Casual Valentine’s Day Menu
Beef Wellington is an old, classic recipe. There is nothing more impressive than a roast or filet wrapped in a mushroom mixture with pâté and wrapped in a puff pastry. I started looking at Valentine’s Day menus for many local restaurants before I came up with this dish. A common theme began to appear: Beef Wellington. I’m not sure if this is the “in” dish at the moment or if it’s just a great luxurious recipe for a special day.
I love to take a classic, fancy recipe and make it fun and casual. With all this in mind, I decided to take the classic flavors of Beef Wellington and make a sandwich. My twist on the classic recipe is casual and still romantic and sexy, because you can be relaxed without all of the fuss. So, this Valentine’s day, make my Beef Wellington Sandwiches. Pair them with my Truffle French Fries for your special someone and have a casual, comfy picnic by the fire.
- ¼ pound Cremini mushrooms
- ¼ pound Shiitake mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot
- 1 branch fresh thyme (just the leaves)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Madeira wine
- 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound deli sliced roast beef (best quality you can find)
- 8 slices prosciutto
- Dijon mustard
- Fresh sliced, good quality bakery bread
- Soft butter
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the mushrooms, garlic and shallot in batches. Pulse until finely chopped.
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add mushroom mixture and sauté until all the juices have been released and evaporated, about 10 minutes. Continue to sauté until the mixture starts to brown a bit and stick to the pan. Deglaze with a splash of Madeira wine and once evaporated, remove from the heat to let cool.
- Once mushroom mixture has cooled, add in the cream cheese and stir and mash to incorporate. You now have a mushroom pâté. Chill in the fridge until ready for use.
- Butter the outside of each slice of bread. On the bottom slice, spread a teaspoon of the Dijon mustard, top with 3-4 slices of roast beef. Then add two slices of prosciutto. On the inside of the top slice spread a good amount of the mushroom pâté and close sandwich.
- Put sandwiches on a baking sheet and insert into a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. Flip the sandwiches and bake another 8 minutes. Remove from oven and slice in half.
- 2 Russet Potatoes (1 russet potato per person, on average)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Truffle salt
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat, as well.
- Scrub the potatoes and then slice each potato in half lengthwise and then into quarters and then each quarter into three spears. Place them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for the potato spears for 5-7 minutes or until a knife can easily pierce through them, but they are not fully cooked. Carefully drain the potatoes.
- Toss the potatoes gently with olive oil and salt and pepper.
- Remove the preheated baking sheet and carefully place each potato spear onto the sheet. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, then carefully flip each spear and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until each fry is golden brown.
- Remove the fries from the oven and drizzle with a bit more olive oil. Sprinkle generously with the truffle salt and enjoy!
