Recipe CXXXVIII - Beef Wellington Made Simple

Yes, it's been a while since I posted... once I reached a hundred, I decided to relax a bit. Also, having three young kids and precious little time for such luxuries, means I'm more likely to spend my free time cutting the grass or repairing a leaking tap than I am writing recipes...

This was the meal I cooked on the last day of the festive season, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Take no notice of those who want you to be perfect with all the silly technical details - as long as you get the ingredients to your satisfaction, a Beef Wellington is actually less fiddly work than making a lasagne.

There are two adults and three small children in the house, so I didn't make a huge one, hence the final photo making it look like a pasty... I can assure you it was actually much bigger than that.

Ingredients:

Beef fillet

Olive oil

7 to 10 brown mushrooms

2 red onions

2 or 3 cloves of garlic

A small glass of dry white wine

A cube of butter

Fresh herbs - I used sage, as I love it, but thyme is the traditional one

6 or 7 slices of Prosciutto or Serrano ham

A roll or two of puff pastry

1 or 2 beaten egg yolks

An appropriate amount of clingfilm

A blender or a bowl and hand blender

Instructions:

Put the beef in the oven for 25 mins at 200°C. While this is going on, blend up the mushrooms, red onions, garlic, herbs, some olive oil to make a duxelle, then fry it gently in more olive oil, adding the wine to give it some extra flavour. When it's time, take the beef out and let it cool down: it shouldn't be too well-cooked.

Lay the pastry out flat and put it on some clingfilm, so you can remove the shop-made paper (it's sometimes sticky and can ruin your pastry).

Place the prosciutto on the middle of the pastry layer where your beef will eventually go, and put some duxelle on the prosciutto. Put the beef on top, and spread the rest of the duxelle on the beef until it is covered.

Wrap the pastry over the top, fold in the corners, and glaze the pastry with an egg, sealing all the joins. Make some incisions in the surface of the pastry with the back of your knife, making sure you don't make a hole.

Recommended but not obligatory: put it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Glaze the surface once again, place the whole thing in the oven for 25 minutes on 200°C.

Let it rest for a few minutes before carving, preferably using a sharpened knife. Enjoy!

Recipe CII - Cherry Pithivier

There are three countries in Europe renowned for their desserts and pâtisseries: the Austrians for their café cakes, the British for their puddings and pies, and the French for their imaginative desserts. This is where the French and the British overlap. If it were British, the Pithivier would be called the Bakewell Pie, as opposed to the tart and pudding versions, as it looks like a fruit pie but is with puff pastry, and it also contains frangipane.

Making cakes is not an exact science, and these measurements are open for your interpretation. My grandmother (bless her) used to just slop handfuls into mixtures until the flavour was just right.

Ingredients:

2 rolls of puff pastry, unless you want to waste a morning making your own

A cupful of cherries (I de-pipped mine, but you are welcome to leave them in - but inform hour guests!!)

Half a packet of butter, diced int blocks and allowed to reach room temperature

3 tablespoons of fine sugar

3 times the amount of crushed almonds

1 full egg and 2 egg yolks in different containers

A small amount of cherry schnapps

2 bowls of differing sizes (e.g. 10 and 12 inches / 25 and 30 centimetres in diameter) to cut out the shape of the pastry

1 sheet of oven-proof paper

Instructions:

Switch on the oven to 200°C.

Roll out the first dough sheet, and using the larger of the two bowls, gently cut around the outside. Do the same with the second sheet and smaller bowl.

Place one of the sheets they came in on a large plate (a pizza plate is a good one) and put the larger dough circle on it, followed by the second sheet and the smaller circle. Put them in the fridge while you do the next bit.

Get the butter and sugar, and using your fingers, mix them up until they are well- integrated and the mixture is fluffy and light. Add the cherry schnapps, and slowly add the flour, one egg yolk and the whole egg. Blend in until it goes the colour and texture of a scrambled egg.

Fold in the almonds bit-by-bit, making sure the mixture thickens without becoming too dry.

Put some oven-proof paper onto a baking tray. Take the pastry out of the fridge. Place the smaller of the circles on to the oven-proof paper. Smear the almond mixture over it, leaving about one inch (2.5 cm) free at the edge of the circle. Put the cherries evenly into the mixture. You could stir them in, but this way ensures you get an even spread. Around the outside of the pastry, brush some of the egg yolk on.

Place the larger of the circles on top and press together with your fingers without flattening it. Use the remainder of the egg yolk to brush over the top.

With a knife, pierce the very centre of the pastry and then make swirling, radiating lines with it.

Place it in the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C, then turn it down to 175°C for a further 30 minutes.

