Beef Wellington and Cheese Pastellitos

I'm on a roll! The success of Monday's cook-a-thon got me very excited for Tuesday night's attempts. Especially because I was flying solo on these: I had no real recipes. First up, Beef Wellington. I look at countless recipes, each one completely different than the other. so, I decided to just wing it. Traditionally, you use a fillet for these, but I didn't want to spend the money. So, I used really nice cuts of sirloin, and it turned out wonderful. I served them with sauteed spinach. Divine!

Recipes are below. I didn't get a pic of the pastellitos, because I gave them to my coworkers before I took the picture. I assure you, they were beautiful :)



Flaky goodness!



  

Beef Wellington

2 steaks (fillet or sirloin, up to your wallet), seasoned with salt and pepper

1/2 package of puff pastry, thawed

carton of mushrooms, I used baby portabellas, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 c. dry white wine

1 tsp butter

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add oil and butter into a pot over medium heat. Once hot, add onions and garlic. Allow to cook for a  few minutes then add mushrooms. Once veggies are tender, add salt, pepper, and wine. Cook for 10 minutes, then set aside.

In a preheated pan, cook steaks. Joe likes his medium, so those were cooked for a minute on each side. I like mine more well, so they got 3 minutes per side. Set the steaks aside to rest.

Roll out puff pastry and cut into 4 squares. Place a heaping teaspoon of the mushroom mixture in the middle of a square. Place steak on top of the mixture, then add an additional teaspoon of the mushrooms. Take a second square and place it on top. Seal edges with your fingers. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with second steak. Brush each parcel with the egg wash. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is brown and an internal thermometer registers to your desired doneness.

Sauteed Spinach

1 bag of baby spinach

1 large white onion chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp all spice

salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion in the olive oil until they start to caramelize. Add spinach and spices. Cook until done, 15 minutes over medium heat. Easy!

Cheese Pastellitos

Again, this may be waaaay off base from any sort of authentic recipe. If so, my apologies. But I've eaten a ton of these over the years, and I think there were spot on.

2 packages of cream cheese

1/3 c sugar

3 tsp milk

1 tsp lemon juice

3 sheets of puff pastry

1 egg mixed with 1 tsp water

simple syrup ( 1/2 c water and 1/2 c sugar boiled)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Add cheese, milk, and lemon juice to the bowl of your mixer and beat for 3 minutes. While the mixer is still on, slowly add the sugar.

Roll out dough on a floured surface. Cut the dough in the shape of a cross. Then cut each square in half to make triangles. Place a heaping tsp of the cheese onto a triangle. Take a second triangle and cover it, sealing the pastry with your hands. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all of your dough is gone. Brush each parcel with the egg wash and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and starting to brown. Remove pastries from the oven and brush with simple syrup. Sprinkle on additional syrup if you'd like (I did). Bake for 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.