Book review
Beef Wellington with mushroom duxelles and creamed spinach
Recipe from Swift & Sons, Chicago, Illinois
Serves 4
Eater: 100 Essential Restaurant Recipes By Hillary Dixler Canavan £26, Abrams
Since 2005, Eater has grown from a New York restaurant blog to one covering the dining scenes of 20 cities worldwide as well as a YouTube chan- nel. Now it’s ventured into the cookbook mar- ket with a collection of recipes from some of America’s best and most exciting restaurants. Although intended for home cooks with
recipes adapted for domestic kitchens, profes- sional chefs will find plenty to inspire them. The book’s eight chapters cover all the bases, from brunch, lunch, snacks and starters to noodles, chicken, mains, sides and desserts. Contributors range from world-famous chefs such as Dominique Crenn, who offers a sim- ple avocado and crab salad from her casual Bar Crenn in San Francisco, to Indian village- style Doh Khleh pork salad from hip New York restaurateurs Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya’s Dhamaka restaurant. With every cuisine from Mexican to Laotian,
east African and Caribbean included, this is a truly multicultural snapshot of the contempo- rary coast-to-coast American dining scene. Food from the South is also well represented by dishes such as Jimmy Red grits with sorghum-cured egg yolks and bay oil from chef Sean Brock’s Audrey restaurant in Nashville and seafood gumbo from Roots Southern Table in Texas. There are no burgers or hot dogs, but other American favourites are present and correct, often in updated form. A square pizza, origi- nally created in Detroit and served at Down North in Philadelphia, is topped with barbe- cue sauce, beef bacon, caramelised pineapple and pickled jalapeño, while apple pie gets a makeover at Honeypie in Milwaukee with an oat-based crumble topping and the addition of red cherries to the Granny Smith-based filling. The book is rounded out with a useful col-
lection of short articles covering topics such as ‘How to make eggs like a busy line cook’, ‘What makes a pizza wine’ and ‘How to build a seafood tower’. With its striking, colourful 1970s-inspired design and upbeat tone, this is a fun book to flick through for modern Ameri- can culinary inspiration. By Andy Lynes
36 | The Caterer | 10 November 2023
For the creamed spinach 900g baby spinach 11 g butter 227g diced yellow onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 30g plain flour 180ml white wine 60ml chicken stock 600ml whole milk 600ml double cream ¼tsp ground nutmeg 1tsp each salt and freshly ground pepper 1tsp Tabasco sauce
For the mushroom duxelles 60ml vegetable oil 455g finely minced button mushrooms 85g finely minced yellow onion 4 cloves garlic, finely minced 2 sprigs fresh thyme 180ml white wine 120ml double cream 1½tsp salt 1tsp ground black pepper 1½tsp sherry vinegar
For the beef Wellington 3tbs canola oil 2 centre-cut 284g filet mignons 2tbs Dijon mustard 3tbs mushroom duxelles (see above) 3tbs creamed spinach (see above) 2 sheets bought puff pastry, cut into two 17cm circles (poke a small hole in the centre of the larger circles to allow for venting) and two 10cm circles 2 eggs, beaten with 2tbs double cream, for the egg wash
To make the creamed spinach, bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice and water. Add the spinach to the boil- ing water, leave it for 10 seconds to wilt, then transfer to the ice water. Place the spinach in a col- ander with a weighted bowl atop to press out any water and reserve. Melt the butter in a straight- sided pot over medium-low heat.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA MURRAY
Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened without any colour, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and whisk thoroughly. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring, for five minutes, until no dry flour or lumps remain. Add the white wine and chicken stock and cook, stirring occasion- ally, until reduced by half, 30 to 45 minutes. Add the milk and cream, then cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching at the bottom, until the liquid has reduced by a third, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the nutmeg, salt, pepper and Tabasco. Blend the sauce for about one minute, until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, if needed. Chill the sauce completely in
a wide pan or bowl in the fridge (before mixing with the spin- ach to prevent any browning of the greens). Wring out any
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