If Christmas was better than I thought… the days after are JUST like I thought they would be. Without the flurry of activity and the constant buzz of Christmas excitement… I have time to be sad. It probably has something to do with the fact that this damn cold finally caught up to me 🙁 My head is stuffed and I am soooo tired. Today is my first day up and going.
Well, I cleaned the bathrooms yesterday… and I took Christmas down… and I vacuumed… but you get the point, I have been sick!
My in-laws left this morning because we are welcoming a new baby into the family very soon!!! My S-I-L is due tomorrow!!!!! Exciting! So that is definitely something to be happy about 🙂
Not when I buy 2 15lb turkeys for $30!!!!! Yeah baby! We can have so many meals out of those birds!!! PLUS, my freezer is completely depleted of soups so it is that time again and I need bones 🙂
Mom’s Awesome Christmas Breakfast
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| Someone likes it!!!! |
The Ultimate Beef Wellington
Adapted from Tyler Florence
For the Duxelles:
1 1/2 lbs white button mushrooms
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Beef:
1 (3-pound) center cut beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 thin slices prosciutto
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Green Peppercorn Sauce, recipe follows
To make the Duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
To prepare the beef: Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking.
Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-based skillet lightly coated with olive oil – about 2 to 3 minutes.
Meanwhile set out your prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap (plastic needs to be about a foot and a half in length so you can wrap and tie the roast up in it) on top of your cutting board. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef. Using a rubber spatula cover evenly with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.
When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets you may have to overlap 2 sheets and press them together. Remove beef from refrigerator and cut off plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef – saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Top with coarse sea salt. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.
Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife – this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking.
Green Peppercorn Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1 cup brandy
1 box beef stock
2 cups cream
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
1/2 cup green peppercorns in brine, drained
then, off heat, add brandy and flambe using a BBQ lighter.
Reduce by half again, then shut off heat and add green peppercorns.
Doesn’t it just look crazy good? Even my terrible photography “skills” can’t make that look bad! Mmmm
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| Rise and Shine!!! |
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| Santa ate the cookies, left the key AND a note 🙂 |
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| Some yogurt before presents lol |
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| My brother’s cool wrapping job… that’s a pic of him fishing and a map of Manitoba LOL |
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| THE TRUTH LOL |
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| Santa was VERY good to us! |
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| HBear’s present to SBean, she picked it out AND paid for it lol |
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| It’s a winner! |
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Tried so hard to get a picture of all 3 of them… someone was always moving though lol |
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| OK enough I got it lol |
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