Beef Wellington is a traditional English dish that consists of a beef filet smothered in mushroom duxelles and foie gras pate and wrapped in pastry, then baked until golden and rare in the middle. If you ever watch any of the Gordon Ramsay shows it’s a dish you would know well, as it’s so easily destroyed by contestants trying to win the next big chef prize thing. So you see this dish a lot on menus in traditional fancy restaurants with a high price tag to match!

But sometimes you just don’t want to go out for dinner. Every so often I like to have a nice meal in the comfort of our own home. So I wanted to make something special for my husband for date night, and while this is such a ‘wow’ dish, it’s actually quite simple to make. Beef, mushrooms, foie gras, thyme, puff pastry. Simple ingredients that come together to make something unbelievably delicious. Slices of rare filet atop white wine mushrooms and fois gras, all laying on a bed of puffy, buttery pastry. Let’s just say, it was gobbled up happily and washed down with a gorgeous red Cotes du Rhone. Looking for a way to fancy up your Friday night? These Beef Wellington Tarts will make you feel like you’re at a top restaurant, without the hefty bill at the end!

*Now I know the ethical issues with foie gras, so please feel free to use chicken liver or mushroom pate instead. Continue reading →

Southern Californians love their Mexican food. It’s a staple of their diet that is as normal as roast chicken in most households. The great thing about Mexican food in Southern California is that in a town as small as the one I grew up in is, there is still a great range of Mexican cuisine to suit every craving. There are your greasy, hangover-curing joints where the cheese is unnaturally stringy and the freshly fried tortilla chips are glistening and the salsa burns your tongue (in the best kind of way!). Then, there are your more fresh, “healthy” options which usually have some kind of fresh salsa bar where you can mix and match salsas and toppings to your heart’s desire. I’ve attempted recreating one of these salsas before, and boy was it a good taste of home. (BTW you can tell I’ve been craving Mexican lately by reading this, this and this.)

But sometimes, we have neither the time nor the energy (cough, cough: 90% of the time) to spend hours slowly roasting chiles and tomatoes and stewing chicken in spices to make the real deal. Sometimes we need a bit of a cheat that will fulfill our deepest cravings for SoCal style Mexican food. And almost always, it needs to be quick and easy.

Enchiladas are fun to make. I guess it’s the whole rolling and filling of the tortillas that I enjoy the most, or maybe the scattering of the cheese, or the crisp edges of the tortillas after baking. Either way these Quick & Easy Chicken Enchiladas are not only simple, they can be thrown together in 20 minutes and not one will think that it could be that easy. They taste great, and you can also throw in additional fillings like corn or black beans in with the chicken. Or, go veggie with black beans, corn and spinach (one of my faves!) for a Meatless Monday! Any which way you have them, however, this recipe will be one that you remember for those nights where you need a speedy, satisfying supper.

In order to keep the tortillas crispy of the edges (one of the best bits!) make sure not to layer the extra sauce all the way over the top of the enchiladas. It’s great to have a change in texture, and you don’t want them turning out mushy. Eww.

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