Beef Wellington Hand Pies

When my husband and I met, one of the first shows we watched together was Hell's Kitchen.  He loves Gordon Ramsey now, and one of the first things he did when we moved to New Jersey was look up Ramsey's restaurant in New York.  He sounded so deflated when he saw how much plates cost at his restaurant.

One of the few dishes he always said he wanted to try was the Beef Wellington.  But when he looked up the cut of beef, he found that it was super expensive (~30/lb).  I found these Beef Wellington Hand Pies on Simple Gourmet Cooking, and asked him if he'd be willing to try these.  He said he was, but pointed out that using ground beef wasn't even going to give us the same texture.  So, I took that as a flat out yes, and put them on the menu.

Beef Wellington Hand Pies
barely adapted from Simple Gourmet Cooking
Ingredients
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound of ground beef
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 small white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water for an egg wash

Directions
1) Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Add ground beef to the pan, cook until cooked through and browned, breaking beef a part with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove cooked ground beef from pan and set aside. Wipe out pan.
3) Heat butter and remaining tablespoon of oil in the same pan. Add onions and cook until they start to soften.
4) Add the mushrooms, and cook until onions and mushrooms start to brown. Add garlic and thyme. Cook for 30 seconds.
5) Pour in the wine and deglaze the pan, scrapping up brown bits. Stir in the heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce and then add the beef back into the pan. Stir to combine.
6) Roll the thawed puff pastry into a 1/8 inch thick sheet and cut into 4 equal portions. Carefully spoon the beef mixture into the middle of each pastry sheet, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Try not to add too much filling, you might have a little leftover. Brush the egg wash along the 1/2 inch border of pastry. Fold the pastry over and seal. Crimp the edges with a fork.
7) Arrange the pastries on a baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with egg wash. Using a sharp knife, cut a few slits in the top of each pastry. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Using the egg wash to seal my pastries just made the puff pastry turn into a disaster.  I just ended up folding them over and sealing them.  But left this step in the directions because maybe I just messed it up.  I thought these were very good, but was kind of missing the sauce on the top.  I guess this would negate the hand pie discription if you kept the sauce on the top, but I think it'd be good.  This recipe made my husband want to try real beef wellingtons even more, but he quickly ate the two that were on his plate.  Maybe someday we'll be rich enough to eat at Chef Ramsey's restaurant, but until then these were really good.