Years and years ago when I was 13 years old, I cooked my first 'gourmet' meal for my family. I made Beef Wellington, steamed asparagus with Hollandaise sauce and a Baked Alaska for dessert. During my teens I made variations of this dish using meatloaf and called it Meatloaf Wellington. I even made indivual Wellingtons of sorts.
Anyway, now let's talk about my mother [no this is not a therapy session]. My mother the 'Grand Substitution Queen'. In my 20's and 30's I discovered that some of the dishes she made for us were NOTHING like the actual recipe. I once gave her this poem I found in a church cookbook.
Best Recipe
I didn't have potatoes
so I substituted rice.
I didn't have paprika
so I used another spice.
I didn't have tomato sauce,
I used tomato paste;
A whole can, not half a can
I don't believe in waste.
A friend gave me the recipe
she said you couldn't beat it.
There must be something wrong with her
I couldn't even eat it!
~Author Unknown
Anyway, back to my story and question. I guess I thought I had worked with Puff Pastry before and we just had all this talk and recipes with Puff Pastry. I made a beef pot pie the other day with a leftover roast I had. I sent my hubby to the store for some items and had him pick up a puff pastry.
My beef pot pie turned out wonderful, I even put a little balsamic in the gravy, so the flavor really popped! But my thought went right back to my childhood and my mother's words when I asked her, "I want to make this mom, what is a puff pastry?" Her response, "Oh it's just pie crust."
I questioned her about it today. Her response was, "Well, ingredients like that were not available back in the 1950's." We all know this cannot be true if this recipe was named after the 1st Duke of Wellington, he reigned in the 1830's.
So my question is this:
When you are making Beef Wellington or Filet de Boeuf en Croûte can a pie crust be used interchangeably? Is it the same dish?
Anyway, now let's talk about my mother [no this is not a therapy session]. My mother the 'Grand Substitution Queen'. In my 20's and 30's I discovered that some of the dishes she made for us were NOTHING like the actual recipe. I once gave her this poem I found in a church cookbook.
Best Recipe
I didn't have potatoes
so I substituted rice.
I didn't have paprika
so I used another spice.
I didn't have tomato sauce,
I used tomato paste;
A whole can, not half a can
I don't believe in waste.
A friend gave me the recipe
she said you couldn't beat it.
There must be something wrong with her
I couldn't even eat it!
~Author Unknown
Anyway, back to my story and question. I guess I thought I had worked with Puff Pastry before and we just had all this talk and recipes with Puff Pastry. I made a beef pot pie the other day with a leftover roast I had. I sent my hubby to the store for some items and had him pick up a puff pastry.
My beef pot pie turned out wonderful, I even put a little balsamic in the gravy, so the flavor really popped! But my thought went right back to my childhood and my mother's words when I asked her, "I want to make this mom, what is a puff pastry?" Her response, "Oh it's just pie crust."
I questioned her about it today. Her response was, "Well, ingredients like that were not available back in the 1950's." We all know this cannot be true if this recipe was named after the 1st Duke of Wellington, he reigned in the 1830's.
So my question is this:
When you are making Beef Wellington or Filet de Boeuf en Croûte can a pie crust be used interchangeably? Is it the same dish?
"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
Laura
Laura