Fancy Dinner: Salmon Wellington, Beef Wellington, and Fruit Tarts

Tonight (Saturday) Hubby and I had my Aunt Randi and Uncle Scott over for dinner and I decided I wanted to be a lil' gourmet chef :) The menu was Beef Wellington (for the men...Uncle Scott doesn't like salmon much) and Salmon Wellington (for my aunt and me), garlic grilled asparagus, and garlic redskin mashed potatoes.  For desert I made cookie fruit tarts.
 PS. I also used my fine china to add some class ;)

I have made the tarts, potatoes, and asparagus before but the main dishes, the Wellingtons, were both new to me, so it was an interesting day.  I also decided to try something new with my tarts and both the Wellingtons and the desert turned out awesome so I thought I would share what I did.

I loosely followed these two recipes for the Wellingtons: salmon and beef
for the tarts I got the idea from this post on Pinterest, but I made my own recipe that doesn't waste a whole container of limeade concentrate.  Here are my takes on these recipes.  Enjoy!

Salmon Wellington

2 pieces of Sockeye Salmon
1 sheet of thawed Puff Pastry
2 Tbsp (about) of Sun Dried Tomatoes
Fresh Spinach (about two handfulls)
minced garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Alfredo Sauce
Egg*

Saute the spinach with the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat until the spinach is wilted and tender.  Set aside and let it cool for at least 20 minutes

Using a VERY sharp knife, filet the salmon skin off of the meat.  

Unroll the puff pastry sheet and roll it out with a rolling pin.  Slice it in half lengthwise.  Place a salmon filet onto a half of puff pastry and put sun dried tomatoes on top.  Add half of the spinach mixture to that and wrap the whole thing up.  Place in a greased baking dish, seem side down.  Slice a slit or an X into the puff pastry to let out some steam while the fish is cooking.

*I forgot to do this, but for a golden brown crust, it is ideal to remember it :)  beat the egg with water to make an eggwash and brush the puff pastry with eggwash.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes until the puff pastry is flaky and golden.

Serve with Alfredo Sauce on top.

I baked the beef in a separate dish at the same time and temperature.

Beef Wellington

2 8oz packages of Baby Bella mushrooms
3 tbsp of Spicy Brown Mustard
2 tbsp of Garlic Herb Kraft Mayo*
2 packaged Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignons
1 sheet of Puff Pastry
1 Egg 

FINELY mince the mushrooms with either a "slap chop" type of slicer or a food processor until it is almost like a paste.  Put them in a HOT pan and saute until the water/moisture boils out, but not until they burn.  Set the mushroom paste aside.

Sear the steaks on each side (I did it for about 1 min on each side).  Mix together the mustard and mayo.  Once the steaks are seared, brush them on all sides with the mustard mix.  On two pieces of plastic wrap, put about 1/3 of the mushroom paste on each.  Put the steak down on top of the mix and put the remaining mushroom paste on the other side of the steaks.  Wrap each steak tightly and place in the refrigerator.

Roll out the puff pastry with a rolling pin and cut in half lengthwise.  Take the steaks out and put one on each half of pastry and wrap it.  Place the meat seam side down in a greased baking dish.  Cut a slit into the top of the pastry

Beat the egg with water to make an eggwash and brush the top of each Wellington.  Bake for 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees or until the pastry is flaky and golden.

Fruit Tarts

1 package (24 ct) refrigerated Sugar Cookie Dough
8 oz Cream Cheese
4 tbsp (about) of Lime Juice
3 heaping spoon-fulls of Confectioner's Sugar
Sliced Fresh Fruit (I used what was ripe/on sale: peaches, strawberries, blueberries, & kiwi)

Preheat the oven according to the package directions on your cookie dough.  I used a mini muffin pan and turned it upside down.  I pressed each cookie over the bottom of each cup so that when the cookies baked, they would make tiny bowls.  I baked them according to the package directions and they came out like this:

I let the cookies cool completely on the pan, then I carefully cut the cups apart and removed them from the pan, a couple broke, but there were only four of us needing to eat, so I knew we would still have plenty.

I let the cream cheese come to room temperature and whipped it with a hand mixer.  Then I added some lime juice and some sugar, mixed it again, then added more, tasting after each addition, until the cream cheese tasted tart, yet sweet.  The measurements in the ingredients are approximations, it is hard to mess this part up :)

I washed and sliced (except the blueberries) my fruit and got it ready to go in the cups.  I spooned a little of the cream cheese mixture into the cups and filled them with a slice each of peach, strawberry, and kiwi, and then two blueberries.  They came out beautifully :)

On another note,
My hubby has been using MyFitnessPal to track his calorie intake and exercise for the past several months.  Since January he has lost about 30 lbs.  He has told me probably a hundred times how cool the app is and how easy it is to use, but I never remembered to download it.  Well last time we were visiting his hometown, my sister and brother in law said they use it too and they can all "add" each other as friends and share food diaries to keep each other accountable.  I thought that was kind of neat, but then they said you can scan the bar code with your phone on most any food and it automatically comes up with the nutrition facts...WHAT that is so cool...technology is awesome.  SO I finally downloaded the app and I'm loving it.

I cleaned the downstairs of our house today for about 2 hours and according to my app, burned like 498 calories!  Not to mention, I have decided to get back into the habit of logging what I eat, even if its not all good stuff like the a fore mentioned delicious gourmet meal I made today :)  I had a sensible breakfast and lunch today though, so I am still under my calorie limit for the day.