Husband's 31st birthday...I am married to an old man.

My Husband is my biggest cooking fan, I think. I do realize that it is directly linked to the fact that he benefits most from my love of cooking, but it is more than that. Yes, he gets to be a fat kid with the delights that I make before anyone else does. Yes, he has only "heated up premade frozen food" <Specifically, the Eggplant Cutlets from Trader Joe's> once since we got married. Yes, he is spoiled rotten thanks to the fact I prefer to be in the kitchen about 4-6 hours a week.

The REAL reason I believe that he is such a big fan is that I take him into consideration. I show my love by making things he would like and as well as inquiring about what interests his palate or not. So for his birthday I asked him what he wanted for his special dinner. It took him a while, but he finally landed on Beef Wellington* and (Whole) Baked Apple Dumplings. I took it a step farther and made a salted caramel sauce to top the apple dumplings with (and thus decided to not use the caramel candies inside the apples).

Here we go!

BEEF WELLINGTON

1 tbsp olive oil (not butter. Butter can burn to easily and this is a nice meal. No burny burn)

1 shallot, minced (you can sub onion, but shallot, though pricey, is worth it for this dish)

¼ lb mushrooms, sliced thin (shiitake are normally called for, but I don't have a refined palate for mushrooms, so I went with white, as that is what I had in my pantry)
1 clove of garlic, minced (don't add extra, trust me and this recipe)

2 8 oz filet mignon steaks (there were no Filets when I went to the store. I should have gone to handy market. 

Salt and Pepper

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F.

Saute the mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme in the olive oil until mushrooms are cooked.

Lightly flour a large board, and roll out pastry dough until square. Cut in half. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Salt and pepper the steaks, then over medium high heat, sear the steaks on all sides.

Place a seared steak on each half of the puff pastry dough. Top with mushroom mixture.

Fold pastry dough over the steak, folding over the edges to seal it. Press the edges down with a fork to make decorate.

Brush egg generously over each wellington.

Bake 20 min. uncovered. Serve immediately.

I served it with Oven Roasted Cauliflower covered in Bechamel. Not healthy, I know.

After searing the meat, let it rest for a bit to let the juices soak back up. 

Roll out the puff pastry so you have enough to wrap up the meat. 

Top with mushroom and shallot mixture.

The egg wash make the dough the pretty golden brown color.

This turned out very nicely except that I don't know how to make it medium versus the well done if came out.

Baked Apple Dumpling Recipe

Ingredients:

4 large granny smith apples, peeled and cored

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed <I used Pie crust. Turned out AWESOME>

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 caramel candies <I instead mixed brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract with butter for the core>

2 eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Salted Caramel Sauce for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the granulated sugar, corn starch, apple pie spice and salt in a shallow dish.

Cut both pieces of puff pastry in half so you have 4 rectangles. Use a rolling pin to gently roll out any cracks or creases. Then lay them on a large parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Roll 4 peeled and cored apples in the sugar mixture and set one in the middle of each piece of puff pastry.
Unwrap the caramels and stick 3 caramel squares down in the center of each apple.

To wrap each apple, pull the short sides of the puff pastry halfway up the side on the apple and hold them there with one hand. Then lift the longer sides up to the top and pinch the seams together on each side (over the short edges) to completely cover the apple. Pinch the excess puff pastry together at the top to seal, then arrange the flaps in a pretty way.

Then whisk 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of water and brush the egg wash over each apple. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP... Place the baking sheet with the wrapped apples in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden the puff pastry. This will ensure your puff pastry bakes in place and does not sag to the bottom. But don't leave them in the freezer longterm. You don't want the apples to freeze.

Once the puff pastry is hard, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until puffy and golden. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Drizzle the tops with extra caramel sauce if you like!

Salted Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

6 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Pour the water in a medium heavy-bottom sauce pot. Place over medium heat and add the sugar. Watch closely while the sugar dissolves and darken, 5-10 minutes.

The moment the sugar darkens to your desired color (somewhere between golden-brown and medium brown) remove from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream. *Darker caramels are really flavorful, but don't let the sugar get too dark, or you'll have to start over.

Once the cream is incorporated, stir in the butter, salt and vanilla until smooth. Serve warm, or jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Not a great color on the caramel sauce, but the flavor was great!

I didn't use the caramels so I added a bit of extra brown sugarness.

Wrapped up all stuff.

Egg wash then patted down with sugar and spice.

Beautiful baked apple!

Carameling...

I needed to let the sugar and water cook longer to get the right color brown. Either way, these turned out GREAT! Both Husband and BROTHER loved them. I will certainly be making these again, but I will half the apple to increase the pie crust to apple ratio.

In summation, a most happy birthday to my partner, my love, my husband. I will continue to cook for you through hard times and good, sickness and health, easy conversations and disagreements, the mundane and holidays, pregnancy and children. Everyday I am capable, I will do my darndest to demonstrate my love (even if that isn't cooking!). Even when we are so old we have no teeth and can't enjoy anything except clear broth, I will continue to make the best dang broth with you in mind.

I love a pun...

Until the next birthday...


*The Beef Wellington choice which is a bonus for me as a lifelong friend, Carol Ward, requested I make this for her education. Seriously y'all, if you need suggestions/want me to make it first so I can share my insights with you, leave a comment or let me know on my Facebook Page! I can't PROMISE that I will make it immediately (or ever, to be honest), but the chances are good that if it piques my interest, I will attempt it when my weekly menu allows it.