Easy Beef Wellington and Paprika Tomatoes
After signing up for a certain website regarding country cooks after wanting a delish lemon-chicken and also a 'one pot parma' recipe that I had seen on one of their programs, I was surprised to find that they had 'voluntarily' signed me up for a $20.00 subscription to their 6-issue magazine. After promptly canceling what was supposed to be a 'free' trial or ... free website access or whatever (I don't remember any obligation language or that they'd send me these things) I found dinner in my now 'free' magazine.
Here I will be paraphrasing rather than typing to exact what worked for me;
Easy Beef Wellington;
Get yourself some nice meat. It called for center cut tenderloin but the supermarket didn't have that. I just picked up some boneless nice red looking steak that could be pan-cooked. Something that will not be too tough once cooked. This is an easy and quick recipe. (what I got was a bit more than a pound at not more than $7.00) I'm sure if you did opt for bone-in steak, that is a preference or you could cut it off before cooking. Whatever you want to do. I'd not go buying pricey cuts till you know how this tastes and how you may preference tweak it for next time :)
Pick out puff pastry sheets from your grocery's freezer section. ($4-5 dollars). Make sure not to grab filo dough. LOL. If you do, well you might go an oven route in which you wrap the meat in filo and cook until golden brown and done on the inside to your liking... but this is more traditional and will take a might bit longer I'd suspect. A box of puff pastry typically has two sheets. You'll need one for up to a 4 person meal... or both if you are going to make it again tonight like I am.
What you may have on hand/price variable:
Mushrooms.
Onion.
Garlic.
Potatoes. (says baby red but I went with standard Idaho. Whatever is lying about should be fine.. even sweet may be delish!) I didn't bother peeling them. Probably a preference thing.
Paprika.
Beef Stock (or bullion)
Chicken Stock(or bullion) ... I'm sure you could use veg bullion if you wanted too.
as a side note on the bullion and stock, low sodium might be a good choice as without adding salt, my sauce seemed a little salty. I didn't have low-sodium)
Oil (olive/vegetable)
Corn Starch or Flour
Unsalted Butter
A red wine. I used Burgundy although I'm sure most any red depending on how sweet you want your sauce to be would be good. (I have rose and tawny port mulling about too. tee-hee)
Most of the above could be substituted to taste honestly, or omitted or extra added in. EX: I made the sauce and added starch/flour to thicken it, left out the mushrooms for a friend but put them on top of a plate for myself.
Anywho, down to the good stuff.
A sheet of puff pastry and a pound or so of steak serves 3-4. The issue I had was sauce volume at more than two since I like sauce~ You can easily bulk it. You can easily double the below without issue if you want to have it serve more people.
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry. The box I had says 'overnight in the fridge'. FFF whatever. I let it sit out while I chopped up an onion, garlic, and a few potatoes (about one and a half each person) to reasonable cooking thickness. Obviously the thinner/smaller you chop up your 'tatoes equals how much quicker it will cook.
Threw a sheet of tinfoil over a cookie sheet and lay out a thawed sheet of puff. Popped it in the oven around 350-375 degrees until golden brown and puffed. Pulled out, turned off the oven, set aside. About 15 mins.
I wasn't worried about it being 'cooled' as the meat and the sauce will heat it back up.
Meanwhile, get out a nice pot for your taters. Little bit of olive oil, cook up some onions and garlic. Once fragrant and soft, throwing the cut potatoes in after rinsing off excess starch. I don't see that this point really matters since you'll drain them later, but it says to rinse them. Put them in a nice pot, cover them with the Chicken bullion-water/stock. It has a measurement in the book for this, but because I used different potatoes (and probably more than it said) I went with the 'just cover' them method. It appears that the stock is supposed to cook up, but due to this method, I drained the potatoes over the sink after they had cooked edible softness. Once done draining, add some oil to the pot and paprika and let the potatoes fry up a bit to get a crispy edge. Season with salt/pepper as needed. Tatoes done :)
Sauce for Wellington;
Now, you can cook your mushrooms first in the same pan, or another as I kept them separate for someone that didn't like them. You may also want to take into account the amount of liquid that might come from them as well. This is, in part, where the flour/corn starch is handy :D
Anywho.
Toss garlic, onion, mushrooms in a pot till tender w/ a bit of oil or butter. add
1/2 cup wine, 1/4 cup chicken broth (I also used beef for richness) stock. Reduce. If it doesn't seem like enough, add more wine, more broth to taste. I added corn starch/flour to thicken it more after reduction. (Be sure to do this in a small bowl by putting in your thickening agent, then adding a bit of the sauce and stirring to a smooth paste before adding to the pot.. otherwise you will get blobby white bits. You shouldn't need too much of it.) Seasoned with pepper. Rich it up with butter. A pad or two if you like. Sauce done.
Meattttt.
Pat dry. I cut the piece I had to three portions and removed excess fat. This is a relatively quick/high cook, so fat wouldn't have that much time to render down. Season if desired (due to the sauce being a bit salty when I made it, I didn't season the meat. Sauce would work well and anyone that wanted more pepper/salt could add it.)
Heat a pan to searing hot. Oil if desired. Throw the meat in. Sear for a nice brown on either side. I had the mistake of covering the pan with a lid. Don't do this. It's not as pretty :<. Cook for a few mins on either side you have the 'done-ness' that you prefer.
Plating:
Cut your puff into portions. Meat on top. Sauce on top of meat. Potatoes on side.
DIG IN. While watching zombies like we did :)(The Walking Dead) Appetizing, No? :D
Yummy yum yum.
Here I will be paraphrasing rather than typing to exact what worked for me;
Easy Beef Wellington;
Get yourself some nice meat. It called for center cut tenderloin but the supermarket didn't have that. I just picked up some boneless nice red looking steak that could be pan-cooked. Something that will not be too tough once cooked. This is an easy and quick recipe. (what I got was a bit more than a pound at not more than $7.00) I'm sure if you did opt for bone-in steak, that is a preference or you could cut it off before cooking. Whatever you want to do. I'd not go buying pricey cuts till you know how this tastes and how you may preference tweak it for next time :)
Pick out puff pastry sheets from your grocery's freezer section. ($4-5 dollars). Make sure not to grab filo dough. LOL. If you do, well you might go an oven route in which you wrap the meat in filo and cook until golden brown and done on the inside to your liking... but this is more traditional and will take a might bit longer I'd suspect. A box of puff pastry typically has two sheets. You'll need one for up to a 4 person meal... or both if you are going to make it again tonight like I am.
What you may have on hand/price variable:
Mushrooms.
Onion.
Garlic.
Potatoes. (says baby red but I went with standard Idaho. Whatever is lying about should be fine.. even sweet may be delish!) I didn't bother peeling them. Probably a preference thing.
Paprika.
Beef Stock (or bullion)
Chicken Stock(or bullion) ... I'm sure you could use veg bullion if you wanted too.
as a side note on the bullion and stock, low sodium might be a good choice as without adding salt, my sauce seemed a little salty. I didn't have low-sodium)
Oil (olive/vegetable)
Corn Starch or Flour
Unsalted Butter
A red wine. I used Burgundy although I'm sure most any red depending on how sweet you want your sauce to be would be good. (I have rose and tawny port mulling about too. tee-hee)
Most of the above could be substituted to taste honestly, or omitted or extra added in. EX: I made the sauce and added starch/flour to thicken it, left out the mushrooms for a friend but put them on top of a plate for myself.
Anywho, down to the good stuff.
A sheet of puff pastry and a pound or so of steak serves 3-4. The issue I had was sauce volume at more than two since I like sauce~ You can easily bulk it. You can easily double the below without issue if you want to have it serve more people.
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry. The box I had says 'overnight in the fridge'. FFF whatever. I let it sit out while I chopped up an onion, garlic, and a few potatoes (about one and a half each person) to reasonable cooking thickness. Obviously the thinner/smaller you chop up your 'tatoes equals how much quicker it will cook.
Threw a sheet of tinfoil over a cookie sheet and lay out a thawed sheet of puff. Popped it in the oven around 350-375 degrees until golden brown and puffed. Pulled out, turned off the oven, set aside. About 15 mins.
I wasn't worried about it being 'cooled' as the meat and the sauce will heat it back up.
Meanwhile, get out a nice pot for your taters. Little bit of olive oil, cook up some onions and garlic. Once fragrant and soft, throwing the cut potatoes in after rinsing off excess starch. I don't see that this point really matters since you'll drain them later, but it says to rinse them. Put them in a nice pot, cover them with the Chicken bullion-water/stock. It has a measurement in the book for this, but because I used different potatoes (and probably more than it said) I went with the 'just cover' them method. It appears that the stock is supposed to cook up, but due to this method, I drained the potatoes over the sink after they had cooked edible softness. Once done draining, add some oil to the pot and paprika and let the potatoes fry up a bit to get a crispy edge. Season with salt/pepper as needed. Tatoes done :)
Sauce for Wellington;
Now, you can cook your mushrooms first in the same pan, or another as I kept them separate for someone that didn't like them. You may also want to take into account the amount of liquid that might come from them as well. This is, in part, where the flour/corn starch is handy :D
Anywho.
Toss garlic, onion, mushrooms in a pot till tender w/ a bit of oil or butter. add
1/2 cup wine, 1/4 cup chicken broth (I also used beef for richness) stock. Reduce. If it doesn't seem like enough, add more wine, more broth to taste. I added corn starch/flour to thicken it more after reduction. (Be sure to do this in a small bowl by putting in your thickening agent, then adding a bit of the sauce and stirring to a smooth paste before adding to the pot.. otherwise you will get blobby white bits. You shouldn't need too much of it.) Seasoned with pepper. Rich it up with butter. A pad or two if you like. Sauce done.
Meattttt.
Pat dry. I cut the piece I had to three portions and removed excess fat. This is a relatively quick/high cook, so fat wouldn't have that much time to render down. Season if desired (due to the sauce being a bit salty when I made it, I didn't season the meat. Sauce would work well and anyone that wanted more pepper/salt could add it.)
Heat a pan to searing hot. Oil if desired. Throw the meat in. Sear for a nice brown on either side. I had the mistake of covering the pan with a lid. Don't do this. It's not as pretty :<. Cook for a few mins on either side you have the 'done-ness' that you prefer.
Plating:
Cut your puff into portions. Meat on top. Sauce on top of meat. Potatoes on side.
DIG IN. While watching zombies like we did :)(The Walking Dead) Appetizing, No? :D
Yummy yum yum.