A Painter In The House and Hungry Painter Sandwiches

I am having my living room, kitchen and hallways painted. 

I have a painter in my house. 

For the next 4 days.... 

Now, in case you don't know this about me by now, no one gets out of my home without being fed. It's what I do. I feed people. And what better people to feed than people doing work in your home?? 

Hungry. Grateful. Did I mention hungry? AND an incentive to KEEP working... no need to leave for breakfast, coffee or lunch breaks.. everything you need is right here. 

Hungry Painter Sandwiches with two sauces (feeds the painter and the family)

1 whole tenderloin of beef (Always wondered what to do with these babies? Here's the recipe)

3 heads of garlic, separated and skinned

1/2 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

plastic ziplock bag

10-12 ciabatta rolls or hard(ish) rolls of choice. Baguettes work equally as well. 

Start this the morning of or the night before serving. (Morning = dinner, night before = lunch)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Trim your tenderloin or have the butcher do it. You will get some cubes, some scrap (feed to the dog or cook down for a base for a sauce)

Slice the tenderloin between a 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Press down each slice with the palm of your hand to flatten and stretch the meat. 

Place the garlic cloves in a pie or cake plate, add olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Roast in the oven until soft - about 30-45 minutes, stirring halfway through.

When garlic is soft and mashable, cool. Add garlic and accompanying oil to sliced beef in a ziploc bag. Squeeze to combine. Place in fridge to marinate at least 4 hours and up to 18.

When ready to begin cooking: Preheat grill to high.

Lay meat out single layer on grill. Grill about 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. 

Remove to platter, tent and let rest.

Cut rolls or baguettes. Smear cut side with smashed garlic. Grill, face down for a few seconds to crisp. 

Layer meat on rolls, passing these two sauces:

Chipotle Pepper Steak Sauce (my family's favorite)

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon (or more) chipotle pepper flakes, ground

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sherry wine vinegar

Mash garlic, paprika, pepper flakes and salt in mortor or with back of spoon. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cover and chill. Can be made 2 days in advance.

ps. This sauce is kind of the new color in my living room!

Gorgonzola Sauce: (adapted from Barefoot Contessa, Copyright 2001)

2 cups heavy cream

2 to 3 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola cheese (don't use creamy or dolce)

1 1/2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley

Bring the heavy cream to a boil. Watch carefully, it will boil over on you! Continue to boil until thick, like a white sauce, stirring occasionally. This will take 30-40 minutes. 

Once thickened, take off heat and stir in cheeses, salt, pepper and parsely, whisking until blended. 

You can make this ahead, just rewarm, whisking vigorously to bring the sauce back together. Serve warm.

Painting is hungry work. Pass a couple of sandwiches to the painter, along with the side sauces. 

Two Days To WWW - and Tenderloin

These are the women of WWW. Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in Wine).

That's me, the first on the right

It's two days until we convene and commence to, well, whatever we want.

Today I am going to buy the beef tenderloin and this is how I'm going to make it for WWW Saturday Dinner:

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary, Chocolate and Wine Sauce

1 (2 to 5 pound) beef tenderloin
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil
½ cup chopped shallots
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups dry red wine plus more for drinking (duh)
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Tenderloin:

Take meat out of refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Season meat with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and sear until well browned on all sides.

Transfer the meat to a rack set on a baking sheet. Roast until desired doneness (140 – medium rare, 150 – medium). Take meat out of oven 6 degrees below desired temperature. Tent. Residual cooking will bring to desired temperature. Let rest AT LEAST 15 minutes before carving.

Sauce:

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, carrot and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and broth and stir in tomato paste, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer until reduced by half (about 30 minutes) Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard solids. Return sauce to pan, whisk in cocoa. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serve on the side with the sliced tenderloin.

Tomorrow: All the sides.

4 Days to WWW

I just realized it is only 4 days until WWW - that is Women's Wine Weekend. 

Women's Wine Weekend (notice there is no H in wine) consists of me and seven fabulous women friends all congregating at Marie's (one of the Fab 7's) weekend house in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

We do this twice a year - in the fall we go to Michele's farm in upstate New York. Spring finds us in Pennsylvania. 

I do look forward to these weekends. 

We, all eight of us, are from different, yet remarkably same, walks of life. There are singles, divorced, never marrieds, marrieds, childless, empty nesters, and children still at home among us. But we are the same in that we are women. And we are friends. 

WWW has all of us contributing to the welfare of the weekend. Welfare meaning food and drink. I am responsible for Saturday night dinner and you KNOW you will be seeing the recipes over the next few days. This is my menu:

Beef Tenderloin with Rosemary, red wine and chocolate sauce

Roast, crisp new potatoes with fresh herbs

Roast "sticky" carrots with honey and thyme

Fresh breads, herbed butter.

Many laughs

And of course all the wine we care to sip during the preparation, eating and clean up. Everyone pitches in and again, there is no H in wine. 

I have to get busy making my lists, shopping and preparing the best husband in the world for my departure. But I leave you with this little note about women that my dad sent me; I think it says it all as to why eight women, all different, are so alike:

One Flaw In Women 



Women have strengths that amaze men. 
They bear hardships and they carry burdens, 
but they hold happiness, love and joy. 



They smile when they want to scream. 

They sing when they want to cry.. 


They cry when they are happy 
and laugh when they are nervous. 


They fight for what they believe in. 


They stand up to injustice. 



They don't take "no" for an answer 
when they believe there is a better solution. 



They go without so their family can have. 


They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.   

They love unconditionally. 

They cry when their children excel 
and cheer when their friends get awards. 



They are happy when they hear about 
a birth or a wedding. 


Their hearts break when a friend dies. 


They grieve at the loss of a family member, 
yet they are strong when they 
think there is no strength left. 


They know that a hug and a kiss 
can heal a broken heart. 



Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. 



They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail (or blog) you 
to show how much they care about you. 



The heart of a woman is what 
makes the world keep turning.



They bring joy, hope and love. 


They have compassion and ideas.. 


They give moral support to their 
family and friends. 


Women have vital things to say 
and everything to give. 



HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, 
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH. 



Don't forget your worth. More tomorrow.