Mini Beef Wellingtons

My oldest daughter’s favorite birthday meal is Mini Beef Wellingtons with mashed potatoes, mushroom sauce and asparagus with Hollandaise.  It’s not a difficult meal to prepare, but time-consuming.  I make the pate and mushroom sauce the day before and cook the beef early in the day of the dinner to allow time for it to cool for easier handling.  I used to buy a beef tenderloin but found it easier to simply buy the filet mignons wrapped in bacon that my store handles.

MINI BEEF WELLINGTONS

• Five 6 oz. portions of filet mignon
• Sprinkling of salt and pepper
• 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed (Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 Tblsp. milk

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F

Allowing time for the meat to cool well enough to handle, place the filet mignons in a baking pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover and bake @ 300 degrees F for approximately one hour, depending on how  you like your meat (my family likes it well done, especially in this dish).  Allow to cool.  My filet mignon comes wrapped in a slice of bacon.  Remove the bacon.  Cut meat into 18 small portions.

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Cut the 2 sheets of puff pastry into 9 sections each.  Place one section on a floured board and roll thin (like pie crust).  Place one portion of meat in the center of the pastry.  Top with about a teaspoon of Chicken Liver Pate (recipe below), bring up edges of pastry to cover the meat and  seal.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining sections of pastry and beef/pate.  Brush the tops of the pastry with milk and bake @ 350 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes.

Serve hot with Beef Mushroom Sauce (recipe follows).

Makes 18 mini Beef Wellingtons

CHICKEN LIVER PATE

• 1/4 lb. chicken livers
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 slice bacon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 of a hard-boiled egg
• 1/2 Tblsp. butter, melted
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• Grating of black pepper
• 1 tsp. dry sherry

Rinse and drain chicken livers and cook in broth over moderately low heat for about 15 minutes until no pink shows in the livers.  Drain and set aside.

Cook bacon for 5-7 minutes until crisp and golden brown.  Remove bacon and in the remaining fat cook onions for about 7 minutes until soft but not brown.

Combine the cooked chicken livers, bacon, onions, egg, butter, salt, pepper and sherry in a mixer or food  processor and blend until fairly smooth.

Refrigerate until ready to use.  Makes about one-half cup of pate.

Adapted from Redbook Cookbook.  First made to use with Beef Wellington in 1989.

BEEF MUSHROOM SAUCE

• 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tblsp. butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups beef broth, divided
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 tsp. salt (depending on saltiness of broth)
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

In a small skillet, saute the mushrooms in butter until they are just beginning to brown.  Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour and 1/2 cup of beef broth.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, place remaining one cup of beef broth, wine.  When mixture is hot, whisk in the flour/broth mixture.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes, whisking.  Stir in mushrooms, salt and pepper.

Makes about 2 cups of sauce to pour over the Wellingtons and/or potatoes.

Asparagus is good with this meal and we like this Mock Hollandaise Sauce.

For dessert, a big frosted cake from our favorite Cincinnati bakery,Servatii’s.

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Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Razzle Dazzle Recipes about four years ago.  I’ve made it many times for my daughters for lunch.

CHICKEN AND EGGPLANT PARMESAN

• Eggplant, about one pound, unpeeled
• 1 Tblsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed or shredded
• 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes in puree
• 4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 Tblsp. dried basil
• 1/2 pound of dry pasta

Slice eggplant in 1/4″ slices.  Place in a colander, sprinkle with salt, place a plate on top and weigh down with something heavy.  Let stand for an hour.

Preheat broiler on high

Place eggplant slices on an oiled or sprayed baking sheet.  Brush slices with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Broil for 5 minutes.  Turn slices over, brush with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil again for 5 minutes.

Turn broiler off and heat oven to 425 degrees F

Oil or spray an 8″ baking pan

Place one-third of the eggplant in a single layer in the baking pan, then half of the chicken, half of the tomatoes, half of the mozzarella, half of the basil, and one-third of the Parmesan cheese.  Repeat with another layer of one-third of the eggplant, half of the chicken, half of the tomatoes, half of the mozzarella, half of the basil, and one-third of the Parmesan cheese.  Top with the remaining eggplant and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees F

While dish is baking, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente according to package directions.

Cut the Chicken and Eggplant Parmesan into four sections and serve alongside cooked pasta.

This is a very tasty, not too-heavy lunch.

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Easy Curried Chicken with Apples

This is a tasty, easy casserole that combines chicken with apples and onions.  The recipe is adapted  from a cookbook called St. Louis Souvenirs.

