Beef Wellington served with Bacon & Cabbage and Special Potatoes

I decided to try and cook a beef wellington for the big Friday night dinner and very nice it was too although the meat wasn't great but let me explain...
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Gordon Ramsey's recipe calls for a beef fillet - typically the most expensive cut of beef you can buy. I went to the meat counter in Waitrose and asked the man for 400 grams of beef fillet and do you know how much the sticker said it cost - £18. Yes people, you read that right! I certainly couldn't afford to splash out £18 on the beef alone so I dumped it with the pre-packed meats and went in pursuit of another cut
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I managed to find an 800 g beef roasting joint in Sainsburys for £7. Although it was cooked perfectly (pink in the middle) it wasn't tender enough for a wellington so if you ever decide to make this, I'd say do it properly if you're going to do it at all.
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Beef Wellington:

Source: Gordon Ramsey

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Serves 2 (could also serve 3 people)

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Ingredients:

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400g Beef fillet
400g Flat mushrooms
4 slices Parma ham
English mustard for brushing meat
200g puff pastry
2 Egg yolks

Salt & Pepper

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1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c.

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2. Heat some oil in a large pan and quickly fry the seasoned beef all over until it's brown. Remove and allow to cool. The point of this is simply to sear the beef and seal all those juices in, you don't want to cook the meat at this stage. Allow to cool and brush generously with the mustard.

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3. Roughly chop the mushrooms and blend in a food processor to form a puree. Scrape the mixture into a hot, dry pan and allow the water to evaporate. When sufficiently dry (the mixture should be sticking together easily), set aside and cool.

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4. Roll out a generous length of cling film, lay out the four slices of Parma ham, each one slightly overlapping the last. With a pallet knife spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the ham.

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5. Place the beef fillet in the middle and keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edge, neatly roll the Parma ham and mushrooms over the beef into a tight barrel shape. Twist the ends to secure the clingfilm. Refrigerate for 10 -15 minutes, this allows the Wellington to set and helps keep the shape.

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6. Roll out the pastry quite thinly to a size which will cover your beef. Unwrap the meat from the cling film. Egg wash the edge of the pastry and place the beef in the middle. Roll up the pastry, cut any excess off the ends and fold neatly to the 'underside'. Turnover and egg wash over the top. Chill again to let the pastry cool, approximately 5 minutes. Egg wash again before baking at 200c for 35 - 40 minutes. Rest 8 -10 minutes before slicing.

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Mrs Hackney's Tips:

• I used an 800 gram piece of beef so I cooked this for 55 minutes and rested it for 10 minutes.
• I forgot to brush the beef with the mustard so I brushed the pastry with mustard instead!

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Mrs Hackney's Recipe for Cabbage & Bacon:

Ingredients:

1 x Savoy Cabbage

1 x Leek

Large knob of butter

1 x veggie stock cube

3 - 4 rashers of bacon

Salt & Pepper (white and black pepper)

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1. Wash the cabbage and leek and shred into thin slices

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2. Mix the veggie stock cube in 1 cup of boiling water (1 normal drinking cup)

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3. Place the cabbage and leeks into a large pan and pour on the stock.

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4. Season well.

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5. Cook until all the juices have been absorbed.

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6. Add in a large chunk of butter before serving.

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Mrs Hackney's Recipe for Special Potatoes:

(because Kenny wouldn't give me his 'secret' recipe. So rude!)

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Ingredients:
6 - 8 Potatoes
butter
1 x veggie stock cube

1 x Chicken stock cube

2 x Cloves of garlic, crushed.
Salt & Pepper (white and black pepper)
1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp mixed herbs

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1. Wash the potatoes and leave the skin on

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2. Cut into slices, not too thin - around 1.5 cms

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3. Fill a jug with 2 pints of boiling water and dissolve the 2 stock cubes. Add in the garlic and herbs.

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4. Layer the potatoes in a roasting tin and pour over the stock until it just covers the potatoes.

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5. Put in a hot oven and bake for anywhere between 2 - 3 hours topping up with the remaining stock.

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6. They will be ready when the stock has nearly disappeared and there's a nice thick sauce on the bottom. Dot over some butter and put back into the oven 15 minutes before serving.

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This dinner was incredibly rich and a bit too salty. I would recommend serving plain vegetables if you're going to serve the special potatoes or steamed new potatoes if you want to serve it with the cabbage.

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The finished product. It looks like a big old mess but it was tasty!

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Enjoy! :-)