Thursday, November 18, 2010

Almost Beef Wellington with Madeira Sauce


Cider-Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Almost Beef Wellington
(I know, the photo is crummy. But we were more concerned about feasting than photos.)

I've been wanting to make this recipe for several years now. In the past, I have refrained because I don't really care for faux beef and because this recipe requires 100% too many mushrooms, more than one should ever consume. Yeah, I don't like mushrooms either. But it sounded fancy, I was confident the Gardein faux beef would work well, and I was pretty sure my company would like it.

So this year, instead of Easter Pie, I went for the Almost Beef Wellington with Madeira Sauce. And it was well worth the effort. It has a fancy taste and presentation, and even though it is packed with mushrooms, I thought it was pretty tasty. If using puff pastry scares you, don't worry about it. It was super easy to use. Just thaw, unfold, stuff with the innards and crimped closed. It was basically like stuffing and folding a burrito. The filling and gravy were more work than the pastry, and those weren't too bad either, just some sauteeing really.

This would be a good main dish for holiday dinners. It's very different from the other analogue traditional options like Field Roast and Tofurky, so you could serve both and have better variety, or you could just choose your favorite.

4 comments:

Rikki Cupcake said...

oh yum! i am still unsure as to what i am making for fauxturkey day. i am liking the idea of a nut roast, but recently susan at fat free vegan kitchen posted a loaf made with sweet potatoes and that sounds amazing too. and now your post, i am confused as to a main course now more than ever. (:

Veg-In-Training said...

I love fancy pants dishes. I am a mushroom lover, so I'm pretty sure this would be one for me!

Kenike said...

rikki- sometimes it just depends on who will be sharing it with you and what else you are making. i always strive for balance in these kinds of meals...not too much of this or that.

v-i-t- talk about fancy pants, this one uses madeira wine. i don't even usually cook with wine, but i didn't notice it and even with the mushrooms, it was pretty tasty.

if either of you do make this, I don't really think you will go wrong.

Another reason I chose the Welly was Native Foods makes them for the holiday dinners, including a Spring one for around Easter.

http://www.youtube.com/user/NativeFoodsCafe#p/a/u/0/TKiPuE23ojk

Imaginista said...

As one who was present to sample the goodness, I am giving the "Welly" two thumbs up! It was definitely one of my faves of the evening and I would have been happy to take some leftovers home if there had been any!