To mark the start of the Cairns Amateur horse racing weekend, my Cairns friends Mark, Bianca and Mat went to the weekend's opening brunch. Several rounds of champagne later, they joined me on my lunch hour (some of us DO work 9-5 jobs ... even on "working holidays") for an elegant lunch of french cuisine.
They were all noticeably more dressed-up than I, me still in my work clothes (i.e. Taxback.com golf shirt). "One of these things is not like the other ..."
Aside from the wanting to eat french food while being all dressed up, we got the idea after I notice the overabundance of frogs in Cairns. All: "Those aren't frogs Kevin ... they're Cane Toads." Cane toads, I've been told, were a failed introduced biological control of the sugar cane beetle. Because the beetles threaten FNQ's important sugar cane industry, someone decided it was a smart move to introduce Cane Toads to eat them. Cane Toads flourished, and ate lots of beetles. Only program was, Cane Toads can't be eaten (they have poisonous secretion making them nearly impossible to eat) and, thus, have no natural enemies in the food chain. Then, to make the problem even worse, Cane Toads moved on from sugar cane beetles and started even lots of other things, including lots of native, endangered amphibians.
End result: lots of Cane Toads. Too many Cane Toads.
So, can you see where our logic was: Cane toads -> Frog legs -> French food ... You see the connection, no?
The restaurant's name, translated into English, is "it's Good". The irony was that food wasn't all that good. (you'll notice my sauce is in the middle of my plate in the picture above, in the form of a frozen "brick" on top of the potatoes ... completely unappealing). The below sauce is better. Use it instead. :)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds tender boneless beef steak, cut 1 to 1 1/2-inches thick
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
6 tablespoons Cognac, warmed
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced shallots
1 to 2 tablespoons canned green peppercorns, rinsed and drained; or 1 to 2 tablespoons dried green peppercorns
3/4 cup whipping cream or creme fraiche
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon dry tarragon
Salt and ground black pepper
Method:
1 - Trim fat from steak or score fat to prevent meat from curling as it cooks.
2 - Melt butter in oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat. add meat and cook, turning once, until well browned on both sides and done to your liking; cut to test (6 to 8 minutes for rare).
3 - Move pan into an open area, away from exhaust fans and flammable items. Add brandy and ignite; shake or tilt pan until flame dies. Transfer meat to a serving dish and keep warm.
Add shallots to pan; cook over high heat, stirring, until shallots are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4 - Add peppercorns, cream, mustard and tarragon. Bring to a boil; boil, stirring, until large, shiny bubbles form and sauce is slightly thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in any accumulated meat juices from serving dish. Season with salt and pepper; pour over meat. Serve with steamed vegetables.
No comments:
Post a Comment