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Tuesday dinner with Wini Moranville
By Ann | February 19, 2013
Phew! That was a long break! Apologies for my absence, mes amis. I was working on revisions to my new book, which meant the rest of my communication was limited to caveman grunts. I’ve been subsisting on crackers and peanut butter and my husband’s cooking (turns out he’s a genius with ground meat: chili, bolognese, sloppy joe’s). We celebrated Valentine’s Day (that is, Due Day) with leftover lasagna eaten in the glow of my laptop as I frantically finished editing the final pages. Romantic, eh?
But now, the final draft has been turned in! And, the draft that came after the final draft? That has also been turned in! I am free again to blog, and bake, and read novels, and respond to email that’s been sitting in my inbox since December. But before I start on all those fun projects, I thought I’d cook my husband a lovely dinner, the one I wanted to make on Valentine’s Day. And who better to advise me on bonne femme recipes, than the author of The Bonne Femme Cookbook, Wini Moranville? Today she shares an elegant Tuesday Dinner: beef filet in cherry and red wine sauce.
Wini is a food writer, author, and summer resident of France — every year, she and her husband rent a little apartment in a town like Collioure, in the Languedoc (pictured above). These warm-weather sojourns have given her the opportunity to dive into honest French cooking, as eaten by real French families. Wini has gathered these tips in The Bonne Femme Cookbook, which offers 250 recipes for simple, fresh ingredients prepared well. I’m delighted to welcome Wini and discover a few French housewife cooking secrets.
On whipping up an elegant French dinner in thirty minutes:
I am all about the “sauté-deglaze-serve” method of cooking. That is, you sauté the meat in a skillet, then deglaze the pan with wine and/or chicken broth. Stir up those tasty browned bits clinging to the pan, reduce the liquids, and then finish this fabulous pan sauce with a few flavorings, such as mustard and capers for pork chops, balsamic vinegar and red grapes for chicken, olives and tomatoes for lamb — I have about 35 variations in the book. Round out the meal with whatever veggies looks good at the market and perhaps my Any-Night Baked Rice — a riff on an old Pierre Franey recipe.
When in doubt, freeze it:
Many French stews and braises freeze extremely well. Generally, they make big batches, with plenty of leftovers. So it’s not unusual to for me to have Blanquette de Porc, Beef Bourguignon, Basque-Style Chicken, or another one of my recipes ready to reheat from the freezer. They’ll thaw and reheat in about the time it takes for me to pour and enjoy a Kir with my husband. Which I do just about every night.
Her favorite pantry staples:
–Wine. It’s the key to intensifying flavors, from quick pan sauces to long-simmering braises.
–Dijon mustard. On the busiest of nights, I count Dijon mustard as a fine sauce for pork chops, steaks, or smoked sausage.
–Shallots. Whenever I don’t know what I’m cooking for dinner, I start chopping a shallot, as something will come to me soon, and it’s generally a key ingredient in one of my pan sauces.
–Butter. I adore what a little touch of butter can bring to a dish in terms of flavor, richness, and intensity.
–Parsley. French cooks use both curly-leaf and flat-leaf parsley, and it’s just a great boost of freshness.
On being prepared:
Think of the “sauté-deglaze-serve” method of cooking a little bit like an Asian stir-fry — it’s a really quick process, so you’ll want to get everything chopped, measured, and ready to go before you start the recipe. It’s amazing how fast a meal can truly get to the table when you take a few minutes to get organized in advance.
Filet with Cherry and Red Wine Sauce
By Wini Moranville
Note from Ann: I loved this variation on a traditional steak dinner — the sauce elegantly balances sweet and savory. I couldn’t find dried cherries, so I used a spoonful of sour cherry jam instead, which gave the sauce a lovely, luscious sheen.
Makes 4 servings
4 (6-ounce) tenderloin steaks (1 inch thick)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
3/4 cup dry red wine
1/3 cup dried tart cherries
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1. Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium- high heat. Add the steaks and cook, turning as needed, to the desired doneness (10 to 12 minutes for medium-rare); reduce the heat as necessary if the meat browns too quickly. Transfer the steaks to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
2. Add the shallot to the skillet and sauté briefly, until translucent. Add the beef broth and red wine to the pan and cook,stirring with a whisk to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the cherries and vinegar and bring to a boil. Boil until the liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup — this should take 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the heat and your pan size. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Stir in the thyme. Season the sauce with additional salt and pepper.
3. Divide the steaks among four dinner plates, spoon the sauce over the steaks, and serve.
(All non-food photos courtesy of Wini Moranville.)
