I don’t usually read cookbooks. But my daughter does, and she has picked up a lot of information along the way: how to massage kale, for example, or brine a chicken. I learn something new every day that I spend in her kitchen with her.

Kids these days have a whole new food vocabulary than when I was growing up. We ate hot dogs and hamburgers and asked for ketchup; she and Joachim are making frittatas and asking for the sriracha. What language is that, anyway?

I like the fact that they are always open to trying something new. For me, menus are daunting. Just order something for me, if you don’t mind. For them, it’s an exiting challenge, and they like to roll a new taste around on their tongues and talk about it. We ordered a rare Kenyan coffee brew yesterday at Peet’s, and they were exclaiming about it to each other. What did I think? I’m not sure. It was nice ~ yes, I guess it was better than Dunkin’ Donuts.

This past week we were watching a food channel on Reddit~ that was a first for me ~ and saw Gordon Ramsey’s Beef Wellington video. We all got excited. “Let’s make it!” “Why not?”

Gordon called it a Christmas dish, but we decided to celebrate Easter day with a bike ride to Wellesley, the Kenyan coffee, and our first beef wellington. These are the photos Joachim and I took, and they’ll give you a basic idea. There were a few additional steps that we forgot to capture ~ like the layer of mustard followed by the mushrooms and prosciutto, which we used to just call thin sliced ham.

It was great, and we’re definitely going to be making this again 🙂

Sear the meat first.

Finely chop the portobello mushrooms

wrap meat with mushroom and prosciutto.

Roll the meat in a sheet of puff pastry and brush with egg yolk.

Bake until golden brown.

Slice and serve!

If you decide that you want to try it too, you’ll be surprised how easy it is once you have all the ingredients gathered.

Happy Chefs

Bon Appetite!