Food Blog of the Week - The Passionate Cook

Let's take a jump across the pond for this edition of Food Blog of the Week. The Passionate Cook is blogged by Johanna Wagner, 35, an Austrian based in London. She loves cooking, fine dining and wining, traveling, and hates beetroot (!) and mediocre food. She's also a member of Slow Food, so obviously practices what she preaches.

The Passionate Cook stands out because it is extremely organized. I love the pull down menus on the left, which make it so easy to find what you're looking for. They encourage browsing as well.

Johanna's photos are as yummy as her recipes. I especially enjoy her photos of London food markets. One of my favorite things about visiting Europe is touring the grocery stores, butcher shops, and indoor and outdoor markets. The variety of meats, fish, cheeses, and produce is amazing. It's something we sorely lack in America, with the exception of our better farmer's markets and bigger ethnic food stores.

So stop by The Passionate Cook and tell her that This Mama Cooks! says hello. And while you're at it, take a look at this fine venison dish. Honestly, everything in life is better with bacon and port.

Venison fillet with portwine & orange sauce on fresh cep mushrooms
(serves 4)

(Go to the kitchen chemistry measurement converter page to convert British units to American ones.)

Ingredients:

• 800 g venison fillet (in one piece)*
• 4 tbsp oil

For the sauce:

• 50 g lean bacon* (finely diced)
• vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bouquet garni (various herbs rolled into bay leaves - I have a dry version, but of course fresh is best)
• 200 ml port wine
• 200 ml vegetable or beef stock
• 1 level tsp porcini powder (ground porcini) - optional
• 20 g ice cold, diced butter for mounting

For the cep (porcini) mushrooms:

• 600 g fresh cep mushrooms (I'm not sure what cep mushrooms are in the U.S., so substitute a mushroom that you think will go well with port and venison) i.e., porcini mushrooms for us Yanks (thanks Sam!)
• 3 shallots (finely sliced)
• 1 handful parsley (chopped)
• lemon juice

Directions:

First, prepare the sauce:

1. Fry the bacon in some vegetable oil, just enough to prevent it from sticking to the pan. If your bacon isn't too lean, you can get away with just frying it is as. Alternatively, if you have the bacon rind left over, "render" some of the fat by cooking it, cut side down, until some of the fat has been released. Remove the rind, then fry the bacon bits in the fat.
2. When the bacon is starting to brown, quarter the onion and halve the garlic and put into the pan unpeeled. Add the bouquet garni and leave everything to fry until the onion and garlic are browned.
   Deglaze with the portwine, reduce by half. Pour in the stock and once again reduce by half.
   Strain through a sieve, discard the solid ingredients and return the sauce to the pan, cooking until it has reached the required consistency.
3. If in a rush, you can thicken it with thickening granules - or any method would work, but remember that some (like corn starch) might make your sauce quite cloudy and you would be better advised spending some time reducing the sauce instead.
4. Set the sauce aside until ready to serve, at which point you will re-heat the sauce and stir in the butter.
5. Prepare the mushrooms by cleaning them with a brush or a paper towel. Avoid washing them, as they will soak up too much liquid. Cut into fine slivers.
6. For the fillets, season with salt and pepper. Heat 4 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan, add the venison and sear on all sides. Don't overcook, the meat is best enjoyed medium rare. Set to rest for 15 minutes before cutting into thick medallions.
7. While the venison is resting, heat the butter for the ceps in a large pan, fry the shallots until soft, then add the mushrooms and cook on a vigorous heat. Do not cover, to prevent excess liquid from building up.
8. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley and drizzle sparingly with the lemon juice just before serving.
9. Reheat the sauce, stirring in the butter with a whisk until it's completely melted.
10. Arrange the venison medallions on the cep mushrooms, pour over some of the sauce and serve with accompaniments like bread dumplings and red cabbage.

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