Topics: Free of gluten, Tuesday dinner | 15 Comments »
15 Responses to “Tuesday dinner with Wini Moranville”
Comments
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February 19th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Love it
February 19th, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Looks great! I love how quickly a bistro-type meal comes together.
February 19th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Boy, that sure looks more like Sunday dinner to me – fantastic!
Wini’s first tip is well-timed, as I seem to be doing that very method right now with boneless, skinless chicken. I tried a citrus honey sauce from the pan juices the other night with great success. I will definitely check out the book.
And congrats on the edits and re-edits completion – yippee, free at last.
February 19th, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Love all of this, especially the glamorous leftovers in the freezer. Brilliant! Congrats on completing your book, Ann, can’t wait until we can order our copies.
February 19th, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Spooky, I was just thinking this morning that I haven’t had a post for you in ages. Well, now we know the reason. Brava.
And well done to CK for getting into the kitchen and doing fun things with mince. Mind you on this side of the world, the very mention of the word ground meat has people shrieking and running for cover. Horse meat everywhere. Scandals galore. Enjoy the freedom the life after deadline day brings.
February 19th, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Ann, as I’ve written to Wini many times, although I own a zillion cookbooks, la Bonne Femme Cookbook is my go to book every night. I too am addicted to the saute deglaze chapter and every night rice although I have done the beef w/ orange stew a few times. Fabulous. My kitchen is never w/o shallots and wine. I did tell Wini I am trying to do her same recipes w/ half olive oil and half butter in an effort to cut down on the butter and use the healthier fat (OO) but I always finish the sauce w/ butter.
February 20th, 2013 at 12:53 am
The ground meat received a helping hand from great recipes from Figs (chili), Better With Zest (bolognese) and Martha (sloppy joe). And I’m pleased Dijon mustard made the cut in Wini’s pantry staples. I can’t live without the stuff …
February 20th, 2013 at 3:23 pm
CONGRATULATIONS on submitting your final edits! Nothing feels better than getting your life back! Although I also often find myself empty after a big project is through. Hope you found a comfortable balance btwn you/your privacy and your delicious subject.
As for Wini Moranville’s recipe looks divine!
February 20th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
So great to hear from you again Ann. And I love Mimi’s way of cooking!!
February 20th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Marika — It’s a very lovable dish! The sauce is so simple, but sooo elegant.
Camille — Yes, so true! And — word nerd alert — did you know that the word “bistro” comes from Russian and means “quickly”?
Voie de Vie — It IS Sunday fancy, but with Tuesday speed! I was actually amazed by how quickly the sauce came together — and how flavorful it was! Thanks for your kind words.
Shut Up & Cook — I know, I kind of want to LIVE in Wini’s freezer! Thanks for your sweet comment, chère amie!
Lindy — So nice to hear from you, friend! Yes, CK kept me alive on mince — but it was TURKEY (or, toikey, as he would say). At least, we *think* it was turkey…
February 20th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
Jacqueline — Thanks for stopping by! I’m a big fan of Wini’s book, too! And it’s amazing what a little pat of butter can add, n’est-ce pas?
Daisy — Merci! I am so relieved to be footloose and fancy free… the emptiness will probably hit around 4 o’clock today
Heather — I bet you’ve eaten your fair share of Wini’s style of cooking in Arles — easy, breezy, fresh and French. Delicious! Lovely to see your name. xo
February 20th, 2013 at 11:47 pm
I just bought a fresh bag of shallots. Thank you for some French inspiration!
February 21st, 2013 at 12:57 pm
Congratulations on finishing your book!!! It must feel great. I can only relate by remembering the end of semester at uni and knowing how it feels to finish all the reading and writing (although not the same thing at all I realise).
And oh that meal looks so decadent. The cherries and balsamic, oh my. I don’t eat red meat that often but when I do it’s rare and I really enjoy it, nicely done
February 21st, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Welcome back! And congratulations on the “due date” goal met. The beef dish looks divine and I’m a big fan of the sauté/deglaze/serve dishes. Now…I’m off to contemplate WHY I don’t spend my summers tromping around France…
February 22nd, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Gillian — I love how Wini starts chopping a shallot when she doesn’t know what to cook. A friend of my dad’s used to start frying an onion when her husband came home expecting dinner and she hadn’t started cooking anything yet!
Emma — Full confession: I cooked the meat too rare the first time and had to pop it back on the stove for 10 more minutes. Those thick steaks confound me! In fact, my husband and I split the one above. It was worth it! P.S. Actually, finishing the book feels EXACTLY like the end of the semester
Thyme (Sarah) — Thanks, I’m so happy to be back! You’ve got to write a cookbook so that you must come to France to do arduous research.