Surf and Turf with Mushrooms

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 3 m.-sized potato(s), mainly floury, fresh
• e.g. milk or sweet cream
• 20 green beans, fresh
• 3 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 1 Madeira
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp savory, fresh or frozen
• 4 small onions, red
• 2 m.-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 400 g Shimeji mushrooms, with brown cap
• 6 g chicken broth or stock
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp Madeira
• 2 tbsp celery leaves, fresh or frozen
• 6 leaves of lettuce (Roma lettuce)
• 2 m.-large tomato(s), red, fully ripe
• 4 medium-sized steaks, fresh or frozen, approx. 400 g
• 12 m.-sized shrimp(s), fresh or frozen, approx. 16 – 20 cm in size
• 1 m.-sized carrot(s)
• e.g. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, black, freshly ground
• Nutmeg, freshly grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

A colorful plate of beef steaks, medium-sized shrimp, mushrooms, and mashed potatoes. A recipe from the Marche region of Italy.

Dry the steaks thoroughly and rub both sides with olive oil and black pepper. Remove 6 leaves from the Romaine lettuce, wash them, and trim the midribs on the back so that the leaves can be used as bowls. Cut off the tops of the tomatoes and make 4 cuts from the bottom of each, ending about 1 cm before the cut. Use a small spoon to remove the seeds and membranes. Remove the lower part of the Shimeji mushrooms, including the substrate and mycelium. Separate the mushrooms, cleaning them with a brush if necessary. Cut off any long stems at the cap, chop the stems crosswise, and use the caps whole. For the mashed potatoes, wash the potatoes and cook them with the skin on. Let the potatoes cool, then peel and trim them. Using a potato ricer, mash the potatoes. Add a little milk and 2 tablespoons of olive oil so that the mash remains firm and does not run. Add nutmeg, pepper, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Do not stir too much, or the mash will become sticky. Cover and keep the mashed potatoes warm. Wash the fresh shrimp or thawed frozen shrimp. Twist and remove the heads of all shrimp, then wash them all again. Cut each shrimp open down the back with small scissors, down to the last segment—leave this segment and the tail if desired. Peel off the chitin shell, removing the black intestine, and pull the body from the last segment. Wash the fresh celery, shake dry, pick off the leaves, and roughly chop. Wash and peel one carrot, then make approximately 5 cm long longitudinal slits from the top end. Slice off 20 approximately 2 mm thick slices. Coarsely grate the remaining carrot. Wash and trim the green beans. Blanch the beans in a little boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then collect and set aside the cooking water. Cool the beans in ice-cold water, drain well in a sieve, and set aside. Use the cooking water to blanch the sliced ​​and grated carrots for about 3 minutes and later to steam the shrimp. Arrange the carrot slices in a circle on the serving plates. For the mushrooms, trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and cut them into small pieces. Fry them in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms and simmer for 1 minute, then add the stock and mix well. Mix the cream with the Madeira and deglaze the mushroom mixture. Season with nutmeg and pepper, and finally stir in the celery leaves. Cover and keep the mushrooms warm. Melt the butter in a sufficiently large saucepan, toss the green beans in it, add the remaining bean ingredients, and season with salt. Remove the beans with a slotted spoon and divide them between serving plates. Briefly toss the carrot sticks in the remaining sauce and stuff the 2 smallest roma leaves with them. Arrange the mushrooms on top of the remaining roma leaves and the tomatoes and arrange them on the serving plates. Heat a pan, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and heat until fragrant. Fry the steaks on both sides until cooked to your liking. Meanwhile, steam the shrimp in a colander over the beans’ cooking water until pink and place on the serving plates. Add the mashed potatoes. Finally, add the steaks and drizzle the remaining oil from the pan over the mashed potatoes. Garnish and serve immediately.