical here. Two inches wide by 14″ or so inches long delivers the desired result. Let rise another half hour.

After the final rise, score that loaf and add the egg wash.

Get it in the pre-heated oven. 375 degrees for 25 minutes.

When finished?

I’m so goddamn proud.

If you notice, this time we used parchment paper and lightly dusted it with corn meal. That’s the secret right there. Zero sticking and a perfectly browned loaf top and bottom.

Now let’s work on that steak.

Steak Diane!

recipe courtesy of Emeril Legasse

” 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Four beef tenderloins, pounded 3/4 inch thick or butterflied

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 small shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 pound button mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/4 cup Cognac or other brandy

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup veal demiglace (see Note)*

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions

1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley

Hot sauce, such as Tabasco”

(Note) Unable to find veal demiglace on short notice I used 2 tablespoons of “Better than Bouillon”

Easily found at your grocery store.

 

Let’s get after this.

Procure some meat.

Filet mignon motherfuckers!

Goddamn! Normally priced at $24.99 a pound? What the fuck? But I did score it on sale for $21.99 a pound.

Such a deal!

This is obviously one of those items greatly inflated in price due to the pandemic.

Next we’re going to butterfly that fucker. Handy kitchen tip for you: place the filets in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm the meat up to greatly aid in cutting. Slice down the middle while the meat is on its side and cut almost all the way through. Now lay that bastard open like a book.

Do the same for all of the steaks.

Now let the steaks come to room temperature, at least an hour.

Let’s do some prep while that steak is coming up to temp.

There are several distinct steps used when making Steak Diane and it’s best to have everything ready to go once the cooking process starts. Remember, it comes together fast.

Let’s start with the garlic and the shallot first.

Yes, it’s kind of key for a shallot and not a regular onion here. Worth the effort to find the shallot.

Give ’em a mince. They can be placed in a bowl together,

Take another bowl and combine the heavy cream and the dijon mustard.

Measure out your cognac into another bowl or vessel.

Look! Parsley fresh from the herb garden.

We’re going to mince that as well and place it in yet another bowl with the bouillon, Worcestershire and the minced scallions (yessir: scallions and shallot!)

Sure this is a pain in the ass initially but holy shit does it count when we start cooking.

Station everything within arms reach.

Anyone remember what we call such a setup?

Yes, you in the back with no pants and a craft beer!

“A mise en place?”

Hot damn we’ve got a winner! That’s right, this would be considered a mise en place or “everything in it’s place.” Front line chef shit here.

Ready for this?

Shit yes! Warm up that badass cast iron skillet. High heat today. We’re cooking fast. Add in the olive oil and get it going.

Next add in the butter and get it sizzling.

Get that first steak in there.

Season with salt and pepper. Depends on the thickness of the steak here but the first side was about 60-90 seconds. Give it a flip.

Sear the second side.

Again season with salt and pepper. 45 seconds or so on the second side.

Remove the steak to a platter and cover with aluminum foil.

Now. Next steak.

Repeat the process for each steak.

When the steaks are all cooked and resting add the minced shallot and garlic to the skillet and let cook for just about 30 seconds or so. Keep stirring while you work from here on out.

Next? Get the mushrooms in there.

Season the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper and cook for about 2-3 minutes while stirring regularly.

Now the fun shit.

Keep a lid or cover or even a fire extinguisher – if you’re feeling extra nervous – nearby and add in the cognac. Again using a barbecue lighter or long match carefully ignite the cognac in the pan.

Fire it up!

Let it burn for a few seconds and as the flames start to die down give it a stir with your spoon. It will probably lightly flare-up again as the remainder of the cognac cooks out. This should only take about 45 seconds to cook out the alcohol.

Next step, we add in the heavy cream and the dijon mustard.

Stir and simmer for about a minute or so.

Finally we add in the contents of the bowl that has our parsley, scallions, bouillon, and Worcestershire. Dump that in and combine. If you’re using the hot sauce add it in here. I added a few shots of Red Rooster hot sauce.

Taste the sauce and if it needs it season with a little more salt and pepper. Honestly though? That bouillon carries a pretty significant salt level so you probably won’t need to add any additional salt.

Now get those steaks back in the sauce along with any residual meat drippings.

And you are ready!

Oh yeah, that side dish is my usual angel hair parmesan deal.

Remember? It’s half a box of cooked angel hair pasta that’s combined with a sauce of half a stick of butter, 1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream and 3/4 cup of grated parmesan?

That one?

Look! It’s got real parm!

Get your pasta on the boil.

Cook until done. Drain. Melt the butter in a pot and add in the cream and the cheese and cook until bubbly. Then in goes the cooked pasta. Heat and combine. Season with salt, pepper and maybe some fresh chives.

Plate up the steak with some of that pasta.

Be sure you get a good ladle or two of that mushroom sauce over the steak.

Oh shit yeah.

For service how about a nice spinach salad along with a lovely glass of vino. Oh yeah, don’t forget the bread. Yes, we made garlic bread out of that beautiful loaf.

The wine is from “Substance” vineyards and is a lovely cabernet sauvignon from Washington States’ Columbia Valley. It paired famously with the steak.

While not being difficult to prepare I would rate this as an intermediate menu since it does require pretty decent prep work and you really need to be on your saute game.

This meal is…

Fuck, man it’s filet mignon covered with a mushroom/cream sauce!

It’s magnificent and you’ll have a blast making it.

It will undoubtedly impress that certain someone in your life as well.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy the last of your holiday weekend.

Stay safe. Stay healthy and be well.

PEACE and UNITY!