Beef Wellington

I love Beef Wellington for a dinner party as I can prepare it up to 2 days ahead and just have it sitting in the fridge and then put it in the oven. (Take it out to come to room temperature though.) The Beef Wellington recipe that I always use is Ruth Pretty’s - Beef Wellington with Red Wine and Balsamic Sauce. If you google that it will pop up (or your daughter could post the link - you’re welcome).

Adding to her instructions - if you have a barbecue it is much better to sear it outside as you don’t fill the house with smoke and also it will give your husband something to do.

I just buy a couple of pots of the cheap pate from the supermarket rather than messing around making my own - mind you there is a recipe on the site if you want to go to all that trouble but you won’t taste the difference and it is rather a waste of a really good pate.

The Dry-roasted Mushrooms are a must and it is amazing how you start with an enormous tray of them and they end up quite small so maybe throw in a couple of extra mushrooms.

If you have a pizza stone, put that in the oven before hand as it means you will have a nice crisp bottom to your Beef Wellington. A cast iron frypan works too.

I use the Paneton pastry as their puff come in a roll so you can just roll it out to the required length. Practice your envelope fold with a bit of paper before you do that.

The sauce is delicious, but do make it the day before as it takes the stress out of the whole business and, as Ruth says Beef Wellington is a fairly rich dish so just serve with her herbed new potatoes with peas (google it) and some green beans or asparagus if in season ….