1 Year Wedding Anniversary!

This past Sunday my husband and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. We spent the day reminiscing about our beautiful wedding ceremony and our wonderful family and friends who helped us to celebrate that great moment in our lives. In commemoration of an amazing year together, I wanted to make the husband a special meal of Filet Mignon with a Cognac Cream Sauce, Panzanella Salad and a Kahlua Flour-less Chocolate Cake. These dishes were simple, but had the necessary glamour for any special occasion.

On our wedding day!

Filet Mignon with Cognac Cream Sauce

This is a simple recipe that is a sure hit amongst all beef lovers. The Cognac sauce adds the perfect amount of elegance to the dish.

What you need:

2 Filets

Salt

Ground black, white and green peppercorns

2 shallots

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup Heavy cream

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons Cognac

Start off by heating up your grill. Salt and pepper your filets and allow to sit out while the grill is heating in order for the beef to warm up a bit. Once heated, grill the filets for about 5 minutes on each side or until medium-rare. While the grill is going, prepare your sauce. Dice up the 2 shallots (this can be done in advance to save you time) and place in a skillet along with the butter. Allow shallots to cook for 3-5 minutes or until tender and aromatic. Add in the heavy cream, Dijon, Cognac and salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook on low for 5 more minutes or until the sauce thickens. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Once the filets are cooked to the desired doneness, top with a bit of  the Cognac sauce and serve immediately.

Summer Panzanella Salad

This is an amazing salad that can be prepared entirely in advance. The fresher the ingredients the better the results!

What you need:

Ciabatta loaf

Mozzarella

1 Yellow and 1 Green Bell Pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh Basil leaves

Italian Seasoning

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water

1/4 cup of White Vinegar

Early in the day, dice up your Ciabatta bread into crouton size pieces. Heat up your broiler and place your oven rack directly beneath it. Broil the Ciabatta for about 5-10 minutes. Be very careful not to burn the bread; to do so, be sure to check on it frequently while cooking. If you look away for too long you may end up with some very burnt pieces!  Once golden and crunchy, remove from oven and allow to cool.

The best part about this recipe is that you can prepare all the components early in the day and then right before serving throw it all into one bowl and mix. Start off by chopping up your bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella. Leave the mozzarella in a separate bowl until serving so that it does not water down the other ingredients.

Create your dressing with either a store bought Italian season package or create your own with a mixture of basil, oregano, onion powder, thyme, parsley, celery salt, garlic salt, pepper, sugar and salt. Add white vinegar, water and oil. Mix and keep in refrigerator until serving time.

Once you are ready to serve, combine all your chopped ingredients including the ciabatta and mozzarella into one large bowl. Pick, wash and dry your basil. Chop and add to salad. Add your dressing and serve!

Kahlua Flour-less Chocolate Cake

This cake is for every chocolate lover out there; it's rich, decedent and will not disappoint. I served it to my husband with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and he deemed it restaurant worthy.

What you need:

5 large eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 stick of butter

8 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate – chopped and split out into 4 ounces and 4 ounces

1/2 cup Cocoa Powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons Kahlua

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Start of by bring 5 eggs to room temperature. In many countries such as France, eggs are not stored in the refrigerator. A cold egg versus a room temperature egg can bring about a different result. For this recipe, be sure to allow your eggs to sit out before using.

Melt 4 ounces of chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Meanwhile chopped your butter into small pieces. Once the chocolate has melted, remove from heat and add the butter; stir until combined. Set aside.

Beat the room temperature eggs until they become thick. Slowly add in the sugar and continue to beat for about 10 minutes or until the mixture turns pale yellow and becomes thick. Carefully dust the cocoa powder and baking powder over the egg mixture. Fold together. Do not mix!

Add the vanilla, a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of Kahlua to the melted chocolate. Add one cup of the egg mixture to the chocolate. Stir together. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the egg mixture. Fold together. Again, do not stir.

Pour the entire mixture into a greased 9” spring-foam pan. To make the removal of the cake even easier, first line the pan with parchment paper and grease the paper on both sides. By doing so, the bottom of the paper sticks to the pan and keeps it from lifting up into your cake. The results are an easy to remove cake with a seamless underside. 

Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees. Once the cake is done, allow to cool completely before trying to remove it from the pan. If you try to move the cake too soon, it could break or crack. 

While the cake is cooling, prepare your ganache. Melt the other 4 ounces of chocolate in a double broiler just as you did before. Add the cream and last tablespoon of Kahlua. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. 

Once the cake is cooled, pour on the ganache and spread until smooth over the top of cake. Do not worry if the ganache runs down the sides -it adds the perfect decor! Refrigerate cake until serving time. Serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. 

These 3 recipes created the perfect first anniversary dinner! Happy 1 year wedding anniversary to my husband - I cannot believe it has been a whole year!