No rest for the wicked

I had fine plans this weekend to chill out and relax a little after a very stressful week at work. Not bloody likely it seems, I headed into Perth bright and early for a pretty fruitless shopping trip, I did try on plenty of pairs of new shoes but nothing was quite right.


I had promised my other half a posh dinner tonight, but what with shopping and then buying the groceries, I didn't actually make a start until nearly 6pm. I've chosen to make our favourite Beef Wellington followed by a chocolate tart (I have never made one of these before. 


Its been a gloriously sunny day in Perth and all I would love to be doing now is drinking wine with my feet up, instead I am waiting on my chocolate tart, my Beef Wellington is prepped and waiting for over space, so I figured now was a good a time as any to write my entry for the weekend. Both of the main items I am making today are from Gordon Ramsey recipe's. I've found following GR's recipe's pretty easy, the Beef Wellington I saw on 'The F Word' and always remembered it, I've used it several times and it never fails to impress. 

Beef Wellington - The Recipe
Fillet Steak
prosciutto
mushrooms
English mustard
puff pastry
salt and pepper
oil

The method

1. Season the fillet steak with salt and pepper, heat a pan with some oil until hot and sear the meat to seal in the juices. Set aside to rest.
2. Place the mushrooms in a food processor and blitz until coarse, place in a pan and heat over a medium heat stirring frequently. Heat until all of the moisture is released from the mushrooms and the mixture starts coming away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Use a food brush to coat the English mustard around the fillet steak, turn it over and coat the bottom.
3. Take a sheet of cling film big enough to wrap around the beef and lay flat on the table. Place the prosciutto slightly over-lapping on top of the cling-film. Press the mushroom mixture over the prosciutto until it is evenly covered. Place the fillet steak on top of this and use the cling film to help wrap up the fillet steak so that it has mushroom and prosciutto all the way around it. Twist the ends of the cling film and place in the fridge.
4. Roll out the puff pastry, remove the cling film from the meat and place on top of the pastry, wrap the pastry around the meat, seal in place (use egg wash if needed) and place on a prepared baking tray. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes, adjust depending on the size of you steak. You want the meat to be rare but the pastry golden.

Before I had started making the beef wellington I prepared the chocolate tart.

Chocolate Tart - The Recipe

Rich Sweet Pastry
125g butter at room temperature
90g caster sugar
2 vanilla pods
1 egg, beaten
250g plain flour
good pinch of salt

For the Filling
1 egg yolk beaten together with a little water
400g dark chocolate chopped coarsely (min 60% cocoa)
150ml milk
250ml double cream
2 eggs beaten

The Method

1. Mix the butter and sugar in an electric beater until smooth but not fluffy. Split open the vanilla pods and scrape out the seeds and add them to the mixture.
2. Gradually combine the egg, bit by bit watching it does not curdle. Stop the machine once or twice to scrape down the mixture.
3. Sift together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Turn the machine down to a lower speed and spoon in the flour in stages. As soon as the mixture clings together as a crumbly dough. Stop the machine remove the dough and knead lightly by hand until smooth. wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
4. Roll out the pastry big enough to fill the prepared loose bottom 21cm flan tin, carefully line the tin with the pastry, leave the edges hanging over, press the pastry well into the tin being careful not to leave any tears. Lightly prick the base, reserve any leftover for patching.
5. Cover with foil, fill with baking beans and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the over to 180 degrees.
6. Place the flan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes (mine needed slightly longer) or until the pastry is set. Remove the foil and baking beans. Using a sharp knife trim the edges neatly, patch any tears with leftover pastry.
7. Return the flan to the oven for 5 minutes or until it just begins to colour, remove and brush with a glaze of egg yolk beaten with a little water. Lower the oven to 130 degrees and bake the case for 3 minutes to seal the glaze. Remove and set aside.
8. Meanwhile place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Bring the milk and cream in a saucepan almost to the boil and then pour over the chopped chocolate, whisking to make sure it all melts and is smooth.
9. Put the beaten eggs in another bowl and pour in the chocolate whisking well, strain using a strong sieve to ensure the mixture is smooth.
10. Return the flan to the baking sheet and place on the over shelf which you have lifted out slightly. Pour the chocolate mixture into the case, taking the mixture up as high as it will go and bake the tart for about 25 minutes or until the filling has started to set. Turn off the oven and leave the tart in with the door shut for a 30 minutes, remove and set aside to cool completely

This recipe was take from Gordon Ramsay's 'Passion for Flavour' cook book