Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dish number ONE.....DONE!!!!

Ok everyone, So I finally made my first dish out of Eric Ripert's book "A Return to Cooking" remember as I said, I was going to play a little bit with the ingredients so that everyone can enjoy the recipes, and I was going to adjust the Recipes so that it makes enough for TWO people not the normal four or six. I actually did two recipes, The first was a Cabbage and Apple Salad. Lets take a look at it

Cabbage & Apple Salad:
                1/2 Cup Shredded Purple Cabbage
                1/2 Cup Shredded Green Cabbage
                1 Golden Delicious Apple, cut into thin slices
                1/8 Cup Canola Oil
                1/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
               Salt and Pepper to taste
Prep: 15 Minutes, Plus at least 1 hour chilling time

In a Large bowl, combine cabbages and apples. in a small bowl whisk the oil and vinegar together, season to taste. combine with cabbage and apples and toss to mix, let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour


Now for the Main dish:
 The original recipe was: Venison Loin with Parsnip-Celeriac Puree and Cranberries. I CHANGED it to: Beef Tenderloin with Potato-Cauliflower Puree and Black Cherries. I made these changes because Venison is really hard to find for some people. I went with the Potato-Cauliflower puree because the Celeriac can also be difficult to find, and I went with the Black Cherries because Cranberries can be hard to find fresh this time of year. However the changes that I did make still made a tasty dish.

Beef Tenderloin with Potato-Cauliflower Puree and Black Cherries:
    The Sauce:
                2 pounds Beef Bones
                1 Bottle dry Red Wine
                1 Celery Stalk, Roughly Chopped
                1 Carrot, Roughly Chopped
                1 Medium Onion, Roughly Chopped
                2 Bay Leafs
                3 Cups Chicken Stock
                2 Teaspoons All-purpose Flour
                2 ounces Butter
    The Puree:
                1 Large Russet Potato
                1/2 Head of Cauliflower, cut into florets
                Salt to taste
                3 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
                1/4 cup Heavy Cream
    The Cherries:
                1/2 Cup fresh Black Cherries
                1/4 Water
                1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
                Salt and Pepper to taste
    The Beef Tenderloin
                 1 Pound Beef Tenderloin
                Salt and Pepper to taste
                2 Bay leafs
                1 Tablespoon Canola Oil

Prep: 25 Minutes, Cook: 2 hours and 10 minuets to rest the meat

For the Sauce: Pre-heat oven to 400, Place bones in a roasting pan and place the bones in the oven for 15 minutes, after 15 minutes take the bones out of the oven and add the Onions, Celery, and Carrots to the Bones and place back into the oven for 45m-1hr, or until they are well roasted.
             
After the Bones and veggies have roasted, remove from oven and place on a burner on medium heat. Deglaze the roasting pan with the bottle of wine. Once deglazed strain, and ad to a small sauce pan. Add the Chicken stock and simmer for 30 mins until reduced by half. Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Set aside until needed.

For the Puree: Peal the Potato and roughly chop. Place in a pot and cover with cold water, Bring to a boil. Cook until the Potatoes are soft, about 25 Minutes. Drain and reserve the liquid. use a ricer, or food mil to puree the potatoes......you can mash them by hand, but you won't get a super smooth puree. Add the Cauliflower to the pot and bring to a boil, cook until the cauliflower is soft, about 15 mins. Puree the Cauliflower with the ricer, food mill OR in a blender until smooth,  combine the Cauliflower with the Potato Puree and season to taste with salt and pepper. set aside.

For the Cherries: Place in saucepan, add the water and maple syrup and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the cherries burst open, about 5 minutes, season with Salt and Pepper, set aside.

For the Beef: Season the Tenderloin with Salt and Pepper. Heat a large Saute Pan over med-high heat and add the oil and bay leafs. Add the Tenderloin and sear on all sides and place in 350 oven until the center of the loin reaches 120, about 20-25 mins. Remove and let REST for at least 5-10 Minutes.

