Beef Wellington
Serves: 8 people
Prep time: 40 minutes, plus chilling time
Cook time: 35 minutes, plus resting
Ingredients:
20g unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
500g chestnut mushrooms
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
A small handful of parsley, finely chopped
1kg beef fillet, fat trimmed and tied
Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes
Cracked black pepper
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
10-12 slices of Parma ham
2x 230g packs of puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
To serve:
Creamy mashed potatoes, seasonal greens and roasted carrots
Beef and red wine jus
Dijon mustard or horseradish
Method:
Take the fillet beef out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking.
Begin by placing the unsalted butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil into a large frying pan and gently heating. Then add the finely diced onion and fry slowly until completely soft and translucent, then add the crushed garlic and fry for another minute or so.
Place the mushrooms into a food processor and pulse until they are finely diced with no big pieces. Then tip these mushrooms into the pan with the onion and garlic. Fry the mushrooms until all the liquid has completely evaporated and they are cooked through. This will take approximately 15 minutes. Add the picked thyme leaves and chopped parsley for the final 5 minutes of cooking.
Once the mushrooms are cooked, season them with a pinch of Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes and some cracked black pepper and set aside to cool. Once cool, set into the fridge to cool completely and firm up.
Next, take the fillet of beef and season it generously on all sides with Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes and cracked black pepper. Place a large frying pan onto a medium high heat and allow it to get very hot. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the pan and then sear the beef on all sides so it gets a lovely caramelisation all the way around. Do not take longer than 2 minutes in total to sear the beef, it should be very raw inside still. Remove from the pan and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
After the beef has rested, remove any string and brush the outside with the Dijon mustard.
Place a couple of large pieces of clingfilm onto the kitchen surface. Then line this with the Parma ham slices in an even layer to ensure they will completely enclose the beef. Make sure there is a little excess clingfilm around the edges. Next take the chilled mushroom duxelles from the fridge and spoon this on top of the Parma ham, spreading it in an even layer. Finally place the beef fillet on one edge and then use the cling film to enclose the remaining fillings around the beef, rolling it as tightly as possible as you can. Twist the ends of the clingfilm to make a secure sausage shape.
Place the wrapped beef fillet into the fridge and leave to chill and firm up for at least 1 hour (this can be prepared the day before).
Next, unroll the pastry, keeping it on the parchment paper as this will help with the rolling. Take the beef from the fridge and place it in the middle of the pastry and close-up the sides – if you need to use some of the second sheet of pastry you can, just make sure the ends are well sealed and the seal is at the bottom. Then use the beaten egg to neatly secure the pastry around the beef, tucking the ends underneath. Any excess pastry can be used to cut thin strips and create a lattice pattern on the top.
Place the wellington onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush it all over with the beaten egg, then place in the fridge for another hour to firm up.
When ready to bake preheat the oven to 200c.
Place the beef wellington into the oven for 35 minutes, until the pastry is deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle the pastry with some Maldon Original Sea Salt and thyme leaves.
Slice into 1inch pieces and serve with creamy mash, seasonal spring vegetables and a beef jus.
Cabbage Steaks with Tahini Sauce
Serves: 4 people
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
2x savoy cabbages
2 tbsp olive oil
Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes
Cracked black pepper
A few thyme sprigs
100g of tahini
50ml olive oil
2 tbsp water
½ lemon, juiced
30g roasted almonds
A large handful of parsley, leaves picked
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c.
Take each savoy cabbage and slice into 1inch ‘steaks’ to make 4. Discard the smaller pieces of cabbage from the ends – this can be used in another dish.
Place the 4 cabbage steaks onto a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil, some Maldon salt and cracked black pepper. Add some sprigs of thyme to the tray and then place into the preheated oven to roast for 25 minutes.
To make the tahini sauce, add the tahini to a mixing bowl along with the olive oil, lemon juice and Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes and pepper. It will be very thick so gradually add the water until it reaches a thick creamy consistency – you can add more water if you want it to be looser.
To serve, place some of the creamy tahini sauce onto a place and then top with a roasted cabbage steak. Garnish with some roasted chopped almonds and some parsley.
