Junior Wellingtons

This is one of those recipes I found in a cookbook I happened to have and decided to give it a go. It's a bit heavy on the meat (which can be adjusted easily), but it's really flavorful and we all like it!

Ingredients
1 ½ lbs lean ground beef
3 egg yolks
¼ cup buttermilk
4 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Baby Bam
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp flour
3 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 tbsp water
6 slices American cheese

Combine the beef, 2 egg yolks, buttermilk, Worcestershire sauce, Baby Bam, garlic, Italian seasoning, and salt. Stir well. Divide the meat into 6 equal portions. Form into patties. Brown thoroughly on both sides in skillet. Refrigerate browned patties for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out pastry sheets to 1/16-inch thickness and cut into four even sections. Combine remaining egg yolk with water and beat with whisk to make egg wash. Place 4 pastry sections on baking sheet and paint a border of egg wash around each section. Place a chilled hamburger patty in the middle of each section and top with 1 slice of cheese. Top cheese with remaining pastry sections, pressing the edges together with a fork to seal. Paint the top with egg wash and cut an ‘X’ in the top of each Wellington. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

That's the official recipe. However, when I did it I only used 1 lb. of meat, 2 pastry sheets and 4 pieces of cheese. I didn't alter the seasoning too much. It still came out great. I don't bother cutting out circles. Then you have leftover pastry sheet with nothing to do with it. What a waste! I just cut mine in squares and use the whole thing. The patties are 1/4 lb, so they're pretty meaty. So for me, the more pastry, the better the balance. I think next time I'll even add some grated carrots. Anyhow, it's a flavorful meal, the pastry sheets are fun and add variety. Oh, here's the recipe for "Bam". (If you didn't notice, this is an Emeril recipe.)

Ingredients

3 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp dried parsley

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp celery salt

This obviously makes a bit. It lasts for a while. I'll eventually put up more recipes that use Bam. I've also used it randomly. It's a nice all-purpose seasoner with kick.