EASY CURRIED CHICKEN WITH APPLES

• 1 medium tart apple, sliced thin
• 1 medium onion, sliced thin
• 2-3 tsp. olive oil
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4  cup undiluted evaporated milk
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 2 chicken breast halves, roasted and cut into bite-sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 2 cups cooked and seasoned rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Saute apple and onion slices in olive oil in a large skillet until apple and onion are tender.

In a small bowl mix together the soup, evaporated milk and curry powder.  Mix together with the apple/onion slices.

Place cooked chicken in a large casserole dish and add apple/onion mixture, mixing well.

Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees F for 20 minutes until mixture is heated through and bubbling.

Serve over cooked rice and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

Yield:  4 servings

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Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt

My daughters gave me the book, The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt for Christmas and I spent Christmas Day reading “letters from 1920s farm wives” and checking out the “111 blocks they inspired”.  The book is by Laurie Aaron Hird, published by Krause Publications, Cincinnati (www.mycraftivity.com).

There are 42 letters from readers of Farmer’s Wife magazine in 1922, answering a contest question, “If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?”

In addition, there are 111 six-inch blocks with assembly diagrams, instructions for making a sampler quilt in any traditional size, and a CD with templates for all 111 blocks.   Please note that the blocks are 6″ unfinished (5-1/2″ finished) – fairly small blocks.  The book is written for hand-piecing, but I’m not good at hand work and prefer to do as much stitching as possible on my Bernina sewing machine.  I also don’t like to work with templates and picked out patterns that I could work out mathematically to cut with a rotary cutter.  Either way, there are a lot of blocks to choose from and these are the 12 that I chose:

1. Hovering Birds – I liked this block very much
2. Practical Orchard – very easy to piece
3. Churn Dash – an old classic
4. Contrary Wife – another easy one
5. Cups & Saucers – the flying geese in this block were more difficult because of the small size
6. Prairie Queen – looks more intricate but is easy to do
7. Friendship Star – easy to piece
8. Homeward Bound – the small pieces made some of this block a little harder to do
9. Country Farm – had a little trouble matching seams
10. Box – easy to piece
11. Single Wedding Star – easy to piece
12. Cut Glass Dish – the most difficult of the ones I chose – again, the small size of the pieces made it harder to match and to keep the bulk under control

I had a $5 bag of coordinating scraps I had purchased on a trip to Holmes County Amish Country last fall and the size of the pieces was perfect to make the small 6″ unfinished blocks.

I decided to set the blocks on point and used coordinating checkered fabric for the setting triangles.  The sashing and binding were cut from a dark maroon fabric, a color that showed up in almost every block.

I like to use fabric scraps to piece the backing on quilts and chose some that echoed the colors in the wall hanging.

The piece measures 29×29 inches and I like to use drapery hooks to hang a piece like this so I can use it as a hanging or remove the hooks and use it as a table cover.

I think it made a nice piece and I still have 99 block patterns to try out on another project.

This is an interesting book to read and a great source for vintage quilt blocks.

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Creamy Ham Tetrazzini

We had a delicious Honey Baked Spiral Ham for Easter and by the time I sent home slices with each family, I just had scraps to work with for tonight’s supper.  I turned to one of my favorite dishes, Creamy Ham Tetrazzini – easy to make, very tasty and very satisfying.

CREAMY HAM TETRAZZINI

• 1 Tblsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper (green, red or yellow)
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup chopped cooked ham
• Grating of black pepper
• 1 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
• 6 oz. dry spaghetti or fettuccine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large oven–proof skillet, heat the olive oil.  Add onion, sweet pepper and garlic – cook over medium low heat until vegetables are softened but not browned.  Sprinkle with salt.

In a two-cup glass measure, place 1-1/4 cups chicken broth and the cream cheese, cut into small cubes.  Heat in the microwave (or over low heat in a small saucepan) until broth is hot and cheese is melted.  Whisk mixture until smooth and pour into the skillet with the vegetables.  Add the chopped ham and grate black pepper over the top.  Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered  in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.

While the ham mixture is baking, cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente.  Serve the ham mixture over the cooked, drained spaghetti or fettuccine.  Makes 6 servings.

The better flavored the ham is, the better this dish will be.

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Easter with the Grandkids

On this Easter Sunday, in addition to enjoying the grandkids and a ham dinner, I was presented with a brand-new computer.  I’m trying out the “blog-writing” feature to see how it works.

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