The Art of Food

If you’ve ever had beef wellington, you know that it is one of the more delicious dishes that uses all the “common” ingredients of a typical kitchen.  Jamie Oliver’s Beef Wellington goes above and beyond.  Whenever I make it, everyone who eats it can’t get enough.  Try it and you won’t be disappointed.  :)

Ground Beef Wellington (by Jamie Oliver, Food Revolution pg. 156)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 potato
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 portobello mushrooms
• olive oil
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (modified: I only use 2)
• a big handful of frozen peas
• 1 large egg
• 1 pound ground beef
• sea salt and pepper
• all-purpose flour
• 2 sheets puff pastry (Modified: I only use 1)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Peel/chop onion, carrot, celery, and potato into 1/4-inch dices
3. finely grate garlic
4. Clean and roughly chop mushrooms, about the same size of other veggies
5. Put all veggies into large frying pan on medium low heat with 2 lugs of olive oil
6. Pick rosemary leaves, finely chop, and add to pan.
7. Fry and stir for 8 mins, until veggies are lightly colored
8. Add frozen peas and cook for another minute
9. Put vegetable mixture into a large bowl to cool completely (Tip: I usually put this bowl into the fridge to speed it up a bit)
10. Crack the egg into a cup and beat it up
11. Add ground beef to the veggie mixture with a good pinch of salt and pepper and half the beaten egg
12. Using your hands, scrunch and mix well.

Assembling:

1. Lightly dust a clean work surface
2. Roll out the pastry into a 12x16 rectangle, don’t overwork the dough
3. Place ground beef mixture along the edge, lengthwise
4. Mold into an even, long sausage shape
5. Brush edges of pastry with a little beaten egg
6. Roll the ground beef up in the pastry until you have a Christmas cracker
7. Squeeze ends together and brush the remaining egg all over the Wellington
8. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour

Serve:

• Slice it up
• Serve with Cherry Tomato, Caper, and Balsamic Sauce
• Enjoy!!  :D

Ok, since it’s autumn and harvest veggies are in season and there’s plenty of Oktoberfest beer to go around, this is the perfect dish for a nice cozy night in with someone snuggly or a good book. 

Butternut Squash and Vanilla Risotto (Recipe by Giada De Laurentiis) 

Ingredients: 

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 large vanilla bean
• 3 cups peeled cubed (1-inch wide) butternut squash, about 12 ounces
• 2 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon
• 3/4 cups finely chopped onion (from 1 onion)
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, warm the broth over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and add them, and the bean, to the broth. When the broth comes to a simmer reduce the heat to low. Add the butternut squash to the simmering broth and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove the butternut squash to a side dish. Turn the heat on the broth down to very low and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender but not brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to of the broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Discard the vanilla bean. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the butternut squash, Parmesan, the remaining tablespoon of butter, and salt. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately.

This dish is OMG-this-is-so-good-let-me-have-more good.  I can’t stop eating it.