Mini beef wellingtons

For years, Jeff's been mentioning how much he loves beef Wellington and every time I looked up a recipe, it just seemed overwhelming to me. Mushroom duxelles, beef tenderloin, moisture barrier, phyllo pastry dough or something, some more meat blah blah blah. Well, years later, I thought about how everything can be made in little bite sized pockets and started researching. It's till time consuming, but it was SO WORTH IT!!!


What I had:

• 1/2 lb beef tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces (I had about 1/2 inch squares)
• 1/2 lb mixed mushrooms, chopped finely (I had shiitake and portobella)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt
• 1/4 cup Port wine
• 1/8 cup heavy cream
• prosciutto - as many strips as the number of bite sized beef pieces
• stone ground mustard (I had a horseradish one and it worked great)
• Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets

What I did:

• Preheat oven at 400
• Sauteed the shallots and garlic in 2 tablespoons of garlic pepper olive oil, till fragrant
• Put the mushrooms in and let them cook till soft, sprinkled 1/2 tbsp sea salt
• Poured the Port to deglaze the pan, which was useless since nothing sticks to my pan, so I used it for flavor
• Added the heavy cream and just let it cook for 5 minutes or so
• Used a blender stick to puree some - left some chunky mushrooms for texture
• Browned the beef pieces on all sides on high heat - about 2-3 minutes total and put them aside
• Unrolled a pastry sheet and cut into 9 squares
• Laid a slice of prosciutto across the square
• Placed a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture in the center
• Topped that with 1 teaspoon of the mustard
• Topped that with a piece of beef
• Rolled the prosciutto over the beef
• Folded the corners of the dough into the center and closed the seams together. Important: be heavy handed with this step. I wasn't and some of the pockets opened up
• Baked for 20 minutes
• Burned my tongue on the first one because I didn't wait long enough

I made 18, they were all gone by the time we went to bed last night.

Spinach Pesto over Salmon

What I had:

• 2 lbs wild salmon filets
• lemon pepper seasoning
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, unsalted
• 3 cloves garlic
• juice from one lemon
• 1/4 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 cup packed spinach leaves
• black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup your favorite olive oil - I used spicy garlic infused olive oil

What I did:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning liberally over the filets
• Bake for 22 minutes
• While fish is in the oven, put everything else except oil into a food processor and pulse till combined and finely ground
• Pour the olive oil and pulse till everything is nicely mixed
• Throw a dollop over the fish and enjoy with your favorite vegetables on the side

That plate above was devoured by Oli, and anything he will eat right along with us is a huge hit in my books.

Winter day soup

I had some leeks needing to be used up, some cauliflower that had sat in the fridge too long and some sweet potatoes that I was too tired of making chips from. So what does one do? Make a soup that's perfect for an evening that threw an unexpected winters mix at us.

What I had:

• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 medium sweet potatoes cut into inch pieces
• 2 leeks, all the whites and an inch of the green parts chopped
• Coconut oil
• Cumin, salt and paprika to taste
• Parsley for garnish
• 4 chicken bullion cubes, in 4 cups boiling water
• 2 cups coconut water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

What I did:

• Heat up 2 tbsp coconut oil in a heavy skillet, add leeks till soft
• Add the cauliflower and sweet potato and pour the chicken broth in
• Let it simmer for 5 minutes, then add coconut milk and flakes
• Let this cook for 10 minutes till the vegetables are soft
• Transfer the entire thing to a blender and blend till almost liquid (I like some pieces in my soup for texture)
• Transfer back to skillet, add the spices to taste
• Serve with some cilantro 

When the 3 year old eats something without complaint, it's a big win for me!

Spinach pancakes

or sneak some veggies into your breakfast pancakes :-)

What I had:

• 1 cup tightly packed spinach
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup flour of your choice (I used all purpose)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• spray/butter/oil for frying

What I did:

•  combined spinach, yogurt, egg and oil in a blender till smooth
• in another bowl, sifted the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt till well mixed
• slowly whisked wet ingredients into dry
• poured a tablespoon at a time on a greased iron griddle
• cooked till brown

Ate till gone!

Irish Lamb Stew

While searching for Irish recipes for St. Patrick's day, beef or lamb stew kept coming up. I didn't like any recipe in it's entirety so I came up with my own and it was delicious!

What I had:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 2.25 lbs butterflied lamb leg (use any cut you like), cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 5 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch rounds
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup Guinness stout beer
• 20 small white potatoes, cut into halves
• fresh thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

What I did:

• heated the butter and oil on medium heat, with 2 sprigs worth of thyme leaves and the bay leaves, in a soup pot
• added the lamb and browned on high heat, about 5-8 minutes
• removed lamb from pot
• added onions till soft
• added carrots, stirred for 4 minutes
• added lamb back in
• poured the broth, wine and beer in
• added the potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• topped with 3 sprigs of thyme
• covered and cooked on low-medium heat for an hour

Enjoyed it immensely! It was delicious, the lamb melted in our mouths.

Poppy seed dessert

So, what I really wanted was to use this poppy seed cake and pie filling and make something sweet. I had cream cheese, and I thought I could use Pillsbury crescents and do something. I also had some raisin bread, so I cut slices of that, put the topping on it and baked. They were all delicious, but if you are going to use the crescent dough, use the entire filling. It might look like it's going to overflow, but it won't trust me. I wish I had more filling in there.

