Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Beef Wellingtons

This is a fancy meal that is sure to please! My husband said he would willingly pay $20+ for this meal because it was soo good and it was easy too. It is a little pricey but considering you WOULD pay $20+ dollars for this meal if you were to eat out, it is well worth it!



1 lbs. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup dry sherry (or I used 1/4 cup orange juice with 1/2 tsp. vanilla)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup parsley
6 (8oz.) Beef fillets (I used fillet Mignon, but you can use a cheaper cut)
salt and pepper
1 (17.5 oz) pkg. frozen puff pastry, thawed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, combine the mushrooms, garlic, onion, orange juice, vanilla, butter and parsley and saute until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture resembles a paste. Set aside in a small bowl.

Salt and pepper liberally both sides of fillets. In a hot pan, sear both sides of meat, about 2 minutes on both sides.

Roll out puff pastry thin enough to wrap around the 6 fillets. Cut into 6 equal sections. Place one fillet in center of pastry. Top with 1/6 of the paste. Wrap up pastry around the fillet and push ends together on the top. You can use egg yolk wash on the pastry but I did not and you don't have to. Place wrapped steaks on a cooling rack and then on a cookie sheet. (The cooling rack is to keep the wellington out of the juices keeping the pastry from getting soggy.) Cook for 25 minutes. This will cook the steaks to medium. Let rest of 5 minutes before serving. If you like them more done, then place foil loosely over them and let sit for another 10 min. We served with mashed potatoes and carrots.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Fresh Cherry Crisp

I was craving a recipe with fresh cherries and since it was Sunday and I couldn't go to the store I made this one because I already had all the ingredients on hand. I am not a huge fan of crisps to begin with but this was very good. I loved the fresh cherries in it. And it was awesome with the vanilla ice cream.
4-5 cups fresh cherries, pitted (we use a dowel to pit our cherries and it works great)
1 1/4 cups white sugar
4 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 9x13 pan, combine cherries, 1 1/4 c. sugar and 4 tbsp. flour. In a medium bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, oats and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cherries. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes until topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream!