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BEEF WELLINGTON Oven:
450 for 15 minutes, then reduce to 375 for additional 15 minutes. You will
need either two filet mignon, or an 8-ounce (approximately) rib eye cut in half. You will also need a small package of mushroom slices, coarsely chopped; half a medium onion, also coarsely chopped;
and 3 cloves garlic, chopped. First thing you do is take one sheet
of puff pastry out of the frozen package and let it thaw out on a floured kitchen counter. When it's thawed out, cut it
in half so you can roll it out. You only need half of the sheet of puff pastry for each Beef Wellington. Then you need to salt and pepper one side of the steaks. Sear the steaks for
about five minutes on each side. Take them off the heat and let them set until they're cool enough to handle. Saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic in olive oil. De-glaze the pan. I use a cup of red wine
but you could use beef au jus. The mushrooms absorb all the delicious liquids. Then put in a couple of tablespoons of flour
and stir well. This will help the mixture hold together nicely. Set this aside while the mixture binds together and cools
off a bit. Roll out each piece of puff pastry dough so that it's big
enough to wrap around each of the two steaks. Make an egg wash, using one egg. Here's the assembly instructions. I don't use the pate which is the traditional platform onto which the steak
is set. We get into enough trouble with cholesterol so we don't need the added hazard of goose pate. Besides, that comes
under the general heading of "dead birds" which Quint refuses to eat. So I use one slice of salami. Then put the
steak on top of that. A heaping -- really heaping spoonful of the mushroom mixture goes on top of the steak. With a pastry
brush, paint a generous margin of the egg wash around the edges of the pastry and pull it up over the steak and mushroom mixture.
I like to pull the pastry up at the corners. Just make sure you get a nice seal. You're going to bake the Wellingtons with that pastry seam size down, on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. But wait. Before you put your Wellingtons into the 450 degree oven, give them a generous
bath in the egg wash. Set your timer for 15 minutes, not one minute more. Then immediately turn the heat down to 375 degrees
for another 15 minutes. They will be a beautiful golden brown, thanks to the egg wash. And everyone will be oh so grateful
and think you were slaving away in the kitchen all day.
CHERRY PIE ICE CREAM First you buy a half gallon of sugar free vanilla ice cream. Take it out of the carton (save for later use) and put
the ice cream in a very big bowl so that you can stir in a can (Wilderness brand) of No Sugar Added Cherry Pie filling. Then add big chunks of No Sugar Added Vanilla Wafers that have been pounded a bit. I use a
small rolling pin that I use for biscuits. Return the mixture back to the
ice cream container. Refreeze. You'll have more ice cream mixture than
you started out with because of the cherry pie filling. I "make" this ice cream after lunch so we have a snack about
mid-afternoon. Then it all fits back into the ice cream container.
CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY CAKE
preheat oven to 350 degrees
NOTE: This recipe uses one box of Pillsbury Reduced Sugar Devil's Food cake mix. There are 9 grams of sugar and
5 grams of sugar alcohol is a serving that is 1/12 of the package.
To make the cake, you will need the cake mix,
plus 3 eggs beaten into 1/3 cup of oil. I use Wesson Oil.
Add to the cake mix and the oil/egg mixture one can
of Wilnderness Sugar Free Cherry Pie Filling. Mix all these ingredients together. Do not add any other liquid. Mix by hand
so you don't smoosh up the cherries in the cherry pie filling. The pie filling does have 4 grams of sugar per 1/3 cup
serving, most likely owing to fructose from the fruit.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool before frosting. I use Pillsbury's Reduced Sugar Chocolate Frosting (in the can). It, too, has 9 grams
of sugar and 5 grams of sugar alcohol in 2 tablespoons. If you absolutely need to curtail your intake of sugar, you probably
ought not to eat the frosting.
Not only that, but I also like to put half of a Maraschino Cherry in the middle
of each slice of cake. Those are really sugary. Don't eat them if you're diabetic.
Anyway, that's what
I'm taking to the ice cream social at church this afternoon. The cake won't last long. It never does. Especially when
it's still a bit warm.
PANCAKES (makes 8 small pancakes)
1 egg
1 1/4
cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp. sucralose (Splenda or Altern)
3 tsp. baking
powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1. First thing you do is melt the margarine. It will cool while you're
fluffing up the egg. It doesn't have to be cold but you don't want it real hot or it will cook the egg.
Warm is okay, but not hot. Then start preheating the griddle.
2. Beat egg until fluffy.
3. Add milk
and melted margarine (that's cooled down a bit) to the fluffy egg.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix really well.
5. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle.
6. When bubbles appear on surface and begin to break, flip over and
cook the other side.
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BUTTERHORNS (CRESCENT ROLLS)
Butterhorns are
the most amazing and incredibly delicious bread you can make. Here's the recipe:
1 package of active dry yeast.
(I've switched to the dry yeast in the jar and use 2-1/2 teaspoons which is supposed to equal a package of yeast. But
I gave up on the packaged stuff after I started having trouble getting it to proof. Maybe the stuff in the jar is fresher.)
1-1/2 cups sucralose
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup melted margarine
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use bread flour. I know, it's a bit more expensive, but I figure
if I'm going to go to the trouble of making bread, I'm going to stack the deck way in my favor.)
1. Dissolve
yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water in small bowl. Let it sit there until it does its yeasty thing -- like bloom. When
you look at it again in about 15 minutes, it ought to have expanded quite a bit. If it didn't, it means your yeast is
dead. Water could have been too hot or the yeast could have been dead to begin with. Anyway, always "proof" your
yeast to make sure it's alive and eating all the little sugar granulates you gave it for a snack.
2. Combine
eggs, 1/2 cup melted margarine, salt adn 1/2 cup sucralose in a big mixing bowl. (I use Altern, but Splenda is the same thing).
Beat well. Add yeast mixture to egg mixture. Stir in 3 cups flour and mix really well. Quickly work in remaining 1-1/2 cups
flour. If dough is stiff, add more water, a tablespoon at a time.
Dough will be really soft. Cover bowl with plastic
wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Yes, that's right. In the refrigerator. Don't have to knead the dough,
or fret, or time its rising. None of that. The dough will rise while you sleep. I know -- it sounds too good to be true --
but it's amazing and it works! If you have decided that you want to make these for supper, then you could let the dough
cool off in the refrigerator for a few hours in the afternoon and that works too.
3. Divide the dough into
four sections. Roll out into a 12 to 14 inch circle and brush with a little bit of melted butter. Cut each round into 8 wedges.
Then roll them up, starting at the big end first. Put those little guys on a baking sheet. I like to cover the baking sheet
with parchment paper. Then spray some vegetable oil spray onto the butterhorns/crescents so they wont stick because you're
going to cover them with plastic wrap again. Let those rise for a couple of hours.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Remove plastic wrap. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, just until light brown. This will yield 32 rolls but I'm not guaranteeing
that they'll all make it to the table! Especially if you have some of my homemade strawberry jam on hand.
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PANCAKES -- makes 9 "small" pancakes (four to a griddle)
Note: It's very important to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Preheat griddle while
you're mixing the pancakes.
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 T. margarine, melted
1 cup flour
1/2
cup sucralose
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1. Beat egg until fluffy
2. Add buttermilk and melted margarine and vanilla.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix really well. Your batter
should not be stiff. If it is, you may need to adjust the recipe by adding a little more buttermilk -- but only a tablespoon
at a time.
4. Pour four 1/4 cups batter onto griddle.
5. When bubbles appear on surface and begin to
break, turn the pancakes over and cook the other side.
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