Filling:

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 can Solo poppy seed pie and cake filling
• 8 oz fat free cream cheese
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Mix the sugar and cream cheese till soft, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Top on slices of sweet bread and bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

Or you can do this with the Pillsbury crescent dough:

• Roll out the crescent roll dough and pinch all seams shut.
• Spread filling down lengthwise in the middle. Left an inch on each side.
• Cut 1/2 inch thick strips on both sides of the filling.
• Folded the strips over the filling, overlapping them a little.
• Baked at 400 for 12 minutes.

Finish it off before anybody else can get their grubby little hands on any ;-)
 

I love the taste of the poppy seed filling, and I am trying to think of other ways to use. In those pre-made phyllo dessert cups. Inside a cake. With a spoon. The possibilities are endless.

 

Shepherd's Pie

Since everyone was Irish this past weekend, I jumped into the spirit of it too. We had green eggs, green ham and green (spinach infused) silver dollar pancakes for breakfast. And, then I got into the spirit of things and made an Irish lamb stew and Shepherd's Pie for dinner.

What I had:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced finely
• 4 large carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 glass red wine
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• Boxed mashed potatoes, 4 cups prepared
• 1 egg, beaten
• Grated Parmesan cheese

What I did:

• Pre-heated oven to 400.
• Sauteed carrots in the olive oil until they were tender.
• Added in the onions for a minute or two, and then added the meat.
• Seasoned with black pepper and thyme.
• Cooked until browned then drained fat.
• Added the butter and peas.
• Sprinkled with flour and stir through.
• Added tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce.
• Let it reduce slightly, added the chicken stock. Allowed to reduce down to a thick meaty gravy. 
• Seasoned with salt and pepper.
• Removed from heat. Greased a 9X13 glass baking dish with butter and added the sauce.
• Spooned mashed potatoes over top. Brushed with egg and sprinkled Parmesan cheese over top.
• Baked for 20 minutes till the potato was nice and browned on top. 

Dig in!

I like the sauce a little wet since it helps the potatoes absorb the flavor

Turkey hamburger soup

This soup is delicious and oh so good for you. It's filled with all kinds of vegetables and turkey, which is a great low fat meat. I got the original recipe form my nutritionist but tweaked it a little to our taste.

What I had:

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, coarsely grated
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch circles
• 1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 6 baby bok choy heads, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup cabbage, chopped
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp coconut amino acids (soy free gluten free soy sauce)
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste
• Sriracha

What I did:

•  In a large pot, heated the coconut oil till melted.
• Added the onions and garlic, cooked till onions were translucent.
• Added ground turkey and let it cook.
• Added the sweet potato, carrots and mushrooms with half the broth and let it cook for 15 minutes on medium heat.
• Added the remaining broth, bok choy, cabbage and the dry spices and give it a good mixing.
• Add the vinegar and amino acids and simmer for as long as you want till the vegetables are falling apart.
• Serve with a splash of Sriracha in each bowl.

It is sweet and fragrant and very good for you on a cold evening :)

I have also cooked it in the crock pot. After the turkey is cooked, I mixed all the ingredients and threw it in the crock pot, on low for 10 hrs. It was great that way too.

Gluten free sweet potato cookies

Adapted from here.

What I had:

• 1/2 cup of almond Butter
• 1/2 cup of pureed sweet potato (I threw it in the microwave for 6 minutes, then peeled it)
• 1/4 cup local wild honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of real salt
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup mixed chopped pecans and macadamia nuts

What I did:

• Turned the oven on at 350 degrees
• Mixed all ingredients till well integrated
• Threw a heaping tablespoon mix each on a silicone baking mat
• Baked for 15 minutes
• Burnt my tongue tasting one
• Let the rest cool

They are pretty good, dense, chewy, crunchy, sweet without any sugar in them.

Bacon dip

Oh, this is so good on your tongue! Eat it on a biscuit, eat it on a chip, eat it with a spoon, ...

What I had:

• 1 lb thick center cut bacon, cut into inch pieces and browned
• 1 medium yellow onions, diced small
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 3 ounces strong brewed coffee

What I did:

• Poured out most of the bacon grease and cook the garlic and onions in the rest, on medium high heat.
• Added all the other ingredients and cooked till boiling.
• Added the bacon back in, cooked for 10 minutes.
• Put the entire thing in a food processor and ground it for a few seconds.
• Ate the entire thing with a spoon.

Ok, I wanted to but I employed great self control and did not eat the entire thing. But, it is so delicious. Sweet, savory, crunchy, it's like your mouth goes on a perfect vacation.

Toffee squares

What I had:

• Wilton brownie squares silicone pan
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup white chocolate dipping wafers, melted
• 1 cup unblanched whole almonds
• some somewhat finely ground pecans

What I did:

• Placed 3 almonds in each cavity of the brownie pan.
• Put butter, margarine, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
• Brought it to a boil while stirring continuously.
• Continued stirring like a mad woman for 6.5 minutes (or till candy starts to brown a bit and thickens, coming off the sides of the pan). Jeff jumped in for a minute when my arm started to hurt.
• Used a tablespoon scoop to scoop into each cavity over the almonds.
• Let it cool completely before popping them out.
• Taste tested one, shared with Jeff. Taste tested another from the other side just to make sure.
• Melted the wafers in the microwave.
• Dipped one side of the toffee in the chocolate and pressed it into the ground almonds.
• Tasted one more and decided to let the chocolate set.
• Tasted another after the chocolate set just to make sure it was still good.
• Put the rest in an airtight container and in the fridge to avoid more tasting.

Delicious almond toffee dipped in white chocolate and crushed pecans

I'll get consistent next time :-P