Tag Archives: cream

Deer Steaks with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

Mark my words: this sauce would be good on anything.

Does it look like pasta in the picture? Look again–it’s gloriously caramelized onion, swimming in a sauce that gave heaven its name.

I happened to serve it with deer steak, but think regular steaks. Chicken breasts. Pork. Chicken thighs. Probably not fish since fish flesh is so delicate and the sauce is so thick . . . but then again, why not with a hearty piece of salmon? I’ll take any occasion I can get to eat this sauce.

It could even work by itself! (Think: decadent side dish.)

The Pioneer Woman told me to make it shortly after I started reading her blog about a year and a half ago. Thankfully I acted in full obedience, because if I hadn’t, I might not be where I am today.

Which is in front of this plate, eating this glorious sauce.

The original recipe is here, but I’m going to make it for you as well.

Ingredients

2 whole steaks (deer or otherwise)

2 TBS butter

Salt and pepper

4 TBS butter

1 large onion

1 c heavy cream

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Now get ready for a truly incredible experience.

Seriously–are you ready for this?

Okay then.

First, melt some butter in a pan or on a stovetop grill.

Or a real grill, if you’re a real man!

Oh wait, my man was in charge of the steaks on the cast iron stovetop grill . . . so never mind! You’re a man regardless! Unless you’re a woman. Wow this is getting complicated. Forget all of the above and just melt the dang butter.

Grab the steaks:

Instead of 2 large ones, we had a bunch of smaller ones. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and cook/grill until they’re done to your liking.

I choose medium.

Here they are, ready to be eaten by this ravenous carnivore that I sometimes become.

And now for the sauce! So simple–only 4 ingredients. Butter, onions, cream, cheese.

Cut the onion in half lengthwise, then halve each half. Are you confused yet? Here. I’ll show you.

Now slice it into thin quarter-moon shaped strips.

Start melting the 4 TBS butter in a skillet.

Add the onion, and cook over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes, until the onion starts to caramelize.

Add a little salt and pepper along the way. As soon as the onions are a lovely darkish golden brown color, reduce the heat to low and add the cream.

Oooooh. Whooooaaaaa. Mmmmmmm (the onion sauce has this effect–watch out).

Cook for a few minutes until the cream has reduced by about half.

The cream will take on the lovely golden color of the onions, and you will stare at it transfixed, tongue hanging out, eyes glistening in anticipation, hands scrambling for a spoon. I hope no one’s watching you while this happens, because I’ve been told it can be quite frightening for onlookers.

Right at the end, grab the blue cheese and dump it into the sauce:

Are you a blue cheese hater? If so, please think twice about your stance. Pretty please?Especially because this sauce doesn’t scream ‘blue cheese!’ at you when it’s all done. The rich cheese just adds a rich and wonderful creamy richness to it. There–I used ‘rich’ three times, just to make sure we’re all clear here on what the blue cheese does, exactly.

Stir in the blue cheese and let it melt–and we’re done! Now spoon a large quantity of the sauce on a plate:

Top it off with a piece of steak.

For some reason, I chose a steak that has the shape of the continent of Africa.

That’s another sign you need to make this meal asap–it can turn into a family learning experience. Nothing like a little geography at the dinner table.

I think I can see the city of Casablanca–are those little people running around?

Oh, never mind–it was just some black pepper.

I could have sworn it moved, though.

Enough smart talk! Let’s eat.

Please make sure to slather each bite of meat in this sauce.

Or you can do as we did, and serve it over a heaping pile of rice. The rice does a wonderful job of absorbing that sauce and sending you straight into a state of Nirvana.

What a way to celebrate the over-the-halfway hump in the week that is Wednesday.

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Perfect Mushroom Soup

This was the very first Tasty Kitchen recipe I tried, the one that got me hooked and eventually signed up as a member and recipe contributor.

I’ve made it probably four or five times, which really says something about it since I don’t tend to repeat recipes unless I’m wildly in love with them. I christened it “Perfect Mushroom Soup” because it fulfills all my mushrooms needs with a creamy texture, plenty of veggies, and a flavor that is rich but not overwhelmingly so.

The liquid is a combination of tomato juice, chicken stock, white wine, and cream–and it’s a killer. The parmesan stirred in towards the end adds a note of perfection that is not to be equalled. Served with Veronica’s Buttery Beer Bread, you should put this on the menu asap. It’s in your best interest, believe me. My tweaks and variations to the original recipe are: an onion, more carrot, more celery, more wine, more garlic, and fresh oregano. More, more, more–that’s my motto.

Please also know that this recipe is very variation-friendly. For example, I made it on that crazy snow day the other week, but instead of mushrooms (I was plumb out of them) I used about fifty pounds of leftover turkey, chopped up. Then I ate it over rice, because I couldn’t help myself. I’m also dreaming of a version with tiny cubed potatoes and leeks. And roasted chicken! Mmmm. But for now, let’s focus on the standard version, which needs no alteration–here it is:

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

3 TBS olive oil

1 large carrot

2 stalks celery

1 medium onion

6 cloves garlic

1 lb sliced white mushrooms

3/4 c white wine

1/2 c tomato juice

1/2 c chicken broth

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp cornstarch + 1/4 c water

salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh oregano, minced

Mince the onion, celery, and carrot finely. We don’t want any large chunks in this soup. Now heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. When hot, add the minced veggies.

Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is turning translucent. Sprinkle in some salt and generous amounts of black pepper.

Mince the garlic and add it to the pot along with the sliced mushrooms.

Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the white wine, and let it cook for about 3 minutes. I don’t measure it–I just pour. I figure it would be pretty hard to add too much.

Heh heh.

Add the broth and tomato juice, half a cup of each.

Bring it to a boil, then add the heavy cream and return it to a simmer.

Add the parmesan cheese, and stir it in.

Cook for another 5 minutes on medium or medium-low heat, stirring frequently so that the cheese doesn’t fall and stick to the bottom of the pot.

Add the water/cornstarch slurry–this will help thicken it up a little. Simmer for another 10 minutes, taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with bread and with a sprinkling of oregano on top. The fresh oregano is not to be underestimated!

It really adds to the creamy soup, bringing a hint of garden freshness.

Just pretend I said ‘a hint of garden freshness’ in a Pop-Eye type growl, while contorting my face like a pirate. It will take all the potentially pretentious notes out of that phrase.

I actually did make a batch of Buttery Beer Bread to go with this, and it was heavenly. However, the photographs that included the bread turned out . . . hideous. Mutated. Malformed.

Have I mentioned that I really struggle with photographing soup?

But don’t believe the pictures–believe the words that I’m speaking to you about how great this soup is.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Perfect Mushroom Soup