While still on the quest to find affordable housing, we are definitely using up every thing in the freezer and pantry. So here’s a meatloaf recipe to add a little flavor to a simple dish. For years we had a recipe for meatloaf that used wheat germ in it. It was tasty but had a number of after effects, so I’ve worked a different version that’s a little less unbinding.
This one like many recipes is not written in stone. I probably would have added onions, that had been sautéed, if we had them. The amounts of ingredients are also subject to interpretation, the bread crumbs could vary quite a bit, it’s really all about cooking by “eye”. You could also vary the meat by adding ground pork or veal into the mix. Feel free to experiment.
Ingredients for Meatloaf
2 #’s ground beef fairly lean
2 eggs
¼ cup whole milk
1 Tbs garlic salt
1 Tbs pepper
3 -4 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ cup ketchup
3 – 6+ cups Italian style Panko bread crumbs
¼ – ½ cup BBQ Sauce
Directions for Meatloaf
Mix the beef, eggs, milk, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup thoroughly. Begin to add the Panko bread crumbs and combine, continue until you have slightly moist not wet mixture that holds together well.
Place into a loaf pan and press to even out. Pour a layer of BBQ sauce about ¼ of an inch thick over the top. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes in a 350° oven. When done remove from oven and let sit to rest for a few minutes before slicing.
Be adventurous try adding finely diced carrots, or diced green chilies, celery, diced pepper of any color, sautéed onions the list goes on.
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Mix the beef, eggs, milk, salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce and ketchup thoroughly. Begin to add the Panko bread crumbs and combine, continue until you have slightly moist not wet mixture that holds together well.
Place into a loaf pan and press to even out. Pour a layer of BBQ sauce about ¼ of an inch thick over the top. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes in a 350° oven. When done remove from oven and let sit to rest for a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
Be adventurous try adding finely diced carrots, or diced green chilies, celery, diced pepper of any color, sauteed onions the list goes on.
Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/
Although this is an extremely elegant main course, there is no definitive recipe. Like wise there is no true source with which to say the dish was created. Most people assume that the dish is some how related to Arthur Wellesley the 1st Duke of Wellington, and that it comes from some dish he favored. Others theories suggest it was developed by a patriotic chef, another theory invented it in Wellington N.Z. for some occasion. The least favorite theory I find is that it looked, after cooking, like a highly polished “Wellington” boot, Oh so tasty!
About the only two sure things in the recipes is that the beef is en croute, wrapped in puff pastry and it won’t be found in too many French cookbooks. The other ingredients are up for discussion and you can go from a prohibitively expensive dish with foie gras with truffles and a truffle sauce to a more modest version using some form of liver pâté and a more modest sauce. Seemingly a daunting dish to prepare, it is in truth a fairly simple dish that does use slightly expensive ingredients.
The main ingredient is a tenderloin of beef. It can made as one large piece of meat or as individual servings which takes a little more work. The rest of the processes are the same.
Since it is baked in a pastry shell there is no gravy, so a sauce must be prepared and again here you will have a large variety of choices. My two favorites would be Bearnaise or a Madeira sauce, of course you can go with a simple thicken beef gravy, also there are no “laws” or sauce police to prevent you from experimenting.
About the only “must” is to use a piece of meat that is uniform in thickness so that it all cooks evenly.
Ingredients for Beef Wellington
This recipe is for a piece of meat that is 6 -8 inches in length.
1 center cut beef tenderloin 6 -8 ” trimmed of fat and silver-skin
Salt & pepper
2 tbs butter & 2 tbs olive oil
1lbs. button mushrooms
2 large shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 – 2 lbs liver pâté (enough liver pâté to cover the beef but not the ends)
mirepoix of onion chopped, celery chopped and parsley,1 bay leaf and pinch of rosemary
For the Madeira Sauce
2 cups brown sauce (recipe to follow)
1/3 cup Madeira wine
For Brown Sauce
4 cups beef stock
4 tbs butter or beef fat
4 tbs flour
1 onion diced
6 tbs tomato puree
Directions for the Brown Sauce
Making the sauce is the most time consuming part of the recipe and needs to be done well in advance of the actual dish.
