Hubby and I have a rather large family, 6 Children, 5 of my own and the lovely James, who we call our Son makes 6! Now the three eldest may of left home, but with regular visits from Stephen and Max my daughter Rosie’s boyfriend, the house always seems to be full of people and lots of mouths to feed, we never know from one day to the next will it be two people for dinner or maybe seven! I wouldn’t have it any other way, as I love them all to bits, but with all of that, the house to run, their lives to run around after, work and my own projects, sometimes I just need a break and having a weekend alone with Hubby is our saving grace from complete and utter melt down.

Weekends alone I am afraid have become few and far between at the moment, for one reason or another, they just have not been happening every third weekend like they use to and Hubby and I crave that time alone together. We miss the house being completely still and quiet, no one making demands on our time and best of all being to eat exactly what we want to eat, when we want to eat it.

So finally, after much wangling by myself, I managed to pull off a weekend alone, from Friday evening all the way to late Sunday evening, HEAVEN !!!!

I decided to start the weekend off by completely spoiling Hubby, he has been under a lot of stress at work lately, working silly hours and has generally been a little down, what better way to cheer a man up than to feed him steak! I made gorgeous mini beef wellingtons which he had been drooling over ever since he saw them on Lorraine Pascale’s show, Home Cooking Made Easy, sauteed potatoes, another of his favourites, a rocket salad and a huge glass of a very good red wine, just perfect.

So the weekend got off to a great start. Today (Saturday) we didn’t wake up until 1pm, have opened our bedroom french doors and have enjoyed laying here in the sun. Hubby has had eggs benedict for breakfast and I had a massive cup of fresh coffee and a slice of Sachertorte. Hubby has watched the Grand Prix and I have laid here in the sun writing up blog posts. We may get up and go for a Starbucks in a bit, but maybe not. We will just go with the flow of the day, enjoy it while we can and ready ourselves for the Monday onslaught of LIFE !

Buon appetito

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients


500g/1lb 2oz packet ready-made puff pastry
plain flour, for dusting
20g/¾oz dried porcini mushrooms or large morels
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 x 180g/6oz slices beef fillet
4 small shallots, peeled and very finely chopped
knob of butter
500g/1lb 2oz chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
generous dash medium sweet sherry (optional)
large handful fresh thyme leaves
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
300ml/10fl oz double cream

Preparation method
Roll the puff pastry out on a floured work surface to a 5mm/¼in thickness. Trim the pastry into a 36cm/14in square. Then cut into four smaller squares and place onto two baking trays. Chill in the fridge for five minutes.

Rinse the dried mushrooms in cold water, then put them into a bowl and cover with hot water. Leave to soak for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan until very hot. Season the beef well all over with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fry for one minute on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Place the shallots into the pan and fry for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Add the butter and chestnut mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the dried mushrooms and finely chop, then add them to the pan with the glug of sherry, if using. Increase the heat and cook until most of the sherry has evaporated.

Add the thyme, cook for one minute, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and place a tablespoon of the mushroom mixture into the middle of each piece of pastry; spread it out to the same size as the beef steak. Top with the steak and brush the edges with the beaten egg.

Draw up the corners and edges of the pastry so they meet and overlap slightly in the middle. Turn it right-side up and shape it round the sides a little with your hands. If the pastry is soft, chill it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to firm up.

Slash the tops of the Wellingtons with a knife and brush them all over with the remaining beaten egg. Bake for 12-14 minutes (for medium-rare), or until cooked to your liking.

Five minutes before the Wellingtons are ready, reheat the remaining mushroom mixture. When it is hot, add the double cream and cook on a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, season, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then cover with a lid to keep warm.

Serve the Wellingtons with a spoonful of the sauce.

We had ours with gorgeous sauteed potatoes and a lovely fresh rocket salad and a good red wine, YUM!