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  • 18 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 24th, 2023

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  • I needed something to do with the last 1.5 pounds of Christmas prime rib, and a meat, potato, and cheddar pie seemed like the exact right thing to do. Also gives me a good way to use up the rest of the horseradish sauce.

    I sauteed two yellow onions and three gold potatoes, with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, in oil until the onions had their spirits broken.

    While this was happening, I chopped up the rest of the meat and dusted it with flour. After the onions and potatoes were done, I removed them from the pan and seared the beef. I added the onions and potatoes back to the pan. I added a couple cups of beef stock along with some dried thyme, rosemary, and a few dashes of worchestershire sauce. I simmered this for about 2.5 hours, until the meat was tender. I tasted several times during this and added salt more than once; I think the potatoes were absorbing the salt as I went, possibly? Not sure. I also put quite a bit of black pepper in there, because black pepper is delicious.

    I know this was a “waste” of prime rib, essentially using it as stew meat. But I’ve been eating off this thing for a week now. I’ve become one with the prime rib.

    Also I probably should have waited before adding the potatoes, because they simmered an additional 2.5 hours with the meat. They did hold up pretty well, though. Definitely soft, but they didn’t dissolve or anything, like I was afraid of.

    After the meat was tender I chopped up about a handful of parsley and added that, along with a slurry of cornstarch (a couple tablespoons cornstarch with a couple tablespoons water or so). I let it come back to a simmer, then let things cool down.

    I made a pie crust and blind baked it. I thawed a sheet of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and rolled it out to fit my pie, as well, then put it back in the freezer for a few minutes while I assembled the rest.

    I put the filling in and topped it with about 8 ounces of shredded sharp white cheddar. Took an eggwash around the edge of the pie, then laid the puff pastry sheet on top and pressed it down around the edge to try to seal it to the lower crust. Then I cut a few slits for steam (not sure if necessary), eggwashed the top, and baked at 400 for about 30 minutes.

    It turned out amazing. The horseradish sauce is great, too: about a half cup of mayonnaise, half cup sour cream, a few tablespoons of prepared horseradish, some salt, black pepper, a half tablespoon or so of mustard, and a teaspoon or less of lemon juice.



  • I feel like I’m lucky now if they’re even willing to SELL me the utility that used to come standard.

    More than half the time, when the new, sleek product gets rid of functionality, the response to, “How do I do all the things I need to do?” is essentially, “You don’t!”

    And if you ask to keep using the previous product, the response is, “No.”












  • Personal Beef Wellingtons. Two servings.

    Duxelles

    • 8 ounces white mushrooms
    • 1 shallot
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 1 sprig thyme leaves
    • 1 tbsp butter
    • 2 tbsp brandy (I used whiskey this time, turned out great)
    • Salt and pepper
    1. Finely chop all the solid ingredients (food processor works great for this).
    2. Heat butter over medium heat. Add mixture and saute a moment.
    3. Add whiskey, salt, and pepper. Stir.
    4. Saute 10-15 minutes or so, until the mixture is pretty dry.

    Beef Wellingtons

    • Duxelles
    • 2 filet mignon steaks
    • Salt and pepper
    • Mustard
    • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (or make your own if you hate yourself)
    • 4 slices prosciutto
    • 2 egg yolks
    1. Thaw a sheet of puff pastry per directions (40 minutes for mine).
    2. Salt and pepper steaks.
    3. Saute over high heat for 30-45 seconds on each side to sear. Let cool.
    4. Slather mustard completely around each steak. English is the standard mustard to use, but I used Chinese because I couldn’t find English mustard, but 5. wanted something with a little bite to it.
    5. Roll out puff pastry sheet until it’s large enough that half of it could wrap a single steak.
    6. Cut puff pastry sheet in half lengthwise.
    7. Place two slices prosciutto on each piece of pastry.
    8. Place a mound of duxelles in the middle of each pastry (a quarter of what you have on each).
    9. Place a steak on top of the duxelles.
    10. Top each steak with half the remaining duxelles.
    11. Fold puff pastry up and around the steaks, sealing the edges.
    12. Wrap each constructed Wellington tightly in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30-40 minutes (to help it keep its shape and stay sealed).
    13. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
    14. Unwrap Wellingtons.
    15. Beat 2 egg yolks and use as egg wash on the Wellingtons.
    16. Score the top of each Wellington. I also sprinkled some crushed pink peppercorns on them.
    17. Bake for 20-23 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.

    Pink Peppercorn Sauce

    • 1 shallot, sliced
    • 1 clove garlic, smashed
    • 2 sprigs thyme leaves
    • 1/2 cup brandy (Again, I used whiskey)
    • 2 cups beef stock
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1 tablespoon mustard
    • 2-3 tbsp pink peppercorns, lightly crushed
    1. After searing beef in pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil.
    2. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme leaves. Saute 1-2 minutes.
    3. Remove from heat. Add brandy.
    4. Flambe. After flame dies down, return to heat.
    5. Add stock. Reduce by half.
    6. Strain out solids, return to heat.
    7. Add cream and mustard.
    8. Add pink peppercorns.
    9. Reduce by half again.








  •  160 grams warm water (90-100 F)
     1.25 tsp instant yeast
     15 grams dry milk powder
     0.5 tbsp sugar
     1 tbsp olive oil
     0.5 tsp salt
     2 cups AP flour
     6 tbsp butter
    

    Mix the first four ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it sit until it gets foamy, about 5 minutes. Then add the olive oil and salt. Turn the mixer on low (with dough hook) and slowly add the flour. When it starts coming together, turn it up to medium low and let it go maybe 5 minutes or so, until the dough is pretty smooth and it’s cleaned itself off the sides of the bowl.

    Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm spot for 90 minutes.

    Melt the butter and put half of it in a 9x13 pan.

    Punch the dough down and shape it into a rectangle to fill the pan. Put it in the buttered pan and cover with another tbsp of melted butter. Cover and let rise another hour.

    Preheat oven to 475 F.

    Uncover the dough, and if you want, you can score the dough with a knife to make little indentations showing you where to cut later.

    Bake until it’s golden across the top, about 13-15 minutes.

    Immediately brush with the remaining melted butter. Then use as much topping as you’d like.

    The topping was about 1.5 tbsp of Parmesan, 1/2 tbsp onion powder, a tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1/2 tsp basil. This makes what ended up being too much topping, so I’d reduce everything a little or just don’t use the whole thing.