Beef Medallion Pear Tarts

Beef Medallions:

4–6 beef medallions

olive oil cooking spray

8 shallots, thinly sliced

2 Bartlett pears, sliced into wedges

½ package puff pastry dough

Sauce: 3 Tbsp good-quality cooking wine

½ tsp crushed garlic

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 peppercorn, crushed

Potatoes:

5 large potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Caramelized Pears:

4 mini pears

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup water

mint leaves, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Sear beef in a grill pan for 2 minutes on each side, over medium flame, forming grill marks. Remove from grill and arrange in a baking dish. Top with shallots and sliced pears.

3. Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour over beef, shallots, and pears. Cover pan and bake for half an hour. Meanwhile, slice potatoes into wedges, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

4. Roll out puff pastry dough. Using a round cookie cutter, cut into a circle the same size as the medallion. Place the circles on a greased baking sheet and bake for 5–7 minutes until they puff up slightly.

5. To caramelize the pears: Slice mini pears in half and remove cores. Dip the pear halves into sugar and cook in a frying pan over a medium flame for 6–7 minutes. Add water and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes on low flame.

6. To assemble: Line up 4 potato wedges ¼ inch apart on a plate. Place puff pastry on top of the wedges. Press the beef medallion into the pastry dough to form a little tart. On top of the medallion, place 2 shallots from the sauce and 1 mini caramelized pear. Place mint leaf on top of pear for decoration. Repeat until all the tarts are assembled. Drizzle a little sauce on top of the tarts and serve.

This recipe is part of a contest "7 Amateur Chefs- Recipe Contest" click here to view the other entries.

Recipe featured in Kosher Scoop Issue 7, Dec 2011- Mishpacha Magazine