Filets Mignons with Mushroom Sauce - April Comfort

Comfort me with mushrooms. A skillet wine sauce with cremini mushrooms is right up my Italian-loving (filet mignon) meat alley. If you are wondering about the wisdom of posting comfort food in April because - your daffodils are up and you've planted your garden, I have four words for you. "How nice for you."

Here in White Bear Lake, we still have the home fires burning. Spring makes a brief appearance and then flits away singing, "Ha, ha - just teasing." No April foolery intended. Snow is expected this coming Thursday and Friday.

But the filets are not a tease. They're the real deal. Add some dried porcini for a more intense flavor. Are you grilling already? (We are grilling in the snow. I have one determined husband. He also grills in sandals. So I have one slightly-warped husband.) Grill the meats and make the pan sauce and voila - you have "An Almost-Spring Meal."

The recipe is from Saveur: The New Comfort Food - a gift from my son who knows me and my struggle with Minnesota winters all too well. And it's so easy (which is my mantra) but you don't have to tell anyone that.

Ingredients - Serves 4
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 8-oz filets mignon (salted with Kosher salt and pepper)
2 shallots minced
1 lb cremini mushrooms sliced (add some porcini - makes it even earthier)
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons sherry (I used sweet)
2 teaspoons cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon chopped chives (garnish)
1 tablespoons chopped parsley (garnish)
I think scallions would also work as a garnish.

1. Heat oven to 500 degrees F. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet (12 inches) over high heat. Season filets with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Flip once until browned about 4-5 minutes. Transfer filets to baking sheet and roast until medium-rare - another 4-5 minutes. Transfer filets to a platter and tent to keep warm.

2. Bring skillet to medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, the rest of the oil, the shallots and cook, stirring until shallots are softened - about 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook (stirring occasionally) until softened - about 5 minutes. Add red wine and reduce heat to medium. Stir occasionally and reduce until sauce is syrupy - about 8-10 minutes. Add stock and cook until slightly reduced - an additional 4-5 minutes. Whisk in sherry and cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Stir continually until thickened.

Remove pan from heat. Whisk in remaining butter and then add the chives and parsley. Pour over filets. Serve. Who needs spring?

The top of the fridge has been my hiding place for appetizers and salads because someone has a "dairy habit" (Luce ferociously goes after cheese and butter.) Yesterday he figured out how to get to the top. Now what am I going to do?

Lemon Chicken

The thing is - I keep my resolutions - pretty much. (I make them in November having learned that if I can keep them during the busy holidays - I can keep them all year). These days you will find me going through my home "bird by bird," "word by word," "file by file," and "t-shirt by t-shirt." I used to thrive in clutter - all those years directing with kids - if you didn't thrive in clutter - you were toast.

But I cannot write in clutter. My office is so filled with piles - I need to get outside to think. Luckily the weather has cooperated. But 40 and 50 degree degrees days in January are not the norm, so before winter again grasps us (Wednesday), I  have been simplifying.

This philosophy also pertains to dinner time. I want few ingredients, one graceful meal without a lot of clean-up, a supper that delivers in taste but leaves me feeling that all is in place and the evening is for reading, music, conversation and cat purrs. This lemon chicken has been appearing on my table a lot. There is a lightness of being, an ease of preparation and it satisfies all quirky appetites (we have that in my home).

Nothing says Italian better than the classic combination of lemon, rosemary and garlic.The ingredients are bright enough for spring, but the comforting aroma makes it perfect for January - a soft blanket to keep you warm and snuggled.

Lemon Chicken (This is from Saveur - The New Comfort Food - served at Los Angeles's Angeli Caffe)
Serves 4
3-1/2 pounds chicken cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used the juice of 1 lemon and called it a day)
10 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 lemon peel - pith removed and pulp chopped (I just zested the lemon before juicing it)
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss the chicken pieces with the olive oil, rosemary, lemon juice, garlic, lemon zest and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Marinate for about an hour (I did longer).
2. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Arrange chicken in a 9x13 baking dish (or as you will) and cover chicken with remaining marinade. Roast, turning once until cooked through - about 30-40 minutes (mine took 40 minutes.)
3. Serve.

During the day, I have fallen in love with "Green Soup." I made a huge batch on Saturday, and it seems to be a tonic - to good health - to well-intentioned resolutions. It gives me a lightness of being. Just simple greens really (kale, spinach, chard, cooked  with caramelized onions and pureed in broth). And did I mention it's utterly delicious? Most important. It's the caramelized onions that transform it.

Find it here: (Try it, you'll like it.)
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/basic_green_soup.html

If you have a resolve to eat healthier, get a wee bit leaner, this well help you. I am all for anything that will help me!

The moon appears around 4 p.m. I always have to stop what I am doing to see it - and say a moon poem to myself. The more I rid myself of "stuff," the more I see.

Not much later, the sun sets and I have to see that also.

I like the shimmer at the end of the short day. A last blazing moment - the sun does not disappear quietly. Why should it?

And after dinner, the evening star has been outshining the moon. Is it no wonder I want dinner to be simple? I want time for this.