Sunday, April 10, 2016

Beef Wellington Bites

A traditional Beef Wellington is made with whole tenderloin wrapped in puff pastry along with mushrooms duxelles and foie gras. These beef Wellington bites are the finger food version made with choux pastry puffs.

Let me start by saying that this dish was the result of leftovers of the very best kind. I made duxelles for a different dish and ended up sharing it for a group post celebrating mushrooms. And I had frozen choux pastry from a croquembouche challenge. When a weekend barbecue left me with a couple of grilled filet mignon steaks, it suddenly came to me that I had the makings of beef Wellington of a sort and just needed some foie gras or liver paté. Oh, we dined richly that night! I'd been waiting for the ideal time to share them when Sunday Supper announced a Finger Food for Dinner theme. Perfect!

Make sure you scroll down to see all the wonderful fork-free dishes we are sharing today, from appetizers through desserts. Many thanks to our host Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures and her guiding light, Marion from Life Tastes Good.

Ingredients
For the duxelles:
3 oz or 85g shallots
1/3 cup or 75g butter
12 oz or 340g mushrooms
1 cup or 240ml dry white wine
1 cup or 240ml whipping cream
Sea salt
Black pepper
- Instructions here  You may not use the whole recipe. Stir the rest through some pasta. Or eat it with a spoon.

For the choux pastry:
1 cup or 125g plain flour
1 pinch salt
7 tablespoons or 100g butter
1 cup or 240ml water
4 eggs, at room temperature
- The dough makes about 50 small choux buns. They freeze well before baking!

For assembly: Makes 18 Beef Wellington Bites
6 oz or 170g grilled tenderloin steak
6 oz or 170g smooth duck or pork paté, at room temperature

Method
Make your duxelles ahead of time and store the bowl in the refrigerator. Do not leave it out as you work, because its volume will greatly decrease, spoon by spoon, if it's handy. That stuff is GOOD.

Now we'll make the choux pastry. Preheat your oven to 445°F or 230°C and prepare your baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper stuck down with a little non-stick spray. If you are feeling particularly anal, as I usually am, you can draw some circles to guide you on the underside of the parchment paper.

Sift together your flour and a pinch of salt and put the bowl right next to the stove in readiness.

In a medium pot, combine the butter and water and bring to the boil.



Pour the flour/salt mixture into the boiling water/butter all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball and pulls right away from the sides. This takes just a minute or two.



Now take the pot off of the stove and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with your wooden spoon in between. With each addition, it looks like the egg won’t mix in and the dough starts to fall apart but keep mixing and after a couple of minutes of hard labor, the dough comes together again in one big lump and it’s time to add the next egg.


After the fourth egg has been thoroughly incorporated, put the dough into a piping bag with a large tip, about 1/2 in or 1 cm wide.

Pipe the soft dough on the parchment paper in 1 inch or 2.5cm circles about an equal measure apart from each other.


Poke down any pointy tops with a damp finger.


Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 400°F or 200°C and bake for a further 25 minutes. (OR you can now pop them in the freezer if you want to keep some for later.  You only need 18 for the Beef Wellington Bites. Once frozen, slip them off the parchment and into a Ziploc bag for storage. They are perfect for sweet or savory fillings and can be taken out of the freezer and baked as you need them.)

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Once they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve, warm your duxelles and your tenderloin steaks. Slice the steaks thinly.



Split the choux buns open horizontally. Add a good spoon of the duxelles to the bottom. Top with sliced steak and finally, add a small slice of paté.



Put the top of the choux bun back on and repeat the process until all the Beef Wellington Bites are assembled.

Enjoy!



Do you enjoy Finger Foods for Dinner? I think they are great for movie nights but in our house we also always do all appetizers for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as well.

I want everything on this list!

