And this is where it might go horribly wrong...

I consider myself an alright cook, but one recipe has always alluded me, and that is the mighty beef wellington. In theory, it really isn't that difficult technically, but I have always been worried about overcooking the beef and ruining an expensive piece of fillet. But given that I have so much free time on my hands right now, I thought I would take the plunge.

I used the Gordon Ramsay recipe from The F Word/Sunday Lunch cookbook. I tried making it for 2, but the beef fillet really needs to be at least 500g to work, so it's more like for 3...

Beef Wellington (serves 3ish)
500g flat mushrooms
500g beef fillet, ideally barrel shaped
2 tbsp English mustard
6 slices parma ham
300g puff pastry (I cheated and bought ready rolled)
1 egg yolk

1. Rip the mushrooms into small pieces, then blizz in a food processor until it forms a paste
2. Fry the mushrooms on a high heat, for about 10 minutes, until all the moisture is taken out of it, then set aside to cool. It will feel like absolutely ages, and I did think I was going to burn the mushrooms, but it does take that long to get all the water out. Then it looks quite unappetisingly like soil:

3. Wipe clean the frying pan, add in a little olive oil and back onto a high heat. Season the beef, and then sear all sides, careful not to actually cook it. Set aside to cool:

4. Once the beef is cool, brush mustard all over the surface.
5. Lay out a big piece of cling film, and then lay out the parma ham on top, with each slightly overlapping:

6. Spread the cooled mushroom soil over the ham, so there is a very thin layer all over. I found it easiest to use my fingers to squish it all thin and everywhere.
7. Time to wrap your parcel! We found it easiest to wrap the ham/mushrooms over one side of the beef, and then use the cling film to make sure it is stretched tight. Then tightly finish rolling, with excess cling film of each end - twist the ends, and then 'roll' the roll a few times on the work surface to make it even tighter:



8. Put in the fridge to set the mould for about 15 minutes, and in the meantime, roll out the puff pastry if you were good enough to buy non-ready-rolled (or have made your own even!)
9. Remove the cling film, then put the beef in the middle of the pastry. Brush egg yolk all around, and then carefully wrap around the barrel, finishing with some extra egg yolk to seal. I found the whole thing 'dry' enough to not even worry about leakage. Put back in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
10. Put on a baking sheet, with the seal at the bottom, and then score the pastry all over. Then brush all over with the last of the egg yolk
11. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for about 15 minutes, then turn down to 180C for another 10 minutes. (Gordon recommended 25 mins then 20 mins for a 750g piece of beef, we were being overly cautious) - and look how golden brown it comes out!:

And when we finally cut it open, it was exactly right! I guess some people will find it a little rare, but we thought it was perfect for our tastes! We served it with just some simple courgettes pan-fried with garlic.

It was absolutely divine, but unfortunately my body retaliated a bit. I haven't eaten such a huge lump of meat in a long time, and I did feel as if it was sitting in my tummy undigested for most of the night, actually had trouble sleeping! So it means I actually have some leftovers for tonight. Woo!