In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the onion and cook to softened. Then add the flour and cook until it begins to brown. Once brown add the stock and purée mix well and cook until it’s reduced to about 2 cups.
Directions for Madeira Sauce
Take 2 cups of brown sauce and reduce to about 1 cup, then add 1/3 cup Madeira Wine and increase heat. Do not let sauce come to a boil as this will lessen the flavor of the wine.
Directions for the Beef Wellington
Preheat oven to 450°
Take the tenderloin and season with salt and pepper and in a flat pan roast with the mirepoix sprinkled around it for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Duxelles:
In a food processor place the mushrooms, shallots and garlic and thyme and pulse until you have a finely chopped mixture.
In a frying pan place the butter and olive oil and melt and then cook the mushroom mixture until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
Assembly:
When the meat is cool, take the puff pastry and roll out so that it is large enough to encompass the meat.
Take the pâté and spread to completely cover all the sides of the tenderloin, but not the ends. Spread the duxelles out on a large plate and press the duxelles into the pâté covered beef ,covering all the pâté with the duxelles.
Now place the covered meat onto the puff pastry fold over and seal, completely, trimming ends if necessary. Place it seam side down on a sheet pan. Brush egg wash over entire pastry. If you want before placing in oven you can decorate with leftover puff pastry ie. at Christmas perhaps use a tree cookie cutter and press this piece of dough on top and then brush with egg wash.
Bake in a 450° oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is brown. Serve the sauce on the side.
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This recipe is for a piece of meat that is 6 -8 inches in length.
1 center cut beef tenderloin 6 -8 " trimmed of fat and silver-skin
Salt & pepper
2 tbs butter & 2 tbs olive oil
1lbs. button mushrooms
2 large shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 - 2 lbs liver pâté (enough liver pâté to cover the beef but not the ends)
mirepoix of onion celery and parsley,1 bay leaf and pinch of rosemary
For the Madeira Sauce
2 cups brown sauce (recipe to follow)
1/3 cup Madeira wine
For Brown Sauce
4 cups beef stock
4 tbs butter or beef fat
4 tbs flour
1 onion diced
6 tbs tomato puree
Instructions
Directions for the Brown Sauce
Making the sauce is the most time consuming part of the recipe and needs to be done well in advance of the actual dish.
In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the onion and cook to softened. Then add the flour and cook until it begins to brown. Once brown add the stock and puree mix well and cook until it's reduced to about 2 cups.
Directions for Madeira Sauce
Take 2 cups of brown sauce and reduce to about 1 cup, then add 1/3 cup Madeira Wine and increase heat. Do not let sauce come to a boil as this will lessen the flavor of the wine.
Directions for the Beef Wellington
Preheat oven to 450°
Take the tenderloin and season with salt and pepper and in a flat pan roast with the mirepoix sprinkled around it for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Duxelles
In a food processor place the mushrooms, shallots and garlic and thyme and pulse until you have a finely chopped mixture.
In a frying pan place the butter and olive oil and melt and then cook the mushroom mixture until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
Assembly
When the meat is cool, take the puff pastry and roll out so that it is large enough to encompass the meat.
Take the pâté and spread to completely cover all the sides of the tenderloin, but not the ends. Spread the duxelles out on a large plate and press the duxelles into the pâté covered beef ,covering all the pâté with the duxelles.
Now place the covered meat onto the puff pastry fold over and seal, completely, trimming ends if necessary. Place it seam side down on a sheet pan. Brush egg wash over entire pastry. If you want before placing in oven you can decorate with leftover puff pastry ie. at Christmas perhaps use a tree cookie cutter and press this piece of dough on top and then brush with egg wash.
Bake in a 450° oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is brown. Serve the sauce on the side.
Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/
One of the great ways to prepare a steak, with a cognac sauce it is truly a great dish. My recipe has a slight twist to it. As necessity is the mother of invention, one time when making this dish I found that I didn’t have any heavy cream or the time to go get some. So I substituted a little ½ & ½ and sour cream and it worked just fine, the sour cream giving the final sauce a slightly tangy flavor that I think you’ll like. Although the traditional recipe calls for a Filet Mignon, I find that a well cut top sirloin works just as well. I usually buy a whole top sirloin and cut my own steaks, so I know it will come out perfectly. This recipe is for two steaks, if you are cooking for more just increase the quantities. The recipe usually calls for the peppercorns to be crushed, I find that a mill with a coarse grind works quite well.
Ingredients for Steak au Poivre
2 top sirloin steaks trimmed
Freshly cracked black pepper ( approximately 2-3 tbs per steak)
2 tbs butter
1 large shallot diced
1- 2 oz. cognac
¾ – 1 cup good beef stock
5 -6 tbs ½ & ½
5 tbs sour cream or creme fraiche
salt & pepper to taste
Directions for Steak au Poivre
Take the steaks and cover completely both sides with the cracked pepper pressing the pepper lightly into the steaks so that it adheres. You want a nice coating so that when cooked it will produce a spicy crust.
In a saute pan melt the butter and on medium high heat sear the steaks to just slightly less than your desired doneness ( they will continue to cook while you finish the sauce). Remove steaks to warm plate cover with foil and hold in a warm oven until sauce is finished.
If there is a lot of fat in the pan drain most of it out. Add the shallot and cook briefly until softened. When softened take the pan off the heat and add the Cognac, being careful to watch that it does not flame up (if you are comfortable with flambeing, go ahead and light the cognac, but it is not necessary and all the alcohol will cook off). Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook until the cognac is almost completely reduced,
After the cognac is reduced add the beef stock and turn the heat up to high and reduce the sauce until it is thick and syrupy and a spoon dragged through the sauce will leave a momentary clear lane.
A spoon dragged through the sauce leaves a momentary clear lane
Once the sauce is thicken to this stage reduce the heat slightly and add the ½ & ½ and the sour cream and stir to combine. When the sauce is well mixed place the steaks with any juices that have accumulated back into the pan and coat with the sauce. Plate, spooning sauce over the top of each steak and serve, placing remaining sauce in a sauce boat on the side.
All that great meat, a shame to cover it up , sometimes I really don’t understand humans. Still it is a great recipe so I give it 5 paws
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Freshly cracked black pepper ( approximately 2-3 tbs per steak)
2 tbs butter
1 large shallot diced
1- 2 oz. cognac
¾ - 1 cup good beef stock
5 -6 tbs ½ & ½
5 tbs sour cream or creme fraiche
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Take the steaks and cover completely both sides with the cracked pepper pressing the pepper lightly into the steaks so that it adheres.
In a saute pan melt the butter and on medium high heat sear the steaks to just slightly less than your desired doneness ( they will continue to cook while you finish the sauce). Remove steaks to warm plate cover with foil and hold in a warm oven until sauce is finished.
If there is a lot of fat in the pan drain most of it out. Add the shallot and cook briefly until softened. When softened take the pan off the heat and add the Cognac, being careful to watch that it does not flame up (if you are comfortable with flambeing, go ahead and light the cognac, but it is not necessary and all the alcohol will cook off). Return the pan to the heat and continue to cook until the cognac is almost completely reduced,
After the cognac is reduced add the beef stock and turn the heat up to high and reduce the sauce until it is thick and syrupy and a spoon dragged through the sauce will leave a momentary clear lane.
A spoon dragged through the sauce leaves a momentary clear lane
A spoon dragged through the sauce leaves a momentary clear lane
Once the sauce is thicken to this stage reduce the heat slightly and add the ½ & ½ and the sour cream and stir to combine. When the sauce is well mixed place the steaks with any juices that have accumulated back into the pan and coat with the sauce. Plate, spooning sauce over the top of each steak and serve, placing remaining sauce in a sauce boat on the side.
Notes
recipe is for 2 steaks if making more just increase amounts accordingly
Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/
