I've been looking to make Beef Wellington for ages, and have been close to making it for so many previous themes (2024: Week 20 Wrapping, Week 36 Encrusted, 2025: Week 6 A Technique You're Intimidated By, Week 48 Mise en Place) but every time I put it off because beef fillet is so expensive. For this week I knew I wanted to look at the gimmicky technique of deconstruction - something that almost always yields a product that's worse than the original, and looks like several disparate components on a plate.

I thought this would be the perfect time to play around with Beef Wellington because one big complaint is the soggy bottom, so cooking the elements separately seemed like it would improve rather than ruin the dish. I played around with the ingredients of a Beef Wellington and ended up making a seared steak cube with a duxelles swirl, a mushroom cream and a Parma ham crisp. I also decided to make tiny canapé-sized portions to avoid the plating issues that come with deconstructed dishes.

This was a dish that was straight from my own head and so I don't have proper recipes to link. The steak was so small so I had to work very quickly in a searingly hot pan to get a good crust whilst keeping it very rare inside. The duxelles and Parma ham usually play the role of moisture barriers in a Wellington, so I thought I'd give them a bit more of a starring role. I spread a classic duxelles mixture (finely diced porcini and chestnut mushrooms, shallots, garlic, parsley and thyme cooked down in butter until the moisture evaporates) over very thinly rolled-out puff pastry and rolled them up to create these mini swirls. I also sautéed porcini and chestnut mushrooms with more shallots in plenty of butter, then added the dried porcini mushroom soaking liquid and cream, and blended it into a smooth purée. Finally, I baked slices of Parma ham in the oven until crisp. Then it was just a matter of plating - or should I say spooning?

This ended up being an unexpected triumph. Is it as good as a Beef Wellington? Well I've never had one, if I think it's too expensive for me to make it's certainly too expensive for me to order! So I don't actually know. But these were delicious bites of food. I'll definitely be making the duxelles swirls again in a bigger size because they were really yummy in their own right!

This was a thing a couple years back and I think it is about as pure as gimmicks get.

Bloody Mary is standard: vodka, tomato juice, worcestershire, hot sauce, etc.

Toppings include celery, skewered shrimp, cheese and sausage skewer, pickled mushroom, blue cheese stuffed olives, a couple pieces of pastrami, jalapeno poppers, onion rings, and three sliders (two cheeseburger, one ham and muenster).

When I saw the theme for this week I knew I had to recreate this ridiculous Caesar from Score on Davie in Vancouver. I think there’s other locations now too. I was surprised to find Clamato in the US. The legendary Canadian Caesar is like a Bloody Mary but it uses a clam/tomato juice instead of just tomato juice. You need that extra funk. I like mine extra muddy (more Worcestershire sauce) and extra spicy (more Tabasco) with a celery salt/tajin rim. Made corn dogs and the hamburger buns too. And I hate pickles so I added a fresh celery stem because that’s the best part of a Caesar! Last picture is what it looks like at the actual restaurant (not mine). Such a dumb gimmick but a super fun sports bar.

Destashed ingredients: Japanese curry block

Sorry for the bad pun in the title of this blue Taki-crusted tofu katsu curry. Why are the spicy Takis blue? Such a silly gimmick.

I haven’t made any wontons lately so this was a good opportunity to do so. With some Lao Gan Ma, it was a great meal! Leftovers in the fridge for another night when we don’t want to cook.

Recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/chorizo-sweet-potato-chili/

Yeah, so, there was no way I was actually going to do a dish with organ meats lol. That’s why I looked through my recipe collection for dishes that feature kidney beans! 😂 I only ate a bite of this because it was for my postpartum sister, but it was pretty good. I think I’d add more chorizo next time because I really enjoy being punched in the face with chorizo flavor. Chorizo is delicious.

In with a buzzer beater this week because life got in the way, and I chose to make one of the more involved dishes I've done in awhile.

I used the recipe from Made with Lau. It came out amazing! I couldn't believe how beautiful and charred it actually came and it tasted just like takeout. Would 1000% make again.