filet mignon, grilled asparagus, sweet potato and sage brown rice "risotto", snowman cake and tree trimming

longest title ever!

we bought our x-mas tree last night so it was tree trimming and good food night. we had some nice lightly spiced filet mignons from tj's and yummy grilled balsamic asparagus (on our grill pan...its allclad and its the best i've ever used.) the show stopper of the meal was the sweet potato and sage brown rice risotto style. we eat a lot of brown rice so poor arborio, which is what is used in real risotto would have been used once and lost in the abyss of other random foods in the back of our fridge. the brown rice was great, super creamy and still had that nutty bite to it.

after dinner it was tree decorating time....about 10 minutes of tearing the ornaments, garland and beads away from crazy littlefoodie jr. we began. we have the cutest little charlie brown tree and we love it. we love x-mas over here and having a child makes it way more fun...i think i may even believe in santa again. the stockings are hung, the garland is strung, the stairs are lit up and we are all ready to begin.



in honor of the tree trimming festivities i made littlefoodie almost half broken booty a cake shaped as a snowman. the cake itself was a pumpkin, eggnog, cocoa cake (i have a lot of eggnog left over) and a cream cheese frosting. i sprinkled some coconut to look like snow, used blueberries as his buttons, tangerines for the nose and a half pretzel stick with a fig cookie as his corn cob pipe..oh, and chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth and halved grapes for his scarf. yes, overly cute but you should've seen the look on little foodies face when i brought it out...soooo much happier than i thought and so worth it.

i have pictures today of the food as well as some photos of our newly decorated x-mas puked all over home!

enjoy!

spiced filet mignons

2 filets mignons
dash of salt
pepper
ground cumin
garlic powder
dried oregano
dash of chili powder

mix the rub up and rub all over one side of steak. i like to grill it on a hot grill pan on the crusty side until browned than flip over for a few minutes more...we like them almost still moo'ing over here.

grilled balsamic asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus, snapped and rinsed
balsamic vinegar
juice or 1 orange
chopped garlic
few drops of olive oil
basil
salt and pepper

i mix a little of everything together and marinate the asparagus in it until i am ready to grill.
heat the grill pan and dump it all out. depending on the thickness of the asparagus it'll vary on how you cook them...i prefer them crunchy and not limp. maybe 10 min or so depending.


sweet potato and sage brown rice risotto style

2 sweet potatoes, peeled, small diced and roasted
1 tbl minced garlic
3 large leaves of sage, finely chopped
1 cup brown rice, rinsed
2 cups beef stock (chicken or veggie or water is just as fine)
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup dry white wine
8 oz mascarpone
1/4 cup grated romano cheese

roast the sweet potatoes in olive oil to coat until tender..about 20-25 minutes. remove and cool.

saute garlic and onion in dutch oven in olive oil or unsalted butter. add rice and finely chopped sage leaves.
heat up stock or water in a pan until boiling. toast the rice over med high heat for about 10 min. when stock is boiling add to rice, bring to boil again then lower the heat and cook about 40 min or until rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed.

when rice is done add the white wine...turn the heat to med high again and stir for about 5 min. add the sweet potatoes, mascarpone and romano cheese. add salt and pepper to taste.



(snowman cake coming in next post!!!!)