2014 Camilla Barolo + Filet Mignon in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce #ItalianFWT

Happy New Year! I am hosting this month's Italian Food Wine Travel (#ItalianFWT) bloggers as we explore Italian Wines for Cold Winter Nights. You can read my invitation here. I really wanted to make this an easy month with sourcing by not restricting the group to either region or varietal. And they really have some fun explorations in store for us. Here's the line-up...

Cozying Up with the #ItalianFWT Bloggers

• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm gives us Pure Comfort~~Pasta with a Bottle of Aglianico.
• Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog prepares A Surf and Turf Feast with Donnachiara Wines.
• Jill of L'Occasion posts For Table And Cellar: Warm Up With Italian Wine.
• David of Cooking Chat serves up Healthy Bolognese Sauce with a Tuscan Sangiovese.
• Jane of Always Ravenous pairs Italian Meatballs with Donnachiara Wines.
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator offers 4 Montepulciano Paired with Osso Bucco Warms Up Winter Italian Style plus #ItalianFWT plans for 2019.
• Nicole of Somm's Table is Cooking to the Wine: Fontanafredda Barolo and Braised Short Ribs with Mushrooms.
• Katarina of Grapevine Adventures encourages us to Get Cosy By The Fire With Italian Wine.
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest writes about Italian Wine To Warm Your Soul.
• Jennifer of Vino Travels is Starting the New Year with the Big Boys: Barolo and Barbaresco.
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs a 2014 Camilla Barolo + Filet Mignon in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

Join the Conversation

And, if you're reading this early enough, the bloggers will be on Twitter live on Saturday, January 5th at 8am Pacific time. Feel free to chime in there or just follow along with the hashtag #ItalianFWT. We'd love to have you join us.

Cold Winter Days

So, I know that the topic was 'cold winter nights', but we just returned from a 10-day trip to Denmark. And it was chilly night and day! It certainly didn't help that we only had about 7 hours of daylight either. The sun rose around 8:30am and set around 3:30pm. Still we had a fabulous vacation and enjoyed spending time with long-lost friends.

Thankfully, Italian wine is also plentiful and inexpensive there. When I was in the store with Rikke, my best friend from when I lived and worked in Rome, I commented to her that that $12 bottle in her grocery store would cost me about $40 in mine! Needless to say: I drank a lot of Italian wine during our vacation...and lamented that I couldn't bring enough home.

In My Glass

For this event, I am featuring at 2014 Barolo. Yes, I did buy it for the label, initially. But it is a great wine, too!

Camilla is the name of a vineyard in Grinzane Cavour that is farmed by Bruna Grimaldi and her family. These particular vines are 40 years old, but the estate was started over 50 years ago when Bruna's grandfather planted the area. Now Bruna and her husband, Franco Fiorino, who are both trained oenologists have increased the family holdings and truly believe that good wine begins in the vineyard. If this wine is any indication, I will be looking for others soon!

This particular expression of the Nebbiolo varietal is wildly complex with floral notes and hints of pepper. And in addition to its impressive depth, it also boasts elegant restraint. It's silky with a nice structure.

On My Plate
Most of the time, since Nebbiolo isn't dwarfed by acid, I often pair with long-braised meats in a tomato sauce.

Or, as Rikke and I did just last week, I pour a Barolo with pasta and meatballs. But I opted to make a creamy sauce instead.

The sweetness of the caramelized shallots were tempered with the earthiness of the mushrooms and brightness of the fresh thyme.

Ingredients

• 4 T butter, divided
• 2 T olive oil , divided
• 1 pound mushrooms, brushed clean and thickly sliced
• 2 to 3 shallots, peeled and diced
• 1 T fresh thyme leaves
• four 6 oz filet mignon steaks (approximately 1-1/2" thick)
• 1/2 C red wine (don't use the Barolo for this...just any leftover red wine will do)
• 1-1/2 C broth (I used a chicken broth because that's what I had)
• 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper

Procedure

Bring the filet mignon steaks out of the fridge and salt and pepper them liberally. In a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat melt in 2 T butter in 1 T oil. Add thickly sliced mushrooms and cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in shallots and cook for another 3 minutes. 

Add in fresh thyme and cook for another couple of minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to a plate and return pan to the heat.

     

Melt remaining 2 T butter in remaining 1 T oil. When butter is hot and foaming, add seasoned steaks to pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium doneness. Transfer the steaks to a plate and set aside.

Add wine to the same pan and bring to a boil. Boil until liquid is reduced by about half, scraping the bottom with a spatula to deglaze the pan. Pour in the broth and reduce again for 5 to 6 minutes. Add in the cream and boil until the sauce thickens slightly, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.

Return mushrooms and steak to the pan and heat until warmed through again, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with more salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately. We served this with some zucchini slices and a crisp green salad.

And that's a wrap for my Italian wines for cold winter nights post. Next month, Jeff of FoodWineClick! will be hosting the #ItalianFWT bloggers as we head to Umbria and focus on the Sagrantino. Can't wait!