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.

Eggy Deliciousness

That's what I'm calling this. Sooo. good.

Home sick the other day, I caught an episode of At Home Italian with Giada De Laurentiis. She made a super easy recipe that would be good any time of the day: Lemon and Basil Eggs over Foccacia. It looked so delicious that I asked the hubby to pick up a loaf of bread on the way home. I needed to make this recipe!

I didn't really pay attention to the exact measurements she used (again, I was home sick) so I just went with it. I used a loaf of Italian Bread as that was what Joe brought home and it worked out fine. We had major trouble NOT eating the whole loaf! Very easy and tasty!

Lemon and Basil Eggs over Foccacia

1 loaf of bread (Italian works fine)
3 eggs
5 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. olive oil mixed with 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. milk
basil leaves, chopped

Using a serrated knife, cut into the loaf of bread, removing the "top". Pull out some of the middle of the loaf to create a bowl. Chop and set aside the removed bread parts.

Brush the olive oil around the inside of the bread bowl and bake for 5 minutes at 350. Set aside the bread to cool.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs, cheese, milk, and basil together. Add bread bits and mix well. Put the egg mixture into the bread bowl and bake for 50 minutes at 350.

Eat immediately!

Brown Butter Nut Muffins

I finally made these muffins, after months of thinking about them. Originally, I wanted to use hazelnuts. But, for some reason, I simply cannot find hazelnuts! I’ve tried local grocery stores, health food stores, Costco, and Whole Foods. So, I’ve given up on the hazelnuts. Instead, I used pine nuts. The result was good. I’m don’t make muffins too often, because I don’t really eat them. But, these were a nice departure from the very sweet cakes I’ve been making as of late. I don’t have a mini muffin pan, so I had to use mini muffin wrappers in regular muffin sized tins. So, excuse the very flat tops! I love the taste of brown butter; it complimented the pine nuts. The powdered sugar on top helped to balance out the nuttiness. The muffin itself was a little chewy, good for breakfast or dessert!

Brown Butter Nut Muffins
½ c. of toasted nuts (I used pine nuts)
2/3 c. powdered sugar
½ c. cake flour
½ c. granulated sugar
3 egg whites
1 stick of unsalted butter, cubed

Put toasted nuts and powdered sugar into food processor. Pulse until the mixture has a fine consistency. In a bowl, combine the granulated sugar and flour. Add the nut mixture to the flour mixture. Set aside.

Over medium heat, melt butter. Allow the butter to continue cooking for about 5 or 6 minutes until the edges are light brown and foamy. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Finally, add egg whites and mix until incorporated.

Line a mini muffin pan with liners. Fill liners halfway with batter. Bake for 15 minutes at 350.

Allow muffins to cool, then sprinkle on more powdered sugar.

My batch made 24 mini muffins.

Breakfast Bites

I woke up late this morning. I hate waking up late, because then I tend to eat whatever is around, instead of a balanced breakfast. After a quick survey, I found 2 eggs, a package of quick biscuits, a little bit of milk, and some scraps of cheddar. Well, this would feed us, but it certainly wasn't going to be a culinary experience. I baked the biscuits, scrambled up the eggs, and made a basic cheese sauce. A couple of these breakfast bites for each of us, and we were good to go.