Last week, Harvest homeowners had the opportunity to cook with Chef Audrey McGinnis from Every Girl Gourmet. Chef McGinnis was featured on Master Chef and Cake Wars, to name a few. She loves getting people excited about food and showing them how to create great dishes for their friends and family.
At Harvest, Chef McGinnis created a tasty three-course meal where neighbors had the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get behind the cutting board. The menu included a Mango Torito, Crab Turnovers with Tomatillo-Avocado sauce, Wine Braised Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms, and Belgium Waffles with Hazelnut sauce. Who would have thought to prepare a waffle for dessert?? Best idea ever!!
Chef McGinnis has graciously shared the recipes for these dishes (see below) for you to make at home!
We also want to thank David Weekley Homes for letting us use their beautiful model home!
Mango Torito:
1 large ripe mango
2 cups water
1 cup superfine sugar (blend regular sugar in food processor)
1 cup tequila
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Cut the flesh from both flat sides of the mango pit and then trim as much of the flesh from the narrow sides of the pit as possible. With a large spoon, separate the flesh from the skin. Chop the flesh, place in a blender jar, and puree. Measure out 1 cup of the puree; reserve any extra for another use.
Fill a pitcher with ice. Pour in the mango puree, water, sugar, tequila, and lime juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Serve over ice.
Crab Turnovers w/tomatillo-avocado sauce
1/2 lb. lump crabmeat
2 Tbs. butter
½ cup chopped white onions
1 ½ Tbs. (or to taste) chopped jalapeno
Salt
¾ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ cup crema, crème fraiche, or thinned sour cream
Pastry dough, at room temp.
Vegetable oil for frying
2 eggs lightly beaten with 2 oz. water
Masa (finely ground corn meal)
Tomatillo-avocado sauce
Pick over the crabmeat and remove any pieces of shell and cartilage.
Blot dry with a paper towel.
Heat butter in a medium heavy skillet over medium heat just until it starts to brown. Stir in the onion and jalapeno, season with salt and cook, stirring until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the oregano and cumin and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Add the crema, bring to a boil and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the crab, leaving the pieces as large as possible, and season to taste with salt. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Sprinkle lightly with Masa.
Roll out pastry dough onto lightly floured work service. Roll gently till dough is 1/8 inch thick. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles.
Baste the edges of a circle with egg wash. Fill each circle with 2 Tbs. crab mixture. Fold over dough to make a half-moon shaped turnover. Crimp press edges together and then press with fork to crimp.
Place turnover on prepared baking sheet. Repeat.
Pour ¾ inch of oil into a large, deep skillet. Heat over medium heat until the corner of a turnover into the oil gives off a lively sizzle. Carefully lay
6 turnovers into the oil. Fry, turning once, until crisp and lightly browned on both sides, about 4 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a lively sizzle without splattering or burning. Drain on a paper towel and repeat with remaining turnovers. Serve hot, with tomatillo-avocado sauce.
Tomatillos-avocado sauce:
1 lb. tomatillos, husked, washed and coarsely chopped
1 jalapeno or 2 small serranos, sliced
2 small garlic cloves
1 medium sized avocado
2 Tbs. chopped white onion
10 fresh cilantro sprigs, torn into rough pieces
2 tsp. salt
Put the tomatillos into a blender jar and add the remaining ingredients. (Tomatillos contain a lot of water, and when the blender starts, they quickly liquidize, making it easier to blend the other ingredients into the sauce; even if it seems as if nothing is happening in the first few seconds, resist the temptation to add water to the blender.) Blend at high speed until smooth. The sauce can be made up to 8 hours in advance---no longer, or it will begin to lose its fresh taste---and kept, covered at room temp.
Take 2 cups of the sauce put back into a blender jar. Add 1 quartered, pitted and peeled medium sized avocado. Blend on low speed until smooth. Add salt to taste. Pour back into reserved mixture and stir to combine.
Wine Braised Pork Tenderloin w/mushrooms
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
2 pork tenderloins, trimmed of fat
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, cleaned and halved
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock, heated
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 Tbs. cornstarch
3 Tbs. cold water
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350*
Heat oil and butter in a large oven proof sauté pan over medium heat. When hot, add pork and sear 10-12 minutes on all sides, seasoning during the cooking process. Remove pork and set aside.
Add onion and garlic to pan; cook 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and season well; increase heat to high and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour in wine and cook 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomato paste and oregano; mix well. Return pork to pan, cover and cook 25 minutes in oven or until pork reaches 160*.
Remove pork from pan, tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve cornstarch in cold water; stir into sauce left in pan until well incorporated. Season and cook 1 minute. Slice pork into ½ inch slices and return to pan with sauce. Simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. Serve.
Belgium Waffles with Hazelnut sauce
1/2 cup whole milk, lukewarm
1/3 cup water, lukewarm
3 tsp. instant yeast
2 large eggs, at room temp, beaten
1 Tbs. vanilla
2 Tbs. honey
3 Tbs. brown sugar
¾ tsp. fine salt
3 2/3 cup AP flour
2 sticks, unsalted butter, cubed and at room temp.
1 ½ oz. pearl sugar (or sugar cubes, broken into pieces)
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the milk, water, yeast, eggs, honey, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Mix until well combined.
On low speed, add in all but 1 cup of flour and mix until combined. On low speed, add the butter, one cube at a time, thoroughly kneading in each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed before adding in any more butter. Once all the butter has been incorporated, add the remaining four and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
Remove the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Punch the dough down, cover again with plastic and place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours.
When ready to cook, heat up the Belgian waffle iron. Remove the dough from the fridge and knead in all the pearl sugar. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
Place first ball of waffle dough on lightly sprayed grid and cook according to waffle maker’s instructions. Cook until deeply golden all over, about 4-5 minutes. Carefully transfer with tongs or a fork to a baking sheet.
Keep waffles warm in a 200* oven if you plan to eat them right away. These waffles must be served warm or the pearl sugar will harden. Freeze any leftover waffles and reheat in a 200* oven until warmed through.
Hazelnut butterscotch
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup whole milk
2 Tbs. corn syrup
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
½ cup hazelnuts, roasted and chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbs. Hazelnut liqueur
Combine sugar, salt, milk, corn syrup and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook about 5 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla, hazelnut liqueur and nuts.
Serve warm.
Thanks for being a part of the Every Girl Gourmet experience!!!
To book your own party, visit bookings@EveryGirlGourmet.com or for more information info@EveryGirlGourmet.com or 972-740-4715.