Leave it to cool, but while it is still warm, serve it with some thick cream or ice cream and a nice cup of coffee or tea.

This is what the inside of the second one I made looks like. The first one I haven't cut open yet because it's for tomorrow and you can only have some if you're able to get to Luxembourg!

Recipe LXXXIX - Puff Pastry Pies

I took a little break last week to go away for some well-needed recuperation and socialisation, so I have prepared a double-header for you this week. When talking about puff pastry, there are two ways to do it - you can either spend ages and ages rolling the stuff out until it's perfect, or you can just buy a couple of rolls from the supermarket and spend more time on the contents. Guess what I chose...

STEAK PIE
 
Ingredients
min. 450g puff pastry
450g-550g chopped beef or lamb
250ml-350ml beef stock
Carrots, roughly chopped
Mushrooms, whole, halved or quartered
Shallots, whole or halved
Cloves of garlic, sliced
Apples, in chunks
Plain flour
Thyme
Pepper & salt
Butter for frying and for greasing the pie dish
A little water for closing the pastry
1 egg for glazing the top



Instructions
Roll your meat in a bowl containing flour, salt and pepper, then put it in a high-sided pan to fry gently in the butter.



After some time, add the vegetables and continue frying for a while until it is all nice and coated in the oil of the pan. Add the thyme and garlic for a couple of minutes before you pour in the beef stock. Allow it to simmer for a good hour on a medium-low heat.



Take the meat off the cooker and allow it to cool. Grease the inside of a decent-sized pie dish. With a roll of your puff pastry, line the inside of the pie dish. Pour the meat into the middle of the pastry-lined pie dish and splash the outside with some water to help the top close properly. Take another roll and place it over the top to make a "roof". With some of the remaining pastry, make some vague decorative shapes and don't forget to pierce the pastry top a few times to let the heat escape. Glaze it with an egg and a brush.



Put it in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the pastry rises and goes nice and brown.




MINI APPLE PIES

Ingredients:
2 apples
Cinnamon
Brown sugar
Sultanas
1-2 cloves
A small glass of water
The rest of the egg for glazing the pastry
(a spoonful of honey - optional)
(brandy, schnapps or port wine - optional)

Instructions:
Cut up the apples and roll them in cinnamon, then put them in some water. Add some more cinnamon, followed by a clove and some sugar. Heat it up gently until it is near boiling point, then simmer it for a good half an hour, or even more. Taste it to see if it needs anything added - more sugar, or maybe a little alcohol. Let it cool down for a while.



Line some tart moulds with the remaining pastry and blind bake them for a few minutes. I didn't, as I like stodgy pastry. Put the filling into the moulds and arrange the remaining pieces of pastry on top. Glaze it with the remaining egg and sprinkle some white sugar on the top to give it some sweetness.



Bake it in the oven for 13 to 18 minutes, or until the pastry turns golden brown.

Recipe XLVII - Beef and Ale Pie

The French often sneer when it comes to the cooking of that island off its northern coast, yet they only have one word for dough, pastry, batter and paste: la pâte. The British can distinguish between all different types of flour-based substance, and in this one, they're coming up with one of the finest examples of traditional cooking anywhere. The method is so simple, very little needs to happen, but it requires a little timing. And at the end, it will provide your stomach with all the satisfaction it needs.


Ingredients:
900g of steak, diced into bitesize pieces
2 large onions, sliced into rings
10 button mushrooms
6 carrots
75g butter
40g flour seasoned with salt, ground black pepper and dried herbs
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 250ml bottles of Guinness or other stout
275g puff pastry
1 egg



Instructions:
Cut up the vegetables and roll the beef in the seasoned flour.



Put the majority of the butter in a high-sided pan and when melted, fry the beef in it. Once sealed, add the vegetables.



Sweat them for a few minutes, then add the bay leaves and pour the ale in. Put on a low heat and simmer for an hour or more.



Towards the end of the beef's time in the pan, turn on the oven to a little over 200°C. Get your puff pastry and put your baking dish on top of it. With a knife, cut round the outside of the dish to make the top of the pie. Leave it aside until needed. With the rest, roll it into a ball and use it to make a base. Or if you prefer, to make some decoration on the top. I used mine for a base, because I absolutely adore stodgy pastry. Then, with a ladle, pour the contents of the pan into the baking dish.



Then put the top on, and with a fork, pinch the edges of the pastry onto the baking dish to seal it. Brush the egg onto the top of the pastry to glaze. Put it into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.



Take the pie out of the oven and leave it for a few minutes to cool.



To take it out of the baking dish, cut through the middle with a knife and put the pastry upside down on a separate plate. Spoon the interior out onto the plate and put the pastry on top.