The Executive Cook

Weeknight Cook ~ Weekend Entertainer

tonmarmor

Beef Bourguignon

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Ingredients
5 lbs. Beef Chuck Roast
2 slices Thick Cut Bacon
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
5 Carrots
12 oz. bag Frozen Pearl Onions
3.2 oz. Baby Portabella or White Button Mushrooms
3 cloves chopped Garlic
6 sprigs Thyme
2 dried Bay Leaves
1 750ml. Bold Red Wine
3 cups Beef Stock
1/3 cup chopped Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup Flour

❃❃Serves 6 – 8❃❃

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut chuck roast into pieces slightly larger than bite size, cut bacon into lardons, chop garlic, remove stems and cut mushrooms into quarters and cut carrots into large pieces.

Cook
Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and bacon to the bottom of a heavy bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven over high heat.  Cook until bacon is crispy and remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a separate plate.  Salt and Pepper the beef and put into the bottom of Dutch oven in a single layer, in batches, and brown on all sides.  As the beef browns remove to a plate and continue until all meat is done.
Add remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and add carrots.  Cook carrots until they being to brown and then add onions and garlic.  Cook for a couple minutes.
Add ¼ of the bottle of wine to the pot and deglaze the pan scraping up all the brown bits.  Once the pan has been deglazed add the remainder of the wine, thyme, bay leaves, cooked meat and beef stock to the pot.
Cover and put into the oven for 1 hour and then add mushrooms.  Cook an additional 1 – 2 hours or until meat begins to fall apart.  When the cooking is complete remove from oven and remove bay leaves and thyme stems.  Whisk 1 cup of the cooking liquid with the 1/3 cup flour, once incorporated add back to pot and stir until the mixture thickens.  Stir parsley into the beef mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.

Assemble
Serve over mashed potatoes, steamed potatoes or noodles.

Sweet & Hot Salmon with Peppered Asparagus Salad

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Ingredients 
Salmon:
5.25 oz. Salmon (skin removed)
1/3 cup Honey
1 Tbsp. Siracha
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Asparagus:
1 bundle Asparagus
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Vinaigrette & Salad:
2 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
1 large or 2 smaller cloves Garlic
½ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Pepper
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. minced Shallot
1 tsp. Sesame Seeds
3 Tbsp. Canola or Vegetable Oil
4 cups Spring Mix, chopped Romaine or desired Lettuce.

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

Preparation
Preheat broiler to high. Fill a bowl half way with ice and cold water.
Mince shallot and garlic.  If lettuce needs preparation chop, wash, etc. and add to a platter or bowl.

Vinaigrette
Add rice wine vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, shallots, sesame seeds and oil to a small mason jar and shake.  Set aside in the refrigerator.

Asparagus
Cut the asparagus on the diagonal, into bite size pieces, discarding the woody ends.  Add water to a saucepan and once boiling add asparagus for approximately 1 minute.  Remove immediately to the bowl of ice and water.  Remove from water to a paper towel to dry.
In a skillet add 1 Tbsp. oil and once heated add asparagus with a pinch of salt and a large pinch of pepper.  Sauté for a couple minutes and remove from heat.

Salmon
Whisk together the honey and siracha.  Salt and pepper the salmon on both sides and add the olive oil to a skillet.  Once the oil is hot add the salmon and sear on the first side until the fish easily lifts from the pan to flip.  Flip the salmon and generously brush a layer of the honey & siracha mixture on the top.  Place under the broiler for 3 minutes.  Flip after 3 minutes and generously brush the other side with the honey & siracha mixture.  Again after 3 minutes flip and generously brush with the honey & siracha and flip a final time, generously coat salmon with honey & siracha and cook for 3 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Assembly
This salad can be served cold or the salmon and asparagus can be slightly warm.  Place salmon and asparagus evenly on top of the bed of lettuce.  Add vinaigrette and toss before serving.

Swedish Meatballs

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Ingredients: 
Meatballs:
1 lb. ground Veal
1 lb. ground Pork
1 lb. ground Beef
1 ¾ cup chopped Onion
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Salt
¾ tsp. Pepper
½ cup Heavy Cream
1 ½ cup Fresh Bread Crumbs
1 ¼ tsp. ground Nutmeg
1 tsp. ground Ginger
¾ tsp. ground Allspice 
Gravy:
5 Tbsp. Butter
4 Tbsp. Flour
2 ½ cups Milk
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 ½ tsp. Pepper
½ tsp. ground Nutmeg
1 ½ cups Beef Stock
Drippings from Meatballs

❃❃Makes 75 – 78 Meatballs❃❃

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 and line two baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Chop onion.
Combine all ingredients for meatballs in a bowl and lightly toss and incorporate together.

Meatballs
Scoop meatballs with a 1 Tbsp. scoop and lightly roll into balls placing 5 meatballs across the sheet pan and 8 down.
Place into oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool slightly and remove meatballs to a separate bowl or plate so that the drippings can be scraped from the foil into the gravy.

Gravy
Melt 5 Tbsp. butter into a large, deep skillet.  Add flour and whisk in and let cook for a minute to two minutes to cook out the flour taste.  When flour and butter mixture start to get a slight brown color whisk in beef stock.  Whisk until smooth and add salt, pepper, nutmeg and drippings.  Add in milk and whisk until smooth and thick.
Add meatballs into gravy and turn heat to medium.  Cook for a couple minutes until meatballs are heated through.

