MAKE THE CUT

Gareth Stewart, dish columnist and executive chef of the Nourish Group’s Euro Bar and Restaurant, serves up a beautiful Beef Wellington

Chef Gareth Stewart serves up a beautiful Beef Wellington.

Ifirst had Beef Wellington at Harrods department store in Knightsbridge, London — not a bad place to try such a classic British dish! I was 18 and in London with a sous chef I worked with. I dressed up in a suit and we went off to the prestigious Harrods for a special meal. The Beef Wellington came to the table and was carved right beside me by a waiter dressed in white and wearing white gloves.

That Beef Wellington was a show-stopper, and this recipe is too. It is the king of all beef dishes. We serve it each year at Euro’s Melbourne Cup lunch, where it has become a tradition.

Beef Wellington is also a complete meal in one, because you have beef fillet which, along with the crêpes, provides protein, but also vegetables in the mushroom duxelle (a type of paste) and Savoy cabbage leaves, and carbohydrates in the puff pastry that encases it all. Make it ahead of time for your next dinner party, and you’ll definitely impress your guests.

Beef Wellington MUSHROOM DUXELLE

750 grams button mushrooms 25 grams butter

½ tablespoon truffle paste (optional) 3 tablespoons chopped chives sea salt and ground pepper

CRÊPES

½ cup standard flour

½ cup eggs (about 2 eggs, beaten) ½ cup milk

1 tablespoon chopped chives 1 tablespoon chopped parsley pinch of sea salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking

BEEF

1.8 kilogram centre cut eye fillet, trimmed sea salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

TO ASSEMBLE

4 large Savoy cabbage leaves 600 grams puff pastry

3 egg yolks

1 clove garlic sea salt and ground pepper

MUSHROOM DUXELLE: Pulse the mushrooms in a food processor to make a paste. Place the paste and butter in a small pot and sweat over medium heat until there is no moisture left in the pan (approximately 5 minutes). Remove from the pot and allow to cool down. Once cool, mix with the truffle paste, if using, and chives and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

CRÊPES: Whisk together the flour and eggs in a bowl. Once you have a pastelike consistency, start to incorporate the milk, whisking as you go, making sure there are no lumps. Add the herbs and salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large sauté pan (non-stick if you have one) until just before it reaches smoking point. You just need it to coat the pan, so pour out any excess into a clean cup and you can use again to repeat the process.

Take a ladle of the crêpe mix and pour into the middle of the pan. Tilt the pan around so the batter spreads to cover the base in a thin layer without any holes. Turn down the heat and you should be able to flip the crêpe, using a plastic heatproof spatula, after 20 seconds. You don’t want it to have too much colour or to make it crispy; you want to be able to fold the crêpe around the steak without cracking. You will need 2-3 large crêpes for the fillet. Cut the crêpes into the same width as the fillet and put aside.

BEEF: Season the beef with sea salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a sauté pan and sear the beef on all sides until caramelised all over. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Brush the fillet liberally with the Dijon mustard, using a pastry brush.

CABBAGE LEAVES: Blanch the Savoy cabbage leaves for 3 minutes in a pot of salted boiling water and then refresh in an iced water bath. Pat dry and use a meat hammer or rolling pin to flatten slightly and soften the veins.

TO ASSEMBLE: Lay out a large strip of cling film and place the crêpes on top, followed by the cabbage leaves. Spread the mushroom mix over the top.

Place the mustard-covered beef fillet on the mushroom paste and roll it in the cling film away from you, wrapping the eye fillet tightly in the crêpe and cabbage. Make sure that the overlap is no bigger than 1 cm and then, holding both ends of the cling film, roll the beef to twist the ends. Tie the cling film ends in a knot. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Roll out the puff pastry slightly bigger than A4 size and roughly 2.5cm longer than the eye fillet. Brush with egg yolk.

Remove the wrapped beef from the cling film and place at the top of the puff pastry. Roll the whole thing so that the beef fillet is covered completely and make sure there is an overlap on both sides. Use your palms to squash down the ends. Crimp them with a fork and trim, if necessary.

Score the pastry using the back of a knife. Using a pastry brush, brush with egg yolk. Repeat the egg wash. Allow the Wellington to rest for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180oc. Cook the Wellington for 45 minutes then use a thermometer to get the internal temperature, which should read 48oc for medium-rare. Rest the Wellington for 10 minutes before cutting into 6-8 pieces. SERVES 6-8