miss maggie smith

“yummmy, yummmy, yummy”  is a maggie smith quote that we use quite often at meal time, even though it comes from gordsford park, it still seems appropriate for downtown abbey.  in the theme of fabulously everything british on sundays dad busted out beef wellington. honestly i think if you put anything in a puff pastry it just makes it a thousand time betters.

beef wellington

RECIPE (a la jamie oliver and art farris)

1 lb beef fillet

peppers, onions and dried apricots –diced to make 1 cup of mixture

8 slices of parma ham

dijon mustard for brushing beef fillet

puff pastry — one frozen sheet rolled out

egg wash

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 glass white wine

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1.  preheat oven to 390, season beef with sea salt and black pepper.  heat a pan with olive oil and fry beef on high heat until it is browned. let cool.

2.  mix peppers, onions, garlic,  and dried apricots to form a puree.  add puree with a glass of white wine to pan and cook till wine evaporates.

3.  on a piece of plastic wrap layer parma ham, puree and beef (brushing beef with mustard) cover with plastic and keep in fridge 30 minutes.

4.  unwrap meat.  roll out pastry dough and put meat in center.  egg wash the edge of the pastry  and roll up pastry.  turnover and egg wash over the top.  mark the pastry using the back of a small knife to make a cross hatch.

5.  bake at 390 for about 30-35 minutes. allow to rest before cutting and serving.