What's for Dinner? Ground Beef Wellington

Filet Mignon Taste and a Ground Beef Budget

Since I have been doing my videos for Youtube, I have had more than one adventurous viewer request that I demonstrate how to cook Beef Wellington.  Now you can imagine the first ever request for this fancy schamncy dish put me over the top, but then I got another and then another.  What to do?

I can assure you that I, although well versed in the kitchen have never attempted to make such a culinary wonder, but I was up for the challenge.  The only thing holding me back?  The economy!  Taking a look around at the current state of the economy had me worried that making such a dish would be like rubbing salt into the wound of a broken and flat broke foodie.  Beef Wellington is amazing with its layers of flakey pastry wrapped lovingly around a beef tenderloin that has been buddied up with duxcel of mushrooms and goose liver pate and tenderly brushed with nothing but the best Dijon mustard.  But lets be real, this is not a dish for the faint of heart nor the weak of wallet!

So what was I to do?  I did what any self respecting video blogger would do.  I politely ignored the request and went along my happy way doing other things to please and tantalize the pallets of my viewers.  Then one day, not so long ago, I was visiting the store and I saw it, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Cookbook.  Now I am a huge fan of Jamie, having followed him all along from his days being dubbed the Naked Chef and boy was I happy to leaf through this book in the store, but as I leafed I realized that I needed to take this book home.  Much like a visit to the pound will result in you acquiring another pet, a visit to the bookstore will most assuredly guarantee the procurement of one if not several new tomes.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I read cookbooks from cover to cover along with a stack of sticky notes to mark the recipes that I will be trying.  You should also probably know that I am a self professed cookbook junkie, having spent years building a library that would rival the most intense cook among us.  But like cats, there is always room for one more.   One afternoon while reading this book, page after page, sitting the waiting room of the doctors office, I discovered this lovely recipe for Ground Beef Wellington.  This was the answer!  I was so excited, I believe I embarrassed my daughter but at 13 that is not hard to do. 

So, now I had everything I needed, a great recipe, an answer to the expensive problem and you.  Everyone can afford a pound of ground beef, along with the other ingredients, this dish did not cost a lot to make.  In all, this dish can cost anywhere from $10.00 to $15.00 depending on if you purchase organic meat or regular.  The puff pastry is around $4.00 and the other ingredients are all easy to come by.  Don’t want to use Portabellos?  Use Criminis they are smaller and they are actually baby portobellos, or you can just use regular white button mushrooms.  But don’t leave out the mushrooms and don’t forget that potato is important too, because the starch from it will help to absorb any of the liquid from the veggies and meat as it cooks in it’s little pastry cocoon.  I made the mistake of leaving out the potato, and while the dish was still amazing, I saw why the spud was necessary.

So without further Adieu, I give you the fanciest meatloaf you will ever make:  Ground Beef Wellington.

GROUND BEEF WELLINGTON

Here is what you will need to make this dish:

1 medium onion chopped

1 carrot chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 Portobello Mushrooms roughly chopped

1 potato finely diced

Olive oil (around a tablespoon)

1 Teaspoon of Marjoram, Thyme or Rosemary

1 Large egg beaten

Sea salt

Cracked Black Pepper

2 Sheets Puff Pastry (I used 1 box of Pepperidge Farm Brand it’s in the freezer)

In a large skillet heat olive oil.  Sautee’ all veggies until soft and the potato is fully cooked, around 15 minutes.  Place the hot veggies on a small baking sheet and spread out into a thin layer.  Place the sheet in the fridge for around 15 minutes and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the veggies, ground beef, salt, pepper, herb of your choice and half of the beaten egg.  Blend with your hands until the mixture is well combined.  Set aside while we work with the pastry.

Lightly flour a board or your counter and take the puff pastry and unfold both sheets and slightly overlap them and roll together.  Do not make the mistake of leaving them out for too long, because they will stick to themselves as mine did, but I just rolled them together with a rolling pin and everything was fine.

Your puff pastry should be around 12 inches by 16 inches with the long side in front of you.  Take the meat mixture and form a long log or sausage shape toward the long front side of the pastry.  Brush the remaining egg mixture along all edges, this will act as a glue to keep the pastry together while cooking.  Roll the pastry around the beef mixture and roll, leaving the seam side down under the log and pinching the ends together so the whole thing looks like a loaf of French bread. 

