Little Beef Wellingtons

For Thanksgiving I roasted a huge Turkey and ate it and ate it and ate it. So for Christmas I wanted something different. I'd made Beef Wellington once before but with a beef tenderloin going for a whopping $75 I decided to trim it down. Instead I bought three small fillet mignons. I browned them in some butter and then cooled them to room temperature. In the same pan I sauteed some finely chopped mushrooms and a tablespoon of sherry. Since I don't like liver pate, I left that out of this recipe. To cheat a little I did use premade frozen puff pastry BUT I did go for the fancy all-butter kind by Dufour. Yum! I rolled it out and cut it into squares. A steak was placed in the middle of each and then the pastry was crimped together like a dumpling. I cut mini snowflakes out of the fourth square and "pasted" them on with a little water. An egg wash cemented all the pastry together and then I popped it in the oven at 400 degrees. Thirty minutes later, golden brown mini beef wellingtons emerged from the oven and onto our waiting Christmas plates. Admittedly, they don't look as perfect as I'd have liked them. Next time (and there will be a next time) I will probably wrap them in the pastry and put the seams on the bottom so they have a smoother, showier look. Despite their rough edges they were very tasty. Too bad I can't afford to have this kind of dinner every day.