Jahydin
Hero
Enjoy! I love mine for reheating restaurant leftovers.
Oh, and tater-tots. Toss with a bit of oil and dash with your favorite seasoning, then 360 degrees for around 15 min.
Cookin again
Oh, and tater-tots. Toss with a bit of oil and dash with your favorite seasoning, then 360 degrees for around 15 min.
Zardnaar
Legend
Air fryer reheated pizza ok.
Last night’s meal:
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Snowy night? Pozole time!
Jahydin
Hero
Did a BBQ glazed ham over onions last weekend:
Then did creole red beans & rice a couple days later, using some of the ham & onions:
Then did creole red beans & rice a couple days later, using some of the ham & onions:
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
So this happened tonight.
It was my D&D Group's annual "Fancy Holiday Dinner Party." We are all foodies, and most of us have a background in the restaurant/food service industry, so we pull out all the stops. We all take turns choosing and preparing the entree, and everyone else brings a side dish or dessert to match. (One year, we had live lobster cooked to order. Last year it was Joe's turn, and he prepared raclette--he even bought the special grill and imported a whole wheel of the cheese.) Well this year, it was my turn.
-----
So I started with three pounds of mushrooms, three large shallots, a few cloves of garlic, and some fresh thyme. Then I ground 'em up in a food processor. (Click any picture to cast Enlarge Photograph without spending a spell slot.)
Then I seared off some of this stuff, then mashed it into a paste in a mortar and pestle with some dry sherry. Pressed it through a sieve, and stirred it in with the mushrooms.
Put it all into a Dutch oven, on high heat, and brought it to a boil. It always surprises me how much water is in mushrooms...
Presto! A delicious, savory duxelles.
Then I turned my attention to this three-pound beef chateaubriand roast. His name is Wilfred and he's very prim and proper.
Hard sear on my cast iron griddle, after resting on a rack for 1 hour at room temperature.
Brush him down with mustard, wrap in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
Following some advice from J. Kenji López-Alt, I swapped out 4 sheets of phyllo dough for the crêpes, and then layered on the prosciutto.
And then spread the cooled duxelles on top of that. Then (not pictured) I dusted the whole thing with pulverized dried shitake mushrooms (to help with moisture absorption and added flavor--another tip from J. Kenji López-Alt).
I forgot to take a picture of the tenderloin sitting on top of the duxelles before I rolled everything up. My bad. Anyway, here's Wilfred all wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap, ready for a three-hour nap in the fridge.
Time to roll out the puff pastry. Funny story: I went to three different grocery stores before I found frozen puff pastry. For a hot second there, I was fully prepared to make pastry myself when I got home--I've done it before and it's a pain--but fortune smiled on me. I picked up the last package from Fred Meyer.
The only mistake I made: I decided to cut these decorative little leaves out as well, from the leftover pastry. It seemed innocent enough, downright cute. Right? (ominous music)
All wrapped up in puff pastry, brushed with a beaten egg, sprinkled with flaky salt, and into the oven!
Wilfred is all done, and enjoying his 15-minute rest before carving. See what I mean about those leaf decorations being a mistake? They burned quickly, and a few even fell off. Next time (lol) I'll just score the pastry lightly after the egg wash. The decorations actually made it look slightly worse, IMO.
And the reveal! My homemade Beef Wellington, as authentic as I could make it.
That was, by far, the hardest and most expensive recipe that I've ever prepared at home. And it's the best slice of beef I've ever put in my mouth. Seriously, it beats any roast, any steak, any barbecue, any other beef I've had. Tender, juicy, succulent, savory--it's better than the sum of its parts (and its parts were pretty friggin' delicious all on their own.)
What did everyone else at the party think? The last photo says it all.
It was my D&D Group's annual "Fancy Holiday Dinner Party." We are all foodies, and most of us have a background in the restaurant/food service industry, so we pull out all the stops. We all take turns choosing and preparing the entree, and everyone else brings a side dish or dessert to match. (One year, we had live lobster cooked to order. Last year it was Joe's turn, and he prepared raclette--he even bought the special grill and imported a whole wheel of the cheese.) Well this year, it was my turn.
-----
So I started with three pounds of mushrooms, three large shallots, a few cloves of garlic, and some fresh thyme. Then I ground 'em up in a food processor. (Click any picture to cast Enlarge Photograph without spending a spell slot.)
Then I seared off some of this stuff, then mashed it into a paste in a mortar and pestle with some dry sherry. Pressed it through a sieve, and stirred it in with the mushrooms.
Put it all into a Dutch oven, on high heat, and brought it to a boil. It always surprises me how much water is in mushrooms...
Presto! A delicious, savory duxelles.
Then I turned my attention to this three-pound beef chateaubriand roast. His name is Wilfred and he's very prim and proper.
Hard sear on my cast iron griddle, after resting on a rack for 1 hour at room temperature.
Brush him down with mustard, wrap in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.
Following some advice from J. Kenji López-Alt, I swapped out 4 sheets of phyllo dough for the crêpes, and then layered on the prosciutto.
And then spread the cooled duxelles on top of that. Then (not pictured) I dusted the whole thing with pulverized dried shitake mushrooms (to help with moisture absorption and added flavor--another tip from J. Kenji López-Alt).
I forgot to take a picture of the tenderloin sitting on top of the duxelles before I rolled everything up. My bad. Anyway, here's Wilfred all wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap, ready for a three-hour nap in the fridge.
Time to roll out the puff pastry. Funny story: I went to three different grocery stores before I found frozen puff pastry. For a hot second there, I was fully prepared to make pastry myself when I got home--I've done it before and it's a pain--but fortune smiled on me. I picked up the last package from Fred Meyer.
The only mistake I made: I decided to cut these decorative little leaves out as well, from the leftover pastry. It seemed innocent enough, downright cute. Right? (ominous music)
All wrapped up in puff pastry, brushed with a beaten egg, sprinkled with flaky salt, and into the oven!
Wilfred is all done, and enjoying his 15-minute rest before carving. See what I mean about those leaf decorations being a mistake? They burned quickly, and a few even fell off. Next time (lol) I'll just score the pastry lightly after the egg wash. The decorations actually made it look slightly worse, IMO.
And the reveal! My homemade Beef Wellington, as authentic as I could make it.
That was, by far, the hardest and most expensive recipe that I've ever prepared at home. And it's the best slice of beef I've ever put in my mouth. Seriously, it beats any roast, any steak, any barbecue, any other beef I've had. Tender, juicy, succulent, savory--it's better than the sum of its parts (and its parts were pretty friggin' delicious all on their own.)
What did everyone else at the party think? The last photo says it all.
Attachments
Last edited:
Jahydin
Hero
@CleverNickName
Wow, that's enough to make Gordon Ramsay proud. Good job!
Wow, that's enough to make Gordon Ramsay proud. Good job!
@CleverNickName ... you didn't make the puff pastry?!? Fail /jk
No, seriously, that's impressive. I once helped my Dad do a Beef Wellington many years ago (minus the foie gras) and it was an ordeal. But the results are impressive.
No, seriously, that's impressive. I once helped my Dad do a Beef Wellington many years ago (minus the foie gras) and it was an ordeal. But the results are impressive.
