The Good Food pie contest

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I'm all ready for tomorrow's Good Food pie contest, sponsored by Evan Kleiman's "Good Food" program on National Public Radio. Two pies baked and cooling on the counter. Two complete experiments, untested recipes I created out of thin air. Yeah, that's the way I roll. Or, in this case, do not roll, as both pies used press-in crusts. Despite my cherry pie practice earlier this summer, I'm still not much good with a rolling pin.

I entered in two categories: Fruit and Savory. I knew what I was making for the fruit pie. It's fig season, and last year I made a really good fig and goat cheese pie. Okay, I called it a tart, but really, it was a pie. I made it only a few months after I started working at Business.com, and it was one of the more unusual things I brought in for my colleagues to taste. They have sophisticated palates; they liked it.

But I thought there was one problem with that recipe: The figs were too watery. This time I got rid of some liquid ahead of time by making a fig compote for the bottom layer of the pie, rather than using fresh figs. I also decorated the top with cut figs that I broiled first. I'm pleased with the way it looks, although I won't really know what the consistency is like until tomorrow. I'm a tiny bit afraid that the goat cheese layer will be rubbery - maybe I should only have added one egg instead of two. Oh well. Too late now.

I had more trouble deciding what to make for the Savory category. I wanted to use the Hatch chiles I found at Bob's Market earlier in the week - such a rare treat, especially outside of New Mexico. I thought about making a pork and green chile stew, but in the end I was just too lazy. So I made a sort of {quiche} - I'm saying that softly because if it's really a quiche it might get me disqualified. No, it's a pie, dammit! Anyway, I mixed the roasted Hatch chiles with chopped cooked bacon, green onions, cotija and panela cheese, eggs, and cream, and baked it all in a cornmeal-enhanced pie crust. It smells unbelievably good. My family is quite irritated that I only made one and it's going to the contest instead of in their bellies.

I'm not expecting to win. But I'm expecting to have a good time and take lots of pictures. And eat lots of pie. If you're in Los Angeles and free tomorrow, come on down - it's going to be a hoot.

UPDATE, Sunday evening: Nope, I didn't win anything. But I had a really good time hanging with the other pie bakers. And I got lots of compliments on both pies. I'm already thinking of pie ideas for next year....

Oyster mushroom fricassee recipe on The Mushroom Channel blog

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Why is it so hard to take pictures of cooked mushrooms? I struggled and struggled with this one - shot it four different ways before I finally came up with this one for my latest post on The Mushroom Channel. It's the oyster mushroom fricassee from Le Saint Amour in Culver City, one of my favorite French restaurants.

The photo I took in the restaurant the first time, too dark. The second time, overexposed. My first attempt at home, pathetic. This one, passable. What to do? Wait, I have a solution! I just need to take Rachel from Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen with me everywhere I go. Rachel, I hope you're available for the foreseeable future. Please bring your camera.

Head on over to The Mushroom Channel to read about this delicious, ultra-French-but-so-easy-to-make-at-home dish!

Filet mignon sandwich with truffle butter

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Open-faced filet mignon sandwiches with truffle butter (photo by the adorable La Fuji Mama)

If you arrived here from the Trufflepalooza article in the Los Angeles Times, welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by! - Erika

If I had to pick my favorite dish from Trufflepalooza, I think it would be this open-faced filet mignon sandwich with truffle butter. 

At the original Trufflepalooza in 2009, I sauteed filet mignon chunks in butter and served them with grated truffle on top - delicious, but extremely ugly and hard to photograph. The next year, knowing lots of my food blogger friends (love you all!) would be taking pictures of the 13 different truffled menu items, I took aesthetics into account. 

My capable husband grilled the filet mignon just as the party was starting. Filet mignon from...Costco. What can I say? When you need 15 pounds of meat, Whole Foods isn't an option, at least not on my budget. Although, to tell the truth, we bought too much. We would have been fine with six or seven pounds. Live and learn, live and learn.

By the time we were slicing the meat, buttering the bread and assembling the open-faced sandwiches, the filet mignon was warm, not hot. That worked in our favor: The meat had rested adequately and stayed extremely moist. It was cooked perfectly - well, most of it, anyway. The first one I cut into didn't show much pink, and I think I bellowed at my poor husband pretty forcefully. But I overreacted. The rest was fine.

I need to remember to serve these earlier in the party; we always have more leftovers of this dish than I expect. But leftovers can be good, as in the hot filet mignon and truffled Brie sandwiches I made with one year's leftovers. Also, when we ran out of truffle butter one year, the die-hards still hanging around the kitchen decided to try the same sandwiches with Sabatino truffle honey. In case you were wondering: phenomenal.

