An Outs-Dan-Ding evening

I was lucky enough to be invited to my friend Daniel's house one evening for dinner. As much as I love to cook there is something wonderful about eating a meal that has been prepared for you, and when I found out that Beef Wellington was on the menu (something I had never tried before), I admit I may have shed some tears. I'll also confess that my eyes started to well up when Dan described the delicious layers that make up a Beef Wellington, but crying over food is something I have no control over! I'm not one to cry over spilled milk, but I am one to cry over a delicious meal, especially when it looks like this:



Dinner consisted of Beef Wellington, honey carrots and creamed spinach. The beef wellington was everything that I imagined it to be and the carrots I could have continued eating all night. The fact that the main course was followed by chocolate mousse, let's just say if I had died that night, I would have been one very happy lady!

Here's what you need to cook one Outs-Dan-Ding meal:

Beef Wellington

 

• 500g beef fillet 
• 500 g mushrooms
• 8 slices of Parma ham
• Dijon mustard for brushing beef fillet
• 400g puff pastry
• Egg wash
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 glass white wine
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

 

Preheat oven at 220\'C.Season beef with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a pan with olive oil and fry beef on high heat until is brown. Let to cool.In food processor mix mushrooms, onion and garlic. Add this puree on the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add a glass white wine and let to evaporated alcohol.On the plastic foil put first layer Parma ham, then mushrooms puree and beef (brushing beef with mustard). Easy roll all in plastic foil and keep on fridge for 30 minutes.Unwrap the meat from the cling film.. Roll out the pastry and put the meat on the center. Egg wash the edge of the pastry and roll up the pastry. Turnover and egg wash over the top. Mark the pastry using the back of a small knife to make a cross hatch.Baking at 220\'C for about 30-35 minutes. Rest a few minutes before using.

Honey Carrots

 

• 2 kg large carrots
• 150g butter
• 50g brown sugar
• A few big dollops of honey

 

Method

 

Pre-heat oven to 150OC. Peel and chop carrots 1-2 cm thick. Place roughly in an oven proof dish. Chop butter and place on top. Sprinkle sugar over the carrots and butter. Place in oven for three hours, taking out and mixing through every half an hour. If carrots start to burn turn the oven down slightly. After three hours take out and drizzle honey over the top. Mix through and place back in oven for a couple of hours. Carrots will be ready when they are dark (but not burnt in colour), slightly shriveled, and chewy.

Chocolate Mousse



300g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
sea salt
8 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic
100g caster sugar (4½ heaped tablespoons)
300ml double cream


Method


Place the dark chocolate and a tiny pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl and sit it over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Leave to slowly melt, stirring occasionally.


Meanwhile, separate your eggs so you have the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Add the sugar to the bowl of yolks and beat until the sugar has dissolved and its silky and smooth. Whisk the whites with a tiny pinch of salt until they form soft peaks – you should be able to hold the bowl upside down over your head without them falling out! In a third bowl, beat the cream until slightly thick and just whipped.


Once the chocolate has melted, carefully lift the bowl out of the pan. Tip in the cream and mix again, then fold through the melted chocolate until it’s well combined and a gorgeous colour. Finish by tipping in the egg whites, then keep folding, from the outside in in a figure-of-eight until the mix is smooth and evenly coloured. It will look a bit dodgy at first, but trust me it will come together. Spoon or ladle the mousse into a big serving bowl or divide between little glasses or cappuccino cups and pop in the fridge for an hour or two until set...

 

 Daniel is in the process of getting his own catering business up and running, and if the above meal was anything to go by, it is going to be a great success. Watch this space, as I'm sure there will be plenty of delicious recipes of Daniel's to follow (If it sounds like I am trying to wheedle my way into having another meal cooked for me... You would be correct).