Steak Diane

Steak Diane is a very popular dish, but a lot of people over look it. So here is a traditional recipe and my recipe.

Steak Diane:
4 (3-ounce) filet mignon medallions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 teaspoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup sliced white mushroom caps
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup reduced beef stock
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 drops hot red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onions
1 teaspoon minced parsley leaves

1.)Season the beef medallions on both sides with the salt and pepper.
2.)Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook for 45 seconds on the first side. Turn and cook for 30 seconds on the second side. Add the shallots and garlic to the side of the pan and cook, stirring, for 20 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until soft, 2 minutes. Place the meat on a plate and cover to keep warm.
3.)Tilt the pan towards you and add the brandy. Tip the pan away from yourself and ignite the brandy with a match. (Alternatively, remove the pan from the heat to ignite, and then return to the heat.) When the flame has burned out, add the mustard and cream, mix thoroughly and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the veal stock and simmer for 1 minute. Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce and stir to combine. Return the meat and any accumulated juices to the pan and turn the meat to coat with the sauce.
4.)Remove from the heat and stir in the green onions and parsley. Divide the medallions and sauce between 2 large plates and serve immediately.

My Steak Diane:

4 Strip Steaks
Salt to taste
1/4 cup crushed black pepper corns
4 tbsp clarified butter

4 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/2 sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp dry mustard
1/2 cup Cognac
1/2 cup beef stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch scallions

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Rub both sides of steak with salt and the crushed black pepper. Heat the butter in a pan.
2.) Sear steak on both sides, remove from the pan and finish cooking in the oven.
3.) Add garlic and shallots and saute. Add mushrooms and saute for about 10 minutes.
4.) Add cognac and beef stock and reduce by half. Once reduced add heavy cream. Reduce until you have the right consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5.) Plate the steaks, add sauce and garnish with scallions.

As always I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think. Bon Appetit Chef Mikey.

Panini This

So one of my favorite things to make is a grilled cheese or a panini. For those of you that don't know what a Panini is. It is a sandwich that has cheese and is pressed. There are so many different combination's. I mean you can use any kind of bread, spread/sauce/dip/or whatever, cheese, toppings and meat. You don't have to have meat or toppings. You don't have to have cheese either but that's what makes it stay together. So a traditional Panini is a plain grilled cheese or a Ham and cheese and I'm pretty sure you don't need a recipe for that, but I am going to give you two. I am going to do a vegetarian one which is going to be on Italian bread, with a balsamic reduction, olive oil, Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. The second one is going to be a Roast beef melt away. It is going to be on sesame kaiser rolls, with Roast beef, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese sauce and a sweet ketchup glaze.

Tomato Mozzarella Panini:

8 slices Italian bread
8 large slices tomato
16 slices Mozzarella, medium sized slice
2 cups balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp basil, chiffonade
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

1.) Put your vinegar into a pot on medium high heat and reduce by half. Set to the side. Heat your panini press, panini pan or grill/grill pan.
2.) Assemble sandwich. Take the bread and lay 2 slices of mozzarella down and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Lay 2 tomato slices down, sprinkle some basil, drizzle a little of the vinegar and olive oil. Lay 2 more slices of mozzarella down and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with the second piece of bread.
3.) Place on panini press or pan and press it. If you don't have a press. Take a brick wrap it in foil and use that or use a plate or something heavy,
4.) Press both sides, take off heat. Slice in half and serve.

Roast Beef Melt Away:

Cheese Sauce:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter

1 lb cheddar cheese
6 cups milk
1-2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp hot sauce
Salt and Pepper To taste

1.) Make a roux with your butter and flour. Heat butter in a pan add your flour a little at a time. Until it is thick, If you need more butter use it. Cook until pale in color and set aside.
2.) Bring milk to a boil and add your cheese until melted. Add about 2-3 tsp of roux just to make it a little thick. If you need more add more. Whisk it well to make sure there's no lumps.
3.) Once it has the consistency of a cheese sauce (not too thick not too thin) add cream and hot sauce and reduce for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside and keep warm.


Ketchup Cheese:

2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup apple cider
3-6 tsp sugar
2 tsp mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.) Mix all ingredients in a pot. Cook on medium high heat until it has a glaze consistency. 20-25 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust seasoning. It should be sweet but a little tangy and it should be clear with a slight redness to it. Set aside, but keep warm.

8 Sesame Kaiser Rolls
3 medium size onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp butter
1 lb roast beef
Cheese sauce, recipe follows
Ketchup glaze, recipe follows

1.) Caramelize onions in the butter until nice and brown, set aside.
2.) Heat Panini pan/Grill/Grill pan/ Panini press/or other pan.
3.) Assemble sandwiches. Take 1 piece of bread and spread a tsp or two of the glaze on it, place 2 slices or roast beef down, put about 2 tbsp of cheese sauce down, lay some onions down and then lay 2 more slices of roast beef down. Take your other piece of bread and spread some of the glaze on there. And top of the sandwich.
4.) Press your sandwiches on both sides, remove from pan, slice and serve.



