FOOD + DRINK
MEET THE CHEF CONT .
Ali ’ s Beef Wellington
Prep Time : 20 minutes Cook Time : 25 minutes at 180 degrees Serves : Two
Ingredients :
• 20g dried porcini or shiitake mushrooms
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 230g centre fillet of beef , trimmed
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 red onion
• 250g mixed mushrooms
• Olive oil , optional
• 1 heaped teaspoon English mustard
• 1 x 320g sheet of all-butter puff pastry
• 1 large free-range egg
Pancakes :
• 1 large free-range egg
• 1 mug semi-skimmed milk
• 1 mug self-raising flour , plus extra for dusting
• 100g baby spinach
Peppercorn Sauce :
• 60g butter
• 1 shallot , diced
• 100ml brandy
• 180ml beef stock
• 60ml double cream
Method :
1 . Sit 340g fillet of beef on a roasting tray , brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper and sear the whole side for around 5 minutes then chill for 20 minutes ideally in blast chiller .
2 . While the beef is cooling , chop 250g chestnut mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs . You can use a food processor to do this , but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don ' t become a slurry .
3 . Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and 50g unsalted butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on medium heat , with one large spring fresh thyme for about 10 mins stirring often , until you have a softened mixture . Season the mushroom mixture , pour over 100ml dry white wine and cook for about 10mins until all the wine has been absorbed . The mixture should hold its shape when stirred ; remove mushroom duxelles from the pan to cool and discard the thyme .
4 . Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board , lay pancake strips and spread with duxelles and wrap around the fillet on the cling film , use cling films edges to draw the pancakes around the fillet then roll into a sausage shape , twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go .
5 . Chill the fillet while you roll out pastry .
6 . Dust your work surface with a little flour . Roll out a third of the pack of puff pastry to 21cm x 16cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet .
7 . Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry . Beat 2 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon of water and brush the pastry ’ s edges and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet .
8 . Glaze all over with more egg yolk and place a lattice layer of puff pastry brushed with more egg yolk and chill for 30 minutes up to 24 hours ( ideally 24 hours ).
9 . Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden crispy ( 25-30-minutes ). Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices .
10 . Carve and serve as you like either with gratin potatoes or fondant potatoes and vegetables with peppercorn sauce .
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