Brandied Mushroom Steak Tarts

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My plan for dinner this evening was to make an olive tart. Over the Christmas holidays I purchased the most beautiful jar of mixed olives that I was saving for a special recipe. The olive tart, spotted in a recent issue of Sweet Paul magazine, seemed to be it. There was only one problem; I couldn’t get the jar of olives open. Generally, I’m pretty good at getting jars open, but not this one.

So, I took it outside (it was a lovely day for taking a jar of olives for a walk), and started going around the neighborhood seeing if any of the big, strong men could help me. Nope. Not a one. I had to go to CVS and the library, so I put the jar of olives in my car and took them with me. A slight, but wiry-looking pharmacist greeted me at the drive-up, so I handed the jar of olives to him. He couldn’t get it open either. Then I went to the drive-up window at the library, fully expecting a woman, but no, a big, burly guy greeted me. So, I handed him the olives. I thought he was going to pop a vein, but he couldn’t get the jar open either.

  An olive tart without olives wouldn’t quite be the same, so I went in an entirely different direction, cooked a steak, made a delicious mushroom sauce, and ended up with these easy and elegant steak tarts. Super delicious, easy to prepare despite what appear to be lengthy and complicated instructions, and certainly company worthy.

Brandied Mushroom Steak Tarts

Serves 2

2 (8 oz.) filet mignon steaks (1-1½" thick)

Freshly ground black pepper

1 T. unsalted butter

1 T. olive oil

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

1 slice lean bacon

1 medium clove garlic, finely minced

1 T. unsalted butter

6-8 large button mushrooms, sliced

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 T. Brandy*

2 T. water

2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

½ t. Better Than Bouillon Beef Base

½ c. heavy cream

1 T. fresh parsley, finely minced

Preheat oven to 400° F. Cut one sheet of puff pastry in 2 6” x 5” pieces. Score ½” from the edge around the perimeter; do not cut through the pastry. Slide pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake for 12-15 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. With the back of a spoon, depress center of puff pastry, inside the score lines, to make a well for the steak.

While pastry is baking, press ground pepper into both sides of each of the fillets. Place butter and olive oil into an oven safe 9-inch sauté pan, melt over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Carefully place fillets into hot pan and sear for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and place immediately into the oven to bake for 8 minutes.

Remove steak from oven and place on a plate. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing into thin slices. This will yield a medium steak. Bake a couple minutes longer for a steak more well done.

In the same pan in which you cooked the steaks, cook bacon until crispy.  Remove bacon, crumble, and set aside.

Add butter and garlic to skillet with drippings.  Sauté for one minute, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning.

Add mushrooms and pepper, and simmer until mushroom liquid begins to evaporate.  Add brandy to deglaze pan, and continue simmering until almost evaporated.  Stir in water, lemon juice, Worcestershire, and soup base, and boil until thickened slightly.  Pour in cream and stir to blend.  Add reserved bacon and parsley.

Place slices of steak on top of prepared puff pastry and spoon mushroom sauce overall. Garnish with additional chopped parsley, if desired.

*If you don’t have brandy, use red wine. If you don't have wine, use strong, black coffee.