Wellington & Torte...

I decided to make beef wellington on the weekend. Not just any old beef wrapped up in pastry and smeared with some sort of sauce, but real wellington. From an afternoon of shopping to a day of preparing, it truly was the most incredible meals I have ever made. Ever.

First, make the yummy mushroom portion of the spread. Takes about twenty minutes, but worth it. Second comes the chicken livers!!!! Yes, I made my own chicken liver pate and holy cow it was AWESOME. (The recipe made enough for leftovers which Rob and I ate on crackers last night with some herb goat cheese....) I then made some yummy crepes which didn't come out as perfect circles, but close enough. You then sear the beef and let in cool. On a clean surface, lay down the crepes and smear the mushroom/pate spread all over. Place the beef in the middle and wrap in the crepes. You then roll out some puff pastry (I didn't make this as I ran out of time), place the beef wrapped crepe in the middle and wrap in the pasty, sealing the seal with egg. Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet and place in the fridge for 45 minutes. Heat an oven to 475, then place the beef in and reduce immediately to 425 degrees for ten minutes. Reduce again to 400 until the meat is cooked medium rare.

Simple enough and one of the most delicious things that has ever come out of my kitchen. I also made the Madeira sauce from scratch which was positively amazing. We of course have left overs and I have to say, I liked the wellington better cold then warm.

So the wellington was somewhat of a complicated procedure but completely doable. New ingredients, methods, good times. The one thing that kicked my ass was..... the chocolate torte. It was date night so I decided to pull out all the stops and make dessert. You know the saying? There's cooks and then there's bakers, but not both.... I am now living proof. My chocolate torte recipe only called for five ingredients. How hard could it be? Well holy jesus, but the time it was done, I managed to get chocolate everywhere and anywhere. I don't know how something that only takes five ingredients ended up making my kitchen look like a chocolate bomb went off taking every kitchen utensils and bowls with it. Unbelievable. I had chocolate EVERYWHERE. I'm still finding chocolate stains. At one point I think I cried and declared the torte to be the winner. Nonetheless, I managed to get it done and it was delicious!

So all in all, it was a wonderful dinner, with a yummy bottle of wine and even better company. :)