Hot Chocolate Pots de Creme

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Ingredients
8 Egg Yolks
1cup Milk
1½ cups Heavy Cream
½cup Hot Chocolate Mix
¼cup Sugar
Marshmallows
Optional:  Small Candy Canes

❃❃Makes 9 – 4oz. servings❃❃

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 and separate eggs.

Pots de Creme
Whisk the egg yolks together in a bowl large enough to hold the eggs and the milk mixture and set aside.  In a saucepan heat milk, heavy cream, sugar and hot chocolate mixture until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan.  Whisk a couple of ladles of hot milk mixture into eggs to bring the eggs temperature up.  Once incorporated add the rest of the milk mixture to the eggs whisking the entire time.
Transfer to something that is easy to pour from and pour mixture evenly into desired containers.  This recipe uses nine 4 oz. mason jars.
Place jars into a roasting pan.  Place on the oven rack and slowly add hot to the roasting pan until it comes half way up the jars.  Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until they are not jiggling any longer.  Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.   Cover with lids and refrigerate.   

Assemble
When ready to serve add marshmallows to the top and brown with a kitchen torch or under a high set broiler until they brown.  Garnish with candy canes.

Roasted Vegetable & Farro Salad

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Ingredients 
1 cup Farro
2 cups Water
2 Parsnips
¾ medium Red Onion
2 Carrots
2 cups Arugula
2 tsp. Lemon Juice
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper

❃❃Serves 4❃❃

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425, line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Chop onion, carrots and parsnips into bite size pieces and chop arugula.

Roast Vegetables
Lay vegetables out on the sheet pan and cover with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix together so all vegetables are coated and spread into an even layer.
Roast in the oven for about 25minutes.  If you prefer really soft vegetables roast longer and if you prefer a little crispier roast a little less than 25 minutes.

Make Farro
Add farro and water to a saucepan and follow package instructions or simmer for about 20-30 minutes until slightly soft and water has absorbed.
Remove from heat and add to a bowl with the 2 tsp. of lemon juice and 1/3 cup olive oil.

Assemble
Once vegetables are done add to the farro mixture, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Toffee Caramel Sparkle Cake

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Ingredients
Cake:
1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
3 ¼ cups Flour
1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 ½ cups Salted Caramel flavored Coffee Mate
½ tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup Toffee Bits
Frosting:
2 8oz. blocks Cream Cheese
½ cup Butter
1 ¾ cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
4 Tbsp. Dulce de Leche
Trees& Decorations:
3 Ice Cream Cones
4 oz. White Chocolate
2 sizes Silver Sugar Pearls (large& medium)
Silver Sugar
2 sizes Gold Sugar Pearls (large& medium)
Gold Sugar

❃❃Serves 8❃❃

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350, cut 3 – 8”rounds of parchment paper, spray 3 – 8” cake pans with non-stick cooking spray, lay parchment in each and spray the parchment.
In a bowl whisk or sift flour, baking powder and salt together.  Set aside.
Set up three plates each with a different size of the silver sugar pearls and glitter.  Set aside.

Cake
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and sugar together for 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time fully incorporating each.  Add vanilla.
Alternating between the dry ingredients and the coffee creamer add 1/3 of the flour mix and combine, add ½ of the coffee creamer and mix, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and combine, add ½ of the coffee creamer and combine and finally add the final 1/3 of the flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Add toffee chips and mix until incorporated.  Remove from mixer and do a final mix with a spatula ensuring everything in the bottom of the bowl is incorporated.
Evenly divide the batter into the 3cake pans and bake for 25 – 27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.  Remove cakes from oven and cool.
Once cooled turn out of pans and finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Frosting
Combine softened cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and Dulce de Leche together until smooth.  Put in the refrigerator for half an hour to harden slightly.
Once cakes are cooled place four strips of parchment paper around the perimeter of the serving plate.  Place the first layer of cake in the middle, with the top facing down, and add about ½ cup of frosting.  Evenly spread and then add the next layer with the top facing down. Again, add about ½ cup of frosting and evenly spread.  Finally add the last layer of cake top side down. 
Add a thin layer of frosting around the sides of the cake and the top making sure it is extremely smooth.  Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least one hour and place the frosting in the refrigerator.
Once the cake has been in the refrigerator for an hour and the skim coat has slightly hardened frost the cake around the sides and top and ensure that the frosting is very even and flat with no swirls or lifted areas.
The frosting should be soft enough that the sugar pearls and sugar glitter will stick. Slightly tilt the cake and sprinkle the gold pearls first, more from the top of the cake, and they will fall down the sides.  Continue until the entire cake is covered on the sides.  Next do the same with the gold glitter.  Finally, lightly sprinkle the top of the cake with the gold pearls and gold glitter.  Remove parchment paper from the edges.
After the trees are added tent the cake with large pieces of foil to ensure no frosting comes off the cake and put in the refrigerator to allow the frosting to set.

Trees
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave stirring every 20 seconds until almost all the chocolate is melted.  Stir until the remainder of the chocolate melts into the warmer chocolate.
Leave one cone whole, carefully cut, with kitchen scissors, one slightly shorter and finally the third the shortest of the three.  Roll each cone in the white chocolate completely coating the outside.  Roll or drop the different silver pearls and glitter onto the cones ensuring they are completely covered.  Allow them to dry and the chocolate to harden on parchment paper.  Top the cake with the three trees.