This dish was meant to be more of a compliment to my signature chocolate cake, “Shines forever”, hence the rhyming names. For this dish, it is a seared ribeye(aka the only steak I really can confidently cook), with beef fat-wilted kale, crispy kale chip, red wine-mushroom-beef reduction, and a homemade phyllo-duxelle tart, garnished with shaved white button mushrooms. The flavor profiles are perfectly set up to be followed with a chocolate desserts, while the techniques speak true to my cooking style, being European(namely French and Montenegrin) and baking-related.

Making a duxelle takes so much time. You think that the phyllo might take a hot second, but the two things that absolutely need to be started on first are the duxelle, and the sauce. The moisture in those mushrooms need to be cooked out ASAP, otherwise when you put that mixture into the phyllo, you could double your baking time and possibly make tough, chewy pastry. For the sauce, since it has wine in it, that needs to cook down. So easily, those processes would be the first two things I recommend starting in making this dish. Besides that, it is a relatively user-friendly dish to many, and fun to present too!

For the wine sauce:
1/2 cup red wine (I love using port for this!)
1 garlic clove
1 black garlic clove
mushroom stems from duxelle*
1 shallot; peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1/3 cup warm beef stock
salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
oil

Rehydrate the mushrooms in the warm beef stock. Sweat out the garlic, black garlic, mushroom stems, shallot, and bay leaf in oil, then once translucent, deglaze the pan with the red wine. Pour the mushrooms through a cheese cloth into the pot as well, and allow that to simmer on low heat and reduce slowly. Once the mixture has been cooking down for about 30 minutes, strain, and continue to reduce for another 5 minutes, before adding in your butter to finish. The final consistency should be glossy and rich.

For the duxelle:
1 1/2 cups white button mushrooms, stems removed*
2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Sweat out shallot and thyme with salt in the butter in a large non-stick pan. Puree the white mushrooms until they form a brown paste. Pour that mixture into the pan and stir occasionally on medium-low heat until the water is cooked out (20-30 minutes). Cool down completely before using.

For the phyllo dough:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour + more for rolling
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt + more for seasoning
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Bloom thyme in butter. Mix other ingredients together to form a dough, then divide into eight balls. Roll each ball out to a flat disk before brushing butter on top of all but two of the disks. Press them together, butter side up, so that you have two stacks of four disks. Lightly flour a surface, then roll each stack out to about 1/16th thickness. Place one layer on a lined sheet tray, then cut out 4 inch rounds. Place another layer on another lined sheet tray and cut out 2 inch rounds. Place about 3 tablespoons of duxelle on the 4 inch rounds, and then place the 2 inch rounds on top of them. Crimp the edges and brush with more melted thyme butter, then sprinkle on some salt. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through; if the top disk becomes lopsided in this process, you can press it back down at the rotating stage.

For the steak:
Ribeye steaks
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Sumac
Oregano
Butter
Oil

This is pretty simple. Season the ribeye with salt, pepper, paprika, sumac, and oregano. Combine butter and oil in a pan and sear the steaks on each side for about 3 minutes. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 2 minutes. Rest for 10 before trimming and slicing.

For the wilted kale:
Kale; stems removed
The pan you seared the beef in
Beef stock
salt

Saute the kale in the same pan you seared the beef in. Deglaze with beef stock and salt accordingly, allowing the kale to wilt down until it is soft and tender.

For the kale chips:
Kale; stems removed
Olive oil
Salt

Toss kale leaves in salt and olive oil. Lay out on a lined sheet tray and bake at 400 degrees F for 4-5 minutes.

To garnish:
White button mushrooms

Shave mushrooms width-wise on a mandolin.