The Persnickety Picnic: Poor Man's Beef Wellington

Ok, so...does anyone know what Beef Wellington is? Traditionally, it is a fillet of beef, coated in pate de fois gras (a.k.a. liver paste, gag me with a spoon), and then duxelles (a.k.a. finely minced mushrooms and such, no thank you), then baked in puff pastry. The meat is usually medium rare, which I don't care for. I'd like my beef to not be able to still moo when I cut into it, thankyouverymuch. But the idea of puff pastry covered beef did sound appetizing. So I made up my own version that wouldn't make me want to...well, we'll not go there.

I'm calling this Poor Man's Beef Wellington. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, I'm using ground beef instead of beef fillet. It's better for my budget. :) Secondly, I'm not using any fancy "fois gras" or "duxelles," partly because I can't imagine eating such things, and partly because I don't even think I would want to pay for them if I wanted to eat them. I'm not really sure what liver paste and tiny mushroom pieces run these days, but I'll pass. Instead, I'm using Swiss cheese and bacon crumbles. Oh yeah. Sounds SO much better. Haha. If this sounds interesting, then join the fun. :) I made two of these little pastries, so this recipe will be for that much. You can adjust as needed.

Ingredients:
-1 sheet frozen puff pastry
-1/3-1/2 lb ground beef
-Swiss cheese, sliced (I used two slices per pastry)
-3 tablespoons bacon crumbles (you can use the stuff that comes in a jar to top salads and such. Just make sure it's the real bacon stuff, not the dry yucky stuff)
-1/3 cup water
-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
-2 teaspoons garlic powder
-1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions. Cut the sheet in half once thawed. Use a rolling pin to roll the sheet a little thinner. Roll it so it will spread wider, not longer, if that makes sense. Roll from long side to long side, not short to short. Set aside.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the beef until almost cooked through. Drain the grease and return the meat to the pan. Add the water, onion powder, garlic powder, and worchestershire sauce. Stir to combine well.

Let the meat finish cooking in this mixture, until the water has been mostly evaporated.

This will flavor the meat. Set aside.

Using a smallish bowl (I used my little Pyrex prep bowl. It's only about 2.5-3 inches wide), gently line the bowl with half of the pastry. Leave enough so that you can fold the remaining pastry over the bowl and seal it later.

Take one of your slices of cheese and rip it in half. Place the strips perpendicularly inside the bowl of pastry so it's pretty much lining the whole inside of the pastry.

Next, place about 1.5 tablespoons of bacon crumbles in the bottom of the pastry bowl.

Fill the rest of the way with the ground beef.

Take the second piece of cheese and tear it to fit over the op of the beef without overlapping the pastry bowl.

Moisten the pastry where it hits the rim of the bowl. Gently fold over the remaining pastry so it covers all the filling and can be sealed where the rim of the bowl is.

Gently press down to begin sealing the pastry together.

Next, gently flip the bowl upside down on top of a baking sheet.

Gently press on the bowl to seal the pastry, but don't let it cut all the way through. Lift the bowl so the pastry falls out of it.

You may need to gently shake it to loosen the pastry from the inside of the bowl. Once the pastry is free of the bowl, cut off the excess pastry with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.