Leek & Porcini Hodgepodge

Leek & Porcini Hodgepodge Filet of beef is probably a more accurate title but I thought it was too long. Hodgepodge is a great name because it describes this dish perfectly. This dish has the butt and tail end of the beef tenderloin

as an ingredient. This cut of meat is certainly not a requirement for this recipe but I had it so what the heck. I decided to make this dish out of necessity. I had broken down a beef tenderloin to make a special Salame which only required the center cut section.

The butt and tail end were leftover and I decided to use them to make something worthy. 

From the picture above you can distinguish the different sections of the Tenderloin. 

Another component to my fabulous Hodgepodge is the addition of my Lamb Prosciutto. Without this ingredient this dish would have only been delicious and not exquisite. These were the ends of the Prosciutto that were not sliced up. 

One of the first things I did was to re-hydrate my 3 ounces of dried Porcini mushrooms. I used a classic California beautiful red wine to re-hydrate the mushrooms.  

To re-hydrate the mushrooms submerge in a vessel large enough to accommodate them and using a plate if necessary to keep them under the liquid.  It should take about an hour or two to re-hydrate. After they are re-hydrated strain mushrooms through a China cap, Chinois or fine mesh strainer. After straining, reserve liquid. Rinse mushrooms in cold water to remove any excess dirt or sand than chop. Strain reserved liquid through several layers of cheese cloth and set aside. This mushroom infused liquid will be your de-glazing liquid.  



Here is a picture of the ingredients I used for the dish but not all.  

Pre- chop all your ingredients and get them ready for the long stewing. You will need to clean your leeks and chop them too. 

The Carrots, green onion, Celery, onions and garlic will also be pre-chopped.  I also included a couple of bell peppers that will need to be roasted and cut up too.

To roast peppers place on a burner until

they are very dark and singed. 

After you singe the peppers place peppers in a paper bag so peppers can steam and blackened skins can be easily removed.  

After you remove the skin chop up as desired. 
Don't worry about getting all of the singed skin off because it will add flavor.  

Pre-chop the Cilantro.  I love Cilantro!!! You can certainly use Italian parsley you if you prefer or a combination of the two. 

Chop up your green onion and set aside.  Green onions adds lots of color and flavor to your dish. 

Beef Ribs to add flavor and dept. Lightly coat your ribs with oil, Salt and Peppers them and set aside.  

This is all your tenderloin cut up into 1 inch cubes.  

In a very large dutch oven start sauteing the Rib bones. My Dutch oven happens to be a whopping 13 qts.  

After  you completely caramelize and brown your bones set them aside.  That brown beautiful stuff is called the Mallard reaction and gives incredible flavor. 

Take the Lamb Prosciutto if you are lucky to have any and chop fine. Saute the Prosciutto until some color forms and than add Beef tenderloin cubes. 

After the meat starts to slightly brown remove from dutch oven and set aside.

Start sauteing all the vegetables. Add to this thyme, oregano, hot chili flakes, salt and pepper.  

I added some flour also and created a light roux. 

Add your reserved mushroom infused wine and to de-glaze than reduce by a third. 

As you can see from this picture the liquid has reduced by a third. 

At this point everything goes in the pot. Meat, additional water, Oven dried Tomatoes and Cut tomatoes. 

I let everything cook for an hour before tasting.  I than adjusted for seasonings and thickness.  I added a roux in two stages.  Once in the beginning while sauteing vegetables and a second time after the Hodgepodge had cooked for an hour or two.   The whole cooking process takes about 3 hours or until meat breaks down.