Tonight we had more of the frozen beef wellingtons that I made last month.
– I poached a lot of tuna this week, so I decided to try out another appetizer. This came together quickly, but the texture was weird. And I’m bothered by how much butter is in there. I started out with a minimal amount of butter, but ended up adding most of it to get a less dry texture. The pâté ended up being very smooth – which is what the recipe called for, but the picture shows a more flaky product. I think I’d prefer more flaky. However – this grew on me, and I’ve decided it’s a good party food.
– I’ve decided that if I cook the wellingtons to 140 degrees, they’re just pink inside and perfectly cooked.
– I love this gratin – not only did it taste really good, but it didn’t require any layering like many gratins do. I’m becoming a big fan of gratins. I modified this recipe since I was out of russet potatoes – I just used yukon golds, and it was still delicious. The horseradish isn’t hot in the finished dish. I will add less salt to the final mixture next time.

• Mini-toasts with Fresh Tuna Pâté Scented with Rosemary (Fine Cooking #42, December 2000/January 2001, p. 45)
• Individual Beef Wellingtons with Mushroom, Spinach and Blue Cheese Filling (Fine Cooking #42, January 2001, p. 40)
• Sweet Potato-Russet Potato Gratin with Horseradish and a Dijon Crust (Fine Cooking #60, November 2003, p. 60)
• Baby Spinach Salad with Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Breanna’s Poppyseed Dressing

Wine: David Coffaro 2000 Cabernet Franc (Dry Creek Valley, California). Finished up the bottle – still good and nice with the wellingtons.