Sometimes the ingredients I list may seem pricey, but that's what coupons are for, plus I promise with the money you save, It'll just add a touch of class.
So, here's what I did today with two pounds of Ground Beef. I made Beef, Onion & Potato Popovers in Puff Pastry, it yielded 14 of those yummy suckers. Plus, I had enough of the beef mixture to make a meat pie to freeze for later. And I also messed around and made a couple of turnovers. And yes, the pooches also got a taste. For dessert, I used the leftover puff pastry, and made Cinnamon Sugar Twists. Recipes are below. Remember, you can stretch it further with other veggies, like corn, carrots, green beans etc.
BEEF, ONION & POTATO POPOVERS
Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 boxes of puff pastry sheets (taken out of package & defrosted according to directions on box)
1 large onion-diced
1 can potatoes diced (or fresh, parboiled & diced) canned is easier
1-2 envelopes brown gravy mix
1 Cup of water
Onion powder, salt, pepper.
Worcestershire sauce to taste
Egg wash-either reg. egg or egg beaters mixed with water
1-2 muffin pans, sprayed with non stick spray
bisquit cutter, or something round to cut out circles from pastry, that will fit muffin pan cups
(Note: you can change ingredients to suit, or give it some zip and use taco mix, and some hot peppers, or use leftover cubed meat, in a burgundy sauce, with diced carrots)
Preheat oven to 400
Brown beef with onions, drain off fat/liquid.
Turn heat back on med/high & add seasonings, 1 pack of gravy mix, Worcestershire sauce. Gradually add water, 1/2 cup to start. Bring to a low boil, continuing to stir, then lower heat to a simmer. Add Potatoes, and if needed more water. Simmer for about 20 min. occasionally tasting, and adjusting seasonings to taste. Remove from heat.
Having sprayed your muffin pans, unwrap pastry, and begin to cut circles to place in cup of pan. You can stretch the dough a bit, but not to much. (you may need to experiment with different size cutters to get right size) poke down a wee bit, then put a couple of teaspoons of meat mixture carefully in center of your pastry. You can add more, but overfilling will make it harder to cover with pastry tops & seal.
You can usually cut to pastry tops with a smaller cup. I don't seem to have just the right sizes needed, so I have to improvise! Place the top pastry piece on top of each popover, pinch the edges together, and brush the tops lightly with your egg wash. Make a small slit in the middle of each one.
Place in preheated oven, for approx. 20-25 min. until brown. Let set for a few minutes, run a bread knife around perimeter of each cup, and each popover should just slide out.
Serve plain, or with gravy.
CINNAMON SUGAR TWISTS
Leftover scraps of Puff Pastry, twisted, with some of the egg wash lightly brushed on. Dip in a mixture of Cinnamon & Sugar, place on a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray, and pop into a 400 degree oven, for about 15 min, or until lightly brown. Serve with some confectioner's sugar sprinkled on.
Price breakdown-Ground beef, 2 pounds on sale around $4.00, Canned Potatoes @ 2 for $1.00 (or use fresh) Gravy Mix-@ 2 for $1.00. Puff Pastry-$3.00 a box. For a family of 3, I will get at least 5 meals from this. Enjoy!