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Filet mignon sandwiches with truffle butter

by Erika Kerekes September-2-2010

An open-faced sandwich you'll never forget. Don't worry if you can't get fresh truffles (or can't afford them) - the truffle butter, truffle oil and truffle salt bring enough truffle flavor to the party.

Ingredients

• 1 pound filet mignon (two good-sized filets)
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 baguette
• 1/4 cup truffle butter (I prefer Sabatino truffle butter, available in many gourmet stores and online, or make your own truffle butter - click here for my recipe)
• 1 Tbsp truffle oil (I prefer Sabatino black truffle oil, available in many gourmet stores and online)
• truffle salt (I prefer Sabatino truffle sea salt, available at many gourmet stores and online)
• fresh black truffle (optional)

Instructions

Heat up your grill (gas or charcoal, no matter) or heat a heavy ridged grill pan on the stove. You don't want to get it blazing - filet mignon is on the delicate side. I like filet mignon cooked over a medium grill.Sprinkle the filets with salt and pepper. Grill until medium rare. I use an instant-read meat thermometer and pull the steaks when the middles reach 125 degrees (F); by the time they cool, they'll be up to 130 degrees and perfectly pink throughout. Let the filets cool on a plate or cutting board, loosely tented with foil, until they are warm but not hot, about half an hour. While the steaks are cooking and cooling, cut the baguette into 1/4-inch slices. You should get about 30 for a standard baguette. I love La Brea Bakery baguettes, which are also conveniently available (freshly baked!) at our local Costco. Lay the bread slices out on a large board and spread each with a thin layer of truffle butter.Now cut the filets into thin slabs that will more or less fit on the baguette slices. Lay one slice of meat on each piece of buttered bread. Sprinkle each piece with a few drops of truffle oil and a pinch of truffle salt. Grate the fresh truffle over the whole thing and serve. It's the best finger food you can imagine.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 30 mins Yield: about 30 pieces

Wordless Wednesday: Elderberries at Ludgate Farms, Ithaca

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Radish truffle butter sandwiches

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Radish and truffle butter tartines (photo: Robert Takata of Guzzle & Nosh)

If you got here from the Trufflepalooza article in the Los Angeles Times, welcome! I'm so glad you stopped by! - Erika

When I was planning the menu for my first Trufflepalooza party in 2009, I threw these open-faced radish sandwiches with truffle butter in at the last minute. Little did I know that this would become one of my signature dishes. 

I'm a huge fan of the radish and believe it is seriously underutilized by American cooks - in fact, I will bet good money that my simple radish salad recipe will change your life. Go ahead, try it and tell me you still see radishes only as a garnish. I dare you.

The combination of clean, crisp radishes and earthy truffles is magical. I had no idea this was true before I made these radish truffle sandwiches for the first time. It was just dumb luck, inspired by the classic French combination of radishes, butter and salt. But I'll take dumb luck and call it a flash of inspiration to anyone who asks.

Now I make these radish and truffle butter sandwiches as a nibble for almost every party I throw. There are always a few skeptics. They're always won over. The tray always ends up empty.

Notes: I make my own truffle butter, but you certainly don't have to. High-quality truffle butter is available at most gourmet stores. The grated fresh truffle is optional, too, but don't skip the sprinkle of truffle salt (I like Sabatino truffle sea salt). I've made these with the bread toasted and not - I prefer not, actually, but either way works.

P.S. Thank you Shockingly Delicious for calling these radish and truffle butter sandwiches "Best New Appetizer" - I'm honored!

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Radish and truffle butter tartines

by Erika Kerekes August-31-2010

A twist on the classic French combination of radishes and butter. The dusky truffle plays so well with the tangy radish that this has become one of my favorite cocktail nibbles.

Ingredients

• 1 baguette, thinly sliced (about 30 pieces)
• 1 bunch round red radishes
• 4 Tbsp truffle butter (look for this at gourmet stores, or make your own truffle butter - click here for my recipe)
• truffle salt (look for this at gourmet stores - can substitute sea salt)
• freshly grated black truffle (optional)

Instructions

Lay the baguette slices out on a work surface. Using a mandoline, slice the radishes as thinly as you can. I leave the stem on and use that as a handle - if you use the safety holder that comes with your mandoline, your radish slices will end up with holes in them, which I find unattractive. Do be careful with your fingertips, though.To assemble: Spread a thin layer of truffle butter on each slice of baguette. Top with two overlapping slices of radish. Continue until all the bread slices are covered with radish, then sprinkle truffle salt lightly over the whole batch. Move the sandwiches to a serving platter. If using the fresh truffle, grate it over the sandwiches when they get to the serving platter - the errant bits of truffle look beautiful on the tray.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: Total time: 15 mins Yield: about 30 pieces