Vegan Wellingtons (Starring Match Meats and Puff Pastry)

The vegan Wellington made of Match Meats Beef that is a perfect little package of comfort yum surrounded by a golden, light and flaky Puff Pastry, covered in mushroom gravy. (We served garlic mashed potatoes and green beans on the side, but felt the photo on its own spoke to the goodness of the vegan Wellington--just so you know.)

On its own, this invokes all kind of great warm vegan dinner goodness.

My morning. No blogging. Nothing would work. So, a phone call to the cable provider was placed. (After I had my coffee and banana and did a few yoga stretches.) I waited, was prompted, turned off, unplugged and spent an entire fifteen minutes doing what a computer program told me to do. Then a real person. She took me through my "on screen" identification verfication process and began her own diagnosis of the problem. "Oh, it looks like your area is having intermittent service disruption because of work being done on the lines." Really? No! I asked might they have been working on this same problem yesterday about this time? "Yes." Okay, so I said I would be heading out for yet another run this morning and may pay them a visit and asked her, Do you think they'd mind? She giggled and said, "No, I think that sounds fine." I won't name the provider here so she can keep her job. She was very kind, and I made her laugh with my, I knew it, I just knew it! So out the door I went, another run, only this time, I really got some miles in. Instead of making a right and heading home for a slow and steady four-miler, I kept going straight picking up a longer route, I hit six miles.
 It was great. The temps were in the thirties today--it was sunny and the most beautiful running day since December. A long run was the perfect fix for my "blog" distress.

Then that horrible news of the earth quake came across the internet and radio late yesterday. It is something I can barely get my head around--this natural disaster is beyond my comprehension. I am sending the survivors as much love and hope as I can muster and keeping a mantra of "wellness and healing" for them going in my heart. (I am sure many feel the same despair as I). Thus, for now, I am on a news hiatus for a bit--only the newspaper.

So last night. Again I felt a meal "wrapped up" was in order. (There has to be a food interpreter out there who can speak to the repetitive appearance of "meals in blankets and wrappped"). I had Puff Pastry in the freezer begging me to use it up. I Love the Puff--and it is vegan. What I remember of beef Wellington is zero. I don't think I've ever had a Wellington in my life--but after going through several of my cookbooks and searching on the web, the attraction became that much stronger with the mention of "wrapping" something. Taking my cue from my freezer again, there in all of its vegan glory was a package of Match Meats Beef. I heart the Match!

As far as vegan comfort food goes, this meal is in the top ten category for Mr. Thyme--he loved it. After all, anything that used to reside in the "meat and potatoes" category gets special nods when appearing on his plate in vegan form. I can't get away with too many "girlie" dishes around him. This recipe is fairly straight forward--it was for me. What I did was season up the Match a bunch, then shaped them into four burgers and fried them up in canola oil--wrapping them in the pastry. This dinner was served with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans (from the can--sometimes canned green beans really hit the spot). I made a gravy from the left over mushroom mixture by adding some tamari and an arrowroot and water mix to the pan. Here's the low down on the recipe. Make sure you have Match Meats in Beef (or other fave vegan meat stuffs) Puff on hand, and a box of mushrooms and shallots (or onions). This was down home comfort, pure and simple.

Vegan Wellingtons (Starring Match Meats and Puff Pastry)

1 package Match Meats Beef (thawed, but still cool to the touch)
1 Puff Pastry (thawed)--there are two in a package--you only need one, unless you have a crowd!
1/2 onion diced
1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Amino Acid
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
a sprinkle of Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Spike seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
canola oil for cooking

For Mushroom Filling/Gravy
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan Butter
1 package baby bella mushrooms, diced
1 shallot diced (or you can use the other half of the diced onion--or both, I used both)
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons cooking sherry or red cooking wine
2 cups veggie stock
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/3 cup water

First, thaw out the Match and the Puff. Next, place the Match in a large bowl and add the seasonings listed and incorporate all with a wooden spoon. Shape the Match into about four patties. About 2-3" in diameter. Place on a plate. Next, heat a saute pan with about 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Place the patties in the oil and fry on medium heat for about 4-5 mintues--until they are nicely browned. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Place a piece of foil of them to keep them warm. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Now, prepare the mushroom filling/gravy. Using the same pan, on medium heat, melt the olive oil and Earth Balance. Next, add the diced shallots/onions and mushrooms. Leave the pan alone for about 5 minutes. Let the mushrooms release their juices. Spinkle the seasonings over the mushrooms. The mushrooms will begin to shrink a bit, that is okay. Next, after this cooking time has passed and mushrooms are beginning to brown a bit on the edges, add the cooking sherry or wine. Bring the heat up to a boil for two minutes allowing the alcohol to cook down-then, then, turn the heat back down to medium. Now--you will make the Wellingtons! (Gravy will be finished with left over shrooms).

Take the Puff pastry and spread it out either with your hand or a rolling pin--to just about the edge of your cookie pan. It won't make it all the way without tearing. But stretching it is necessary. You'll only be able to make three Wellingtons from this single Puff. If you wanted to make more, just use both Puff pastry sheets and make smaller Match patties. Cut the Puff into three sheets about the same size--they will be rectangles. Now, place a Match patty on the lower half of one of the sheets. Next, take about 2 tablespoons of the mushroom filling and place on top of the patty. Carefully take the dough and fold it up and over the patty and seal in the shrooms and the patty and pinch the sides and all closed over all this. If you have a bit of hangover on the ends, that's okay--just pinch it over the end. Take a knife and make a slit in the top of each of the pastries. Repeat with two patties. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Next, back to mushrooms you have left over--you'll make a gravy to douse over the finished Wellington AND for the mashed potatoes! Add the veggie stock to pan. Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. Next, prepare your arrowroot/water slurry by combining the two in a small bowl and whisking really well. Add this to the saute pan with mushrooms. Bring heat up a bit and the mixture will thicken. If you want an even thicker sauce--just make another slurry, only use less arrowroot. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes and green beans--that's the best if you ask me!