MARTHA STEWART AND I AT CHRISTMAS

An hour outside of Manhattan to Westport, Connecticut, there were two perfect wreaths on the gates. The ribbons hadn’t sagged in the snow, the greens looked as if they had been picked just for my arrival, and the gates slid open without a moment’s wait.

It was Martha perfection.

I was primed to cook for a Christmas television show, and to see how Martha Stewart lives. My theme was entertaining – obvious enough for that time of year. Martha asked me what we were cooking. I told her peppered filet of beef with Montpelier butter.

The butter, not only because it’s my absolute favorite, but because made in a food processor it’s TV theatre, easy, and everyone gets it.

“But first,” I said, “I have a dish designed to keep the guests out of one’s hair.”

Don’t get me wrong. Over the years I have grown used to everyone piling into the kitchen instead of taking charge of the drinks’ tray in the living room, porch, lawn, or pool house, depending on the time of year. Used to it, but not entirely comfortable with it. Even in kitchens with seating designed to welcome guests and then never have them leave.

Martha and I talked buffets. I said that I love serving buffet style because I hate it when the guests come chirping into the kitchen where I am communing not only with several pots of simmering tripe, pigs’ feet, and truffle ragouts, but in prayer with the last-minute preparations with a cheese soufflé for twelve and then someone inevitably says:

“What are you cooking?”

After that direct, expected, but still interruptus demand, I can’t cook. So I try and distract my guests before they can pop the dreaded question. A big, shaved-iced filled, punch bowl stuck all over with Bloody Mary Seafood Shooters.

Martha had a beautiful, oval, silver bowl filled and mounded with shaved ice. We shoved the shooters around in the ice and put the bowl on the edge of the kitchen counter where the guests would see it the moment they came through the kitchen door.

And directed a spotlight on it.

Martha is more gracious than I am. She knew everyone would behave as directed.

You hope they down a shooter immediately and then look questioningly over to see if it is all right to have another. After two shooters, any guest would realize that the rest of the menu is what it was going to be.

Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters

We mixed 2 cups of tomato juice that came from a glass container and not a metal one (no tinny flavors), with 2 teaspoons of non-creamed horseradish, Tabasco and Worcester sauces in 2-4 spurts, 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then the secret ingredient of reduced shrimp stock (the shells cooked 10 minutes with fish stock). And vodka or, for me, gin. All the ingredients should be as cold as possible.

We put a little of the mix in shot glasses. Then a teaspoon of finely chopped cooked shrimp, then topped that with more mix. Then a sprinkle of finely chopped parsley and lemon zest on top. Shove them in the ice, shoot some, and hear the angels sing.

Filet of Beef stuffed with Boletus Mushrooms

I told Martha that my inspiration for this dish is Escoffier’s recipe for Filet de Boeuf Renaissance.

The beef has the best flavor and tenderest texture if it is spit roasted, but it still very good grilled, broiled, roasted (baked), or smoke-cooked in a covered grill. And is perfect either at room temperature or slightly chilled if the weather is hot. It is also an excellent way to prepare individual steaks that can be started in advance and then finished off quickly in an oven, on a grill, or under the broiler at the last minute. In that case, cook the whole filet halfway to your desired doneness, let it cool, cut individual portions, and finish cooking just before you serve them.

I love to serve it with butter-stewed cipollini onions and fresh white beans cooked in water, drained, and then tossed with chopped garlic and parsley, and lashings of extra virgin olive oil.

At Stars Singapore, the steak was a big hit served with asparagus tempura with the Montpelier Butter.

Notes on pepper: Black and white pepper, or piper nigrum, not Sichuan pepper, pink peppercorns, Melegueta pepper, Jamaica pepper (allspice), chili pepper, and so on. The most common high quality black peppercorns come from the Malabar coast of India: Tellicherry from the north, Alleppey from the south, and plain Malabar. I have tasted Vietnamese, Brazilian, and Madagascar pepper, but my favorites are Indonesian Lampong and Cambodian Kampot which have a high peperine content and a very rich aroma.

Bought ground pepper has none of the intensity and of flavor and perfume as freshly ground peppercorns, so grind your own. Either fresh from a mill

or at the beginning of a heavy cooking day, grind a batch in an electric grinder and have in handy in a ramekin beside the stove. When coarse grounds are called for, sieve out the ‘dust’ and keep it for general cooking.

