Beef Wellington - revisit

* recipe from Gordon Ramsay.

Ingredients:

750g beef fillet

500g Button or Chestnut Mushrooms - wiped clean

Thyme leaves

Mustard

500g puff pastry

8 slices of parma ham or San Danelle ham
2 egg yoks, beaten with 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt
see salt and black pepper
olive oil

How to Make:

1. Wrap the beef tightly in a triple layer of cling film to set its shape, then chill overnight.
2. Finely chop the mushrooms (or use a food processor), then fry the chopped mushrooms in a hot pan with a little olive oil and the thyme leaves. When the mushrooms begin to release their juices, continue to cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes until all the excess moisture has evaporated and you are left with a mushroom paste (known as a duxelle). Remove the duxelle from the pan and leave to cool on top of a strainer.
3. Take our beef from fridge. Remove the cling film, season with salt and black pepper, then quickly sear the beef fillet in a hot pan with a little olive oil for 30-60 seconds until browned all over and rare in the middle. Remove from the pan and brush mustard all over the beef. Leave to cool.
4. Lay a large sheet of cling film on a work surface and place  Parma ham slices in the middle, overlapping them slightly, to create a square. Spread half the duxelle evenly over the ham.
5. Then place the beef on top of the mushroom-covered ham. Using the cling film, roll the Parma ham over the beef, then roll and tie the cling film to get a nice, evenly thick log. Then chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Roll the pastry ion a lightly floured surface into a rectangle large enough to envelop the beef fillet. 
7. Remove the cling film from the beef, then wrap the pastry around the ham-wrapped fillet. Trim the pastry and brush all over with the egg wash. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 200'C. Brush the baking tray or the grill with olive oil.
9. When you are ready to cook the beef wellington, score the pastry lightly and brush with the egg wash again, put the pastry wrapped beef to a baking tray, best on top of an oiled-wire rack, then bake at 200°C for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the temperature of the quarter end reaches 55'C. Rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy with your red favourite wine!