Pinky Appetizers
Manual Mains
Digit Desserts


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Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Almond Raspberry Cake #FoodieExtravaganza


This almond raspberry cake has the most tender crumb imaginable, created by the perfect marriage of ground almonds and flour, plus plenty of butter. It goes great with a cup of tea or coffee as a mid morning snack but would be just sweet enough for dessert as well.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is serving up coffeecake along with our wonderful host Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking and we’ve got some beauties for you. The definition of coffeecake is broad but to me it usually means a one layer cake that is not super sweet. It wouldn’t be frosted, although a light sprinkling of powdered sugar or a simple glaze would be just fine. But, hey, I’m willing to be flexible, as long as a slice pairs well with a cup of coffee or tea.

Make sure you scroll on down to see the other wonderful coffeecakes we’ve baked for you today.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups or 180g ground almonds
3/4 cup or 180g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup or 180g sugar
1 1/2 cups or 180g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 3/4 oz or 360g raspberries

To decorate: 1-2 tablespoon demerara sugar - optional
or
To serve: Icing or powdered sugar - optional

Note: If you use metric measures, the amounts are ridiculously easy to remember. Then change out the berries for a fruit of the season or of your choice.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Spray your baking pan with non-stick baking spray or line the bottom with some baking parchment. Mine is 8 in or 20cm across.

Cut your butter into chunks then place all the ingredients except the raspberries in a mixer and mix till just combined.



Set aside a small handful of the raspberries and carefully fold the rest through the batter trying not to break them up too much. It’s an almost impossible task but try. You want speckles of pink, not homogeneous color.



Scrape the thick batter into your prepared pan and spread it around evenly.



Poke your reserved berries into the top of the batter. If you are sprinkling with demerara sugar, now's the time to do that.


Bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes. Check it at around 25 minutes and cover it with foil if it is getting too brown.

Remove from the oven, cool slightly then loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto a serving plate.



Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with powdered sugar, if you chose that option. With a hot cup of your favorite brew.



Enjoy!


Pour yourself a cup and have a slice of these:




Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

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Sunday, April 3, 2016

Slow Cooker Lasagna

 Spicy Italian sausage is my go-to meat for lasagna and meatballs. It adds such wonderful flavor! This slow cooker lasagna is easy to put together, plus you can walk away and come back to deliciousness without worrying about it burning in the oven.



Growing up, my older sister and I took turns cooking dinner when my mom went back to work. One of my favorites was the Hamburger Helper with that pasta that looks like lasagna noodles but way skinnier. When my younger sister got old enough to cook too, she often made real lasagna. It was sort of her specialty and I guess it still is.


You really can’t compare Hamburger Helper to real lasagna but I’m going to dare to compare the real stuff with one cooked in a slow cooker. I must confess that it doesn’t look as pretty as a neatly cut square of an oven-baked casserole and the crispy bits around the edges that we all fight over are missing. But all in all, with a huge plus for ease of assembly and hands-off time, it’s quite delicious, especially when made with spicy Italian sausage meat.

Ingredients
2.2 lbs or 1kg spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
4 cups or 360g grated mozzarella cheese.
2 cups or 500g ricotta
12 sheets (about 8 oz or 225g) uncooked lasagna noodles
6 cups or 1475g spaghetti sauce (your favorite)

To serve: freshly grated Parmesan and sprigs of parsley, if desired

Method
Pan fry and drain your sausage meat, breaking it into crumbles. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little while.

Put about 1 cup or 240ml of sauce in the bottom of your slow cooker. Layer in 3-4 lasagna noodles, breaking off the corners so they sit nicely in your slow cooker. Put the little broken pieces in any gaps.






Mix the ricotta cheese in with the crumbled sausage meat.




Add one half of the meat/ricotta to the top of the noodles.



Then sprinkled on one third of the shredded cheese and add another cup or so of the sauce to the top.




Repeat the process starting with another layer of noodles. Finish with noodles then sauce. You should have one third of the mozzarella left. Put it in the refrigerator for later.




Cook for six hours on low.




After about five hours.


About 1 hour before serving, add the reserved shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover and cook until melted.




To serve, try to scoop up a good cross section of the lasagna through all the layers.

Top with fresh grated Parmesan, if desired. That’s non-negotiable in our house. A little parsley adds color as well.




Enjoy!

Pin this Slow Cooker Lasagna!




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