beef welly.

shopping list.
♥ one piece of beef fillet or rib eye
♥ 200g of your favourite mushroom or chicken pate
♥ 200g button mushrooms, sliced
♥ one small egg, beaten
♥ a knob of unsalted butter
♥ salt and pepper
♥ a block of puff pastry

impress your friends, lovers, pets and even your nan with this sunday classic.

firstly, preheat the oven to gas mark 8, or a whopping 240 degrees.

next you will need a pan with a little melted butter to sear the beef. get some tongs and gently manoeuvre the steak until all the pink sides have browned. season as you like, as you go. once browned, let the meat settle for a few minutes on the side as the heat may have made it contract and could make the meat tough.

whilst it is settling, roll out the puff pastry in the same way you might deliberate how big a sheet of wrapping paper may need to be for a beef fillet sized present.

the next part is, in my opinion, the most fun. paste a layer of the pate over the beef, and, when covered, stick the mushrooms on all sides but the ends.

then place the mushroom decorated beef onto the pastry and pull the sides upwards. pinch the seam at the top, and cover the ends, as in the picture. if there are any leftover strips, use these to let your artistic pastry-related flair flow. glaze with the beaten egg once done.

place it in the oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190C, Gas 5 and continue to cook for another 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden. remove from the oven to a carving board and allow to rest for 5 minutes before carving into thick slices

apologies for the awful phone quality picture, by the way.

but i suppose it proves i really made it that easily, eh?