While the meat is resting bring the sauce to a boil and add the butter, whisk until fully incorporated. Gently reheat the Puree, stir in butter and heavy cream. Gently reheat the Cherries.

To serve: Slice the Tenderloin into 1 inch slices.....you should get 6 slices...three for each plate. Spoon the Puree in the middle of the plate lay 3 slices of Beef over the Puree. Spoon the Cherries over the Beef and spoon the sauce around, serve immediately. ENJOY






I almost didn't add the Cherries to the final plate, however i am glad that I did because it add a nice touch of sweetness to the final plate. I choose the Cabbage and Apple salad because the Beef tenderloin seemed like it needed some acid and I was right. Starting with the salad then going to the Beef then back to the Salad was a great balance.

                


Friday, July 20, 2012

No Were to be found!!!!

So after doing some searching though the book, "On the Line" by Eric Ripert, I noticed that I am going to have to pick up a few more of his books, more specifically, "Le Bernardi", and "A Return to Cooking".....I thought to my self.....No problem, I can pick them up on the cheap at the Half Priced Books that is a five minute drive around the corner...of course its not that easy. I get to where the book store is....NOPE....they closed down.....OF COURSE THEY DID!!!!! so i took out my phone...the next closest Half Priced Books store is a 15 minute drive...but i know there is a Barnes&Noble 5 minutes away..... so I head there, they would have it they are Barnes & Noble right? guess again...NO Barnes & Noble in the Austin area has ANY of Eric Ripert's books. So i bite the bullet and drive the 15 minutes to the OTHER Half priced books....LOL, I will give you ONE guess what i find.......NOTHING!!!! REALLY!!!!! I do find a book by Gordon Ramsey that has recipes from his F word TV show....so not a total loss..... as I pay for the book that I got, I ask the Lady helping me out if any of the other Stores in the Area have the books that I am looking for, she tells me that the Downtown Location has " A Return to Cooking"...I say it can't be that bad can it (granted its now 330 and I am heading to Downtown Austin). So I get back on the freeway and not but 5 Minutes later I hit traffic.... @#$$!%!.....i thought to my self.....and to make it worse the guy in front of me goes for 5 feet then slams on the breaks, drives 5 feet then slams on the breaks...over, and over and over again....@#$$!%%!!!!!!......WHAT IS THIS GUYS DEAL!!!!! i change lanes and its an old guy with oxygen.....THANKS NOW I FEEL LIKE A JERK!!!!!...... anyway I get down town and I turn on to the street that I need to get to the Half Priced Books and I see this HUGE Used book store called "The Book People"...I said What the heck I am here already.....so I stop in......YAHTZEE!!!! I FINALLY Find what I am looking for. they had Both books, but I settled on "A return to Cooking" and to top it off, it is an Eric Ripert Autographed Edition.....

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Welcome!!!!

I have been contemplating on making a Blog for some time now. I knew that I wanted to do a Food Blog, but didn't want to do the typical Food Blog.... You know...the..... I have so and so's cookbook and I am going to do this recipe right out of it, everyday till God knows when......Yes i know what you are thinking......" But Rob your Blog's name is Eric Ripert @HOME, isn't that EXACTLY what you are doing?!?!?!?!?......yes.....and no..... Yes I am going to be following one of my favorite Chefs, Eric Ripert, AND yes...I will be doing recipes (or at least attempting) from his cookbooks, BUT.....what I will be doing is a couple of things..... 1) I will be substituting some of the Ingredients for more budget friendly and more accessible Alternatives. and 2) will be scaling the recipes for two people... Don't you just hate when you look at a recipe and it says that it makes enough for 4 people and you really just want one or two? I know I did.... so i will be scaling the recipes that i do for 2......oh yeah...I will be posting Pictures as well. So stay tuned and I hope you enjoy what I put out........