Dear Reader,
How has your week been? I’ve had a fabulous one. Work has been busy with some unexpected challenges. Such challenges, however; accentuate the amazing skills and nature of the marvellous group of people I have the honour of working with.
Personally, life has been pretty good too. Feeling joy and happiness is wonderful.
Ingredients
- Eye fillet steak (beef)
- Dijon mustard
- Brown mushrooms (chopped)
- White onion (chopped)
- Parsley (chopped)
- Sage (chopped)
- Pitted prunes (chopped)
- Pâté
- Puff pastry (store bought)
- Instant gravy
- Broccolini
Instructions
- Truss a piece of eye fillet steak with butcher’s twine.
- Season the beef liberally with salt.
- Put the meat into a plastic vacuum bag and seal it.
- Refrigerate the meat for a few hours and let the salt penetrate the meat.
- Cook the beef in a water bath at 54 °C for about 2 hours.
- Refrigerate the meat in the bag overnight (this isn’t necessary but I cooked the meat on Saturday and cooked this meal today [Sunday]).
- Remove the meat from the bag and dry the surface of the steak with kitchen paper and snip the butcher’s twine and remove the string.
- Rub some Dijon mustard over the beef.
- Sauté the onions in a little rice bran oil or vegetable oil.
- Once the onions have become translucent, add the mushrooms and sauté until the schroom juices exude freely.
- Once the bulk of the water has become vapour, add in the prunes, sage, and parsley. Mix everything well and turn off the heat.
- Transfer the duxelles to the bowl to cool down. Have some absorbent paper in the bottom of the bowl to tamponade any free juices. I don’t want the duxelles bone dry, I want it to start off moist and once it gets hot again, it’ll get wet.
- One a sheet of puff pastry trowel a thin layer of pâté and then a thin layer of the duxelles.
- Place the meat on this and trowel some more pâté on the beef plus a layer of duxelles.
- Brush some melted butter on the exposed surface of the puff pastry.
- Add a sheet of puff pastry on top and press around the edges so the two sheets bind.
- Cut away the excess pastry with a blade and if you feel up to it, use the excess pastry to make some weird looking shapes to add on top of the pastry casing.
- Brush the pastry with some beaten egg and add a little flaky salt.
- Place the meat and pastry creation into a moderate oven and cook until the pastry is a golden brown.
- While the Beef Wellington is cooking, steam some broccolini and make the instant gravy.
- When the pastry looks good, remove the Beef Wellington from the oven and allow it to rest for about ten minutes.
- Slice the Beef Wellington in half and place one half on a dinner plate. Keep the other half in the refrigerator for a meal the next day.
- Put the broccolini on the plate next to the meat and then spoon over some gravy.
- Give thanks to the Lord for the meal and tuck in.
Spoilers | Have you watched any good movies lately? | Spoilers
Last night a friend and I watched Pig. It stars Nicolas Cage and a pig. It was released in 2021 we really enjoyed it.
The pig is a truffle pig, and Nicolas Cage plays a former chef with a dark personality.
When I say the movie stars the pig, it’s not like the movie, Babe. The pig is only seen in the first few minutes of the movie, but the pig forms a large part of the movie without being seen.
Final Thoughts
- Do you like Beef Wellington?
- How was your week?
- Have you seen Pig?