If you have the patience, toast each batch before grinding or filling your peppermill since that will bring out the peperine oil flavor of pepper.

Serves: 6-8

1 whole beef fillet, trimmed of excess fat (but not all) and all silver skin

1 cup dried boletus (cepe, porcini) or ½ cup of paste

¼ cup black peppercorns

¼ cup white peppercorns

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons Cognac

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

Sea or kosher salt

Simmer the mushrooms for 20 minutes in 2 cups of water or until quite tender. Puree them until smooth with a little of the liquid to the consistency of peanut butter. Season.

Grind the peppercorns very coarsely, sieve out the dust and put the coarse grounds in a small mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, Cognac, and thyme, and mix well.

Slice the fillet in the center, lengthwise, cutting only half way down. Spread the mushroom puree evenly along the cut. Tie the fillet back to its original shape using kitchen string. Spread the pepper mix all over the fillet, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours. When time to cook, take it out and let it come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Salt the beef and put it on a rack in a baking pan and then in the oven. Turn the heat down to 400 degrees, and bake for about 30 minutes for medium rare, or until the internal temperature is 130 degrees (54 C). Let the fillet sit in a warm place for 15 minutes before slicing.

If you have any of the liquid for cooking the mushrooms, whisk it with an equal quantity of extra virgin olive oil and pour over the beef.

Montpelier Butter

This greatest of all “compound” butters is traditionally made in a mortar with a pestle, but a food processor will do just fine.

It is very good with cold poached fish, especially salmon, but is equally delicious with hot grilled or roasted fish. Spooned between slices of cold roast veal or pork, the slices reassembled, left for a day, and served at room temperature, it creates a lifelong memory.

The photo here is with roast salmon.

The butter will keep in the fridge for a few days and can be frozen, perfect to have on hand the next time you want to enhance a simple protein.

And this from The New York Times.

"One of my favorite recipes in the whole book (Jeremiah Tower Cooks) is for Montpelier butter -- it's the best version I've ever tried and incredibly versatile. In his New American Classics, Tower wrote that this classic compound butter 'transforms hot cauliflower' and that 'on top of mashed potatoes it is so good that it should be arrested.' Here, years after that, he says he hasn't changed his mind and further recommends it with hot grilled fish or steaks and, at room temperature, with cold poached salmon. With typical passion, he adds that when it is spooned between slices of leftover roast pork or veal 'the slices reassembled, left for a day, and then eaten at cool room temperature, it creates a lifelong memory.'"

6 leaves spinach

Leaves from 1/2 bunch watercress (1 1/2 cups of leaves)

2 tablespoons fresh flat parsley leaves

2 tablespoons fresh chervil leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves

2 shallots, chopped

2 cornichons, rinsed and chopped

4 anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons capers

1 garlic clove, peeled

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 hard-cooked egg yolks

2 large raw egg yolks

¼ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

“Blanch the spinach, watercress, herbs and shallots in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, refresh under cold water and squeeze dry. Place the mixture in a food processor. Add the cornichons, anchovies, capers, garlic, cayenne and salt and pepper. Process to a smooth paste. Add the egg yolks, cooked and raw, and the butter and process again until thoroughly mixed.

Transfer the butter to a bowl and whisk in the oil by hand. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.”

HASHISH FUDGE

Martha has, according to CNBC, “jumped on the cannabis bandwagon” though the wagon is CBD, a non-psychoactive compound of marijuana. So, if you want to have a mellow but not stoned time, here is an old recipe from Tangier’s Brion Gysin, a friend of William Burroughs.

Make the important change of using CBD instead of the Cannabis Sativa. ( quantity based on your preference, but certainly not one cup)

1 tsp Black peppercorns

1 whole Nutmeg, crushed

4 average sticks Cinnamon

1 tsp Coriander seed

1 cup Cannabis sativa, stemmed, seeded

½ cup each Pitted dates, dried figs, shelled almonds, shelled skinless peanuts

1 cup Brown sugar

½ cup Butter

Put the peppercorns, nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, and cannabis in a spice mill and pulverize until the texture of fine coffee.

Put the dates, figs, almonds, and peanuts in a food processor and grind until smooth. Add the spice-cannabis mixture and grind a few moments more. Add the sugar and butter and process for 1 minute.

Turn the mixture out onto a board and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Let sit for 2 hours for all the flavors to meld and the power of the cannabis to develop.

Break off pieces the size of a walnut and roll them into a bite-sized ball.