Slow-Cooker Chicken With Bacon, Mushrooms, and Onions

from RealSimple.com

Serves 6| Hands-On Time: 35m | Total Time: 7hr 00m

Ingredients
1/2 pound sliced bacon, diced
1 4- to 6-pound chicken, cut up
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1/4 cup dry vermouth plus 1/4 cup water)
1/2 pound small white mushrooms
1 cup frozen small white onions, thawed
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 sprigs fresh rosemary (or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary leaves)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat until crisp. With a slotted spoon, transfer it to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Pour off all but a light coating of fat from the skillet. Add the chicken and brown over medium-high heat; transfer to the cooker.
2. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add the skillet contents to the cooker, along with the mushrooms, onions, garlic, rosemary, and salt. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 hours, or on high for 3 hours.
3. Transfer the chicken, bacon, and vegetables to a platter; keep warm. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan. Combine the water and cornstarch; stir it into the sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour over the chicken.

Beef Wellington

from "Video Recipes by Handmade TV"

Click here to watch a video of this recipe!

Always elegant (and deceptively simple to make), these individually sized beef wellingtons make excellent party entrées. Serve with roasted or sautéed vegetables and a rich red wine.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 small beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1" thick (3-4 ounces each)

1/2 pound mushrooms, finely chopped

3 tbs dry red wine

3 tbs green onions, finely chopped

6 phyllo dough sheets, defrosted

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F.

2. Clean and finely dice mushrooms.

3. In a large nonstick skillet heat olive oil and cook the mushrooms until tender.

4. Add red wine and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

5. Chop up green onions, and add to the mushrooms.

6. Add thyme, salt and pepper.

7. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet. Let them cool thoroughly.

8. Heat up the same skillet over medium-high heat until hot.

9. Season each filet mignon with salt and pepper. Make sure to season both sides.

10. Place the fillets in a hot skillet and sear for 3 minutes, turning once. Please note: You will not be cooking the fillets all the way through at this point; You're simply searing the outside.

11. On a flat surface, lay out the phyllo dough, brushing each sheet thoroughly with melted butter. Stack the sheets on top of each other. You will need 6 sheets of dough, cut into quarters, for each wellington.

12. Place about 2 tablespoons mushroom mixture in center of each portion; spread mixture to diameter of each steak.

13. Place steaks on mushroom mixture and then top the filet with more mushrooms.

14. Bring together all 4 corners of the phyllo dough; twist tightly to close.

15. Lightly butter the outside of the wellingtons, and place them on a greased baking tray.

16. Bake them in a 425°F oven for 9 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

17. Let them rest for 5 minutes.

Truffled Bresaola Salad

by Tanith Tyrr

2 oz Bresaola, sliced paper-thin (this is an air-dried beef, slightly nutty and gamy, cured prosciutto style. If not available, use prosciutto.)
1 head frisee lettuce, separated into small curls
2 oz blanched finely crushed hazelnuts
2 oz crushed black walnuts
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup white truffle oil
1/8 cup hazelnut oil
1/2 cup chanterelle mushrooms, sauteed in a few drops of oil until limp
Raw white truffle slices

Note that either the hard-to-find and expensive Italian White Truffle (tuber magnatum pico) can be used in this salad, or you can use the Oregon White Truffle (tuber gibbosum) to excellent effect on both your palate and your pocketbook.

Mix balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts and hazelnut oil until blended. Arrange frisee to cover the plate, and pour the hazelnut/balsamic dressing over the greens. Arrange bresaola in slices around the plate, and then spoon the mushrooms in a spiral pattern over bresaola and lettuce. Scatter crushed black walnuts over the mushrooms, and drizzle white truffle oil over the bresaola and the salad. Garnish with white truffle slices, as generously as your supply allows.