As always I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think. Bon appetit Chef Mikey!!!!!

SALSA: The dance or the dip.....

Well today is an easy one, it's salsa. There are so many different type's and varieties of salsa. For our traditional salsa we're just going to do a basic pico de gallo, which is a Mexican salsa based off of tomatoes and our original salsa were going to be making a Mango, Pineapple salsa. It's gonna be very sweet and tangy with a nice kick. So here we go.....

Pico De Gallo:

3 cloves garlic, minced
about 10 medium sized tomatoes, small dice
1 onion, small dice
2-3 Jalopeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 yellow pepper, seeded and minced
1 green pepper, seeded and minced
1 cup canned stewed tomatoes, drained(save the juice), chopped
2 tbsp cumin(more if needed)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1//2 cup cilantro, chopped

1.) Mix everything together except tomato juice and taste for seasoning Add enough juice to make it a little wet, but not too wet. Adjust seasoning. Serve right away or refrigerate.

Mango Pineapple Salsa:

4 mango's, peeled and med. dice
1 Pineapple
1 papaya, peeled, seeded and med. dice
2 Red peppers
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Jalopenos, seeded and minced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

1.) Preheat a grill or a grill pan.
2.) Peel pineapple, remove the core and cut into circles. Grill long enough on both sides to get grill marks. When all are grilled medium dice them.
3.) Roast the red peppers. When all are roasted peel the skin, remove the seeds and mince.
4.) Mix everything together and taste. Adjust seasoning.
5.) Serve right away and refrigerate.

With these recipes either one is good. Neither one is better then the other. It all depends on who you are serving. If your guests prefer something savory then give them the pico, but if they prefer something sweet then give them the mango. Both of these are a little spicy. You can make them spicier by adding more cumin.

As always I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think. Bon Appetit Chef Mikey!!!

Chicken Salad: Boring VS Exciting

So traditional chicken salad is good but it's boring. It's just chicken, onions, celery, mayo, salt pepper and maybe some other spices and such. But I have a great recipe for a exciting chicken salad that adults will love. Some kids might like it, but most probably won't. So here we fo...

Traditional Chicken Salad:

1 lb chicken, med. dice
1/2 an onion, sm. dice
3 stalks ea., sm. dice
2 cups mayo(maybe less, maybe more depends how you like it.
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.) Mix everything. Add more mayo if needed, but add the mayo slowly so you don't add too much. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Curried Grape Chicken salad:

1 lb chicken, shredded
1 cup grapes, halved
1/4 cup peanuts, finely chopped
2 cups mayo
1 tbsp sweet curry
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1.) Mix the mayo, with the curry, sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, mustard, honey and set aside.
2.) Mix the chicken with the grapes, peanuts and parsley.
3.) Slowly pour mayo mixture over chicken mixture until you have the right consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve right away or refrigerate.


I hope you enjoy this original recipe and let me know what you think. Bon appetit Chef Mikey.

Beef Stew with Garlic Horse radish Mashed Potatoes

Hello all so sometimes I think it is fun to take a classic dish and make it your own variation and make it taste different and maybe use some different ingredients put make it look the same. This time I am going to do Beef stew and Mashed Potatoes. Who doesn't love mashed potatoes? I don't know, but I do know many people who do not like beef Stew so I am going to change it and try to make it as desirable and delicious as possible, so here we go.....

Just for this one I'm not going to post the traditional recipe....

Beef Stew:

1 lb beef cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and med. dice
1 onion, med. dice
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bu. chives, thinly sliced for garnish

Garlic Horse Radish Mashed Potatoes:

1 lb Idaho potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 quarts salted water

3 tbsp butter
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp horse radish, more if needed
3-4 tbsp milk
3-4 tbsp heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

1.)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2.)Heat a pot on medium high heat with the oil/
3.) Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add to the pot and sear on all sides. Once all sides and nice and brown remove and set to the side. Add the carrots and caramelize until nice and brown and begin to soften, add onions and garlic and caramelize. Once everything is brown add tomato paste and caramelize.
4.)Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Reduce by a quarter, add the stock, cover with a lid and place in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until tender.
5.) Meanwhile begin cooking your potatoes, once tender drain and dry the potatoes. Throw in a mixer, with the butter, half the milk and half the cream and season with salt and pepper until smooth. Fold in garlic and horse radish. Taste and adjust seasoning.
6.) Remove stew from oven, add cream and reduce.
7.) Pipe potatoes, pour stew over potatoes and garnish with chives. Serve right away.

As always I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think. Bon appetit Chef Mikey.

What I'm About

So this is my second blog and I got the idea for this blog from my last post where I had the urge to take a Traditional recipe and change it into my own original. It was Beef stew and Mashed potatoes, so I just had less vegetables, wine and my potatoes were a garlic Horse Radish mashed Potato.

So once a week or so i am going to post two recipes, one of the original and one of my own. If you ever have a recipe that you would like me to do or change just leave me a comment and I will be sure to change it.....


Sincerely, yours truly Chef Mikey!!!!