Food to Run For: Anniversary Weekend...

This weekend Dave and I celebrated our Anniversary Weekend in Newport, RI. We toured the mansions, went to the beach, ate tons of delicious food and had a nice relaxing weekend. Then Sunday we enjoyed a home-made candle-lite dinner at home made by yours truly. Here's the recap.

Friday night we went to Mooring Restuarant that overlooked the water. We ordered calamari, salad and I got this Seared Tuna with Mango Strips.

For dessert, we shared this chocolate truffle with berries and bananas.

Saturday, we went to a restaurant called Asterisk. It was pretty good and they served A LOT of food, but the food was pretty bold flavors and didn't always mix well. I got the Red Curry Shrimp and Scallops over cabbage with okra and lemon risotto with scallions and shaved parm cheese. Seems like a lot right? I thought so and I don't think it exactly went together. We skipped dessert this night.

Sunday morning was cloudy and foggy so we skipped the beach and walked the cliff walk before heading home.

When we got home, I immediately took our wedding cake out of the fridge! Looks scary right!?

Then I got to work on dinner. I wanted to make something special, so I pulled out our Newleywed cookbook and did some research. I decided to make Beef Tenderloin en Croute with Bruschetta, Spinach Salad and Gnocchi with Spring Vegetables.

Bruschetta

Ingredients:
Ciabatta Roll
Goat Cheese
3 Plum Tomatoes, Sliced in Circles
1 Small Red Onion
3 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
Couple chuncks of parm Cheese

Instructions:
Slice the Ciabatta Roll in half. Add the tomatoes and red onion to a bowl with S& P and Balsamic Vinegar. Let soak for ten minutes. Then spread the goat cheese on the roll, then add the onions and tomatoes and parmesian cheese and toast under the broiler until melted and crisp.

Next on to my main dish- check it out in the Newleywed book...

And my version! (I'll get the recipe posted tonight- but it was adapted from the Newleywed Cookbook)

Here is the recipe:

Beef en Croute

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of EVOO
2 Shallots, finely minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 package portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 pound of beef tenderloin
1 puff pastry sheet
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon of butter

Sauce:
2 tablespoons of dijon
2 tablespoons of grainy mustard
1/2 cup of white wine (I used Reisling- hey it was all I had!)
1 cup of cream
3/4 cup of skim milk
juices from roasting pan

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet and add shallots, garlic and mushrooms. Cook for 15 minutes stirring a lot until soft then season with salt and pepper and transfer to bowl to cool in the fridge. The put 1 tablespoon of oil in a rosting pan and put in oven for 5 minutes. Rub the tenderloin (I had two pieces- 1 that was a little less than a half pound and another that was a little over a half pouund) with salt and pepper and oil. Then transfer to preheated roasting pan and cook for 15 minutes. Transfer beef to plate and let cool completely. Meanwhile, make the mustard sauce by combining the ingredients in the roasting pan with the meat juices and whisk together for 5 minutes until thickened and combined. Then roll out the puff pastry so its big enough to fit each piece of meat. Spoon the mushroom mixture evenly over the dough and then put the beef in the middle of the dough on top of the mushrooms and roll the dough around the meat as if covering a package. Brush the dough with the beaten eggs and chill for 15 minutes. Then cook the beef package in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes. After that, reduce temperture to 350 and cook for 15 minutes longer to medium rare. Which is what we like! Then spoon the mustard sauce in the middle of the plate and add the meat package on top. YUM!

I also served this with a Gnocchi Salad made with onions, tomatoes, zucchini and kale that was sauted with a little EVOO and S & P. Then the whole thing was mixed with a dressing of EVOO, Balsamic Vinegar, Thyme and more S & P.