Transfer to a baking sheet line with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. 

I served this with steamed cauliflower with browned butter bread crumbs.  There is no need to make a starch because the puff pastry is rich enough.  A green salad on the side would be a lovely addition as well. 

I hope you try this and I hope you enjoy it.  Look for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Cookbook, along with this recipe there are lots more that are wonderful and I look forward to making some of them for you.  I also understand that he is coming out with a new book very soon dealing with 30 minute meals.  Check it out, you will not be disappointed! 

I hope you try this and I hope you enjoy it.  As always Happy Eating!

What's for Dinner? Quick Weeknight Quick Potato Soup

This week was the beginning of the new school year in our area.  My girls started school this past Wednesday.  Back to school always makes me wax nostalgic of my own school days.  I remember the eager anticipation of starting a new year.  Meeting a new teacher and seeing my friends on a regular basis after the long hot summer of separation.  It also reminds me of the comforting times spent around the dinner table with my family recounting the days activities.  Sharing in our happiness and our troubles.  It was a great time.  Truly a thing I did not appreciate until I had grown and realized how great it truly was.  As they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.  This is true of people and of times in our lives.


The family times around the dinner table were made even more memorable thanks to the bountiful spread my mother would always put on the table for us to share.  After a long day at school, there were few things that one could appreciate more that some of mom’s home cooking!  I hope that someday my girls will feel the same, when they are preparing to send their children off into the world.  Coming home to a comforting and warm bowl of hearty soup is always a great way to fill their bellies and help their brains tackle all that homework that they will undoubtedly be bringing home with them.  


This soup is so easy to prepare, you will not believe that this silky creamy soup can be made in under an hour.  Pair this with a green salad, some crusty  bread and butter or soft cheese and you are well on your way to making sure that your children will be satisfied in body and soul ready to take on algebra, earth science or Shakespeare.  Give this a try, I know that you will be glad you did!


This recipe is well suited for a day when you don’t know what to make.  Perhaps you have half a bag of potatoes sitting under your kitchen sink ( I always assume that everyone does things the way I do)  Maybe you have a couple of carrots in the crisper drawer, along with the celery that you bought last week and the half an onion that you put away over the weekend, and some heavy cream half and half or whole milk, you have what you need to make this.  


Don’t have the aromatics?  Use some frozen veggies!  That ½ bag of frozen broccoli, is screaming to be picked to play on this team.  Whatever you have that would be suitable for a soup, would be great to get this going.  Do the potatoes in the broth and add what you want.  Don’t want to use the heavy cream, use milk or plain yogurt!  Make this your own, you’ll love it and so will your kids!  Simple, hearty and satisfying, and you didn’t have to spend the whole day in the kitchen killing yourself on this one either!  







Here is what you will need to make this recipe:


2 pounds of potatoes peeled and cubed (I used Yukon gold)
1 medium onion or about 1 cup chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
1 cup carrots chopped ( I used matchstick carrots that I chopped up even more with my hand chopper)
½ stick butter (4 Tablespoons)
4 cups hot water
4 chicken bullion cubes
1 carton chicken stock
¼ teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt (use Jane’s Crazy Mixed up Salt if you can get it.  If not, no biggie!)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup heavy cream (or ½ and ½ or milk or yogurt)
Toppings:
Crumbled Bacon
Cheddar Cheese
Green Onions
Dollop of Sour Cream


In a large deep skillet or stock pot,  Melt butter, add onion, celery and carrots.  Sautee until soft and onion is translucent.  Add potatoes and give things a stir.  Combine bullion cubes or powder with hot water and add to pan along with entire carton of chicken stock.  Stir in celery seed, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.    Cook over medium high heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, but not falling apart.  Towards the end of the cooking time, mash some of the potatoes while stirring, to thicken the soup with the starch of the potatoes.  Turn heat off and add heavy cream and whisk lightly to combine.  Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.  NOTE:  don’t allow the soup to boil otherwise you may risk breaking the cream and although it will taste fine, it will look really nasty.  


Serve this to your family after a long day.  Share, laugh, love and make memories over steaming bowls of this hearty soup that says “I Love You”.  


I hope you try this and I hope you enjoy it.  Until next time:  See Ya!