Roasted Radishes and Rainbow Carrots
Serves: 4 as a side
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
1 whole garlic bulb
200g radishes, mixed
400g baby rainbow carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Maldon Smoked Sea Salt flakes
Cracked black pepper
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
Drizzle of honey
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c.
Keep some of the radish’s whole, and half any larger ones, then place onto a large baking tray. Lightly scrub the carrots and then place onto the baking tray too, keeping them whole.
Cut the garlic bulb in half through the middle so you have two cross-sections and place that onto the baking tray as well. Then drizzle all the vegetables with the olive oil and season with the smoked Maldon Smoked Sea Salt flakes and some cracked black pepper. Lightly toss the vegetables then place into the preheated oven.
Roast the vegetables for 35 minutes, until tender and lightly caramelised. Remove from the oven and serve on a platter with some thyme leaves and a drizzle of honey.
Sauteed Asparagus and Mixed Mushrooms
Serves: 2 as a side dish
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
200g mixed mushrooms (such as shiitake, baby king oyster, chanterelle, enoki)
250g asparagus
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A good pinch of Maldon Smoked Sea Salt flakes
Method:
Start by prepping the vegetables. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus, then half the remaining into two long pieces. Brush-clean the mushrooms, then keep any small ones whole and half any larger ones.
In a large frying pan heat up the olive oil. Firstly, add the mushrooms and fry on a high heat until they soften but also go nicely golden and crisp. Then add the asparagus and fry for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic. Fry for another minute or so until the garlic is fragrant, and the asparagus is tender – the whole process should come together in about 10 minutes or less.
Finally season the sautéed vegetables with some Maldon Smoked Sea Salt flakes and serve.
Lyonnaise Potatoes
Serves: 4 as a side
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
400g waxy potatoes, we used new potatoes
50g unsalted butter
4 tbsp olive oil
2 white onions, finely sliced
1 tsp Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes, plus extra to serve
Cracked black pepper
A small handful of parsley, roughly chopped
Method:
Start by slicing the potatoes into 2cm thick slices, discarding the very small ends. Then place them into a pot of water and bring up to the boil. Let the potatoes boil for 2 minutes – you want them to just start to go tender but still uncooked and firm in the middle. This means they won’t break down when sauteed.
Drain the potatoes and allow them to sit to make sure they are fully dry. Then add half the butter and oil and begin frying the potato slices. You will need to do this in batches to ensure they can all get nice and golden, and crisp on each side. Remove from the pan as the slices cook and then add new ones.
Once all the potato slices are fried, add the remaining butter and oil to the pan and then add the finely sliced onion along with the Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes. Fry this for 8 minutes until soft, golden and caramelized.
Finally add the potatoes back to the pan to warm them through, adding some cracked black pepper. Then serve the Lyonnaise potatoes on a serving dish along with an extra sprinkle of Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes and the chopped parsley.
Wild Garlic Butter
Serves: makes a 200g stick
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: chill for 1 hour
Ingredients:
50g wild garlic
1 tsp of Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes
200g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
Sourdough baguette, to serve
Method:
Start by placing the wild garlic and Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes into a food processor. Then pulse it a few times to break up the wild garlic until it is finely chopped. Then add the softened butter and pulse again until all the wild garlic is well dispersed throughout the butter, and it is a vibrant green colour.
Place a large piece of baking parchment onto the kitchen surface and then spoon the butter onto the paper. Roll the parchment around the butter to make a large round sausage and tightly twist the ends. You can either use the butter immediately or place into the fridge to firm up.
The wild garlic butter is delicious served with warm bread, and grilled steak or vegetables.
Molten Chocolate Fondants
Serves: makes 2
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
75g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
75g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
30g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
1 large egg plus 2 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
Pinch of Maldon Original Sea Salt, plus extra to serve
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200c and place a baking tray into the oven.
Take 2 ramekins or dariole moulds and grease with butter. Then add the cocoa powder to one and tap it around to cover the sides, then tip the excess into the second mould and repeat. Tip out any excess cocoa powder then set the moulds aside.
Place the unsalted butter and chopped dark chocolate into a heatproof bowl, then place it over a pan of simmering water – making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir continuously until the butter and chocolate have melted to make a smooth liquid. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool slightly.
Then to a large bowl add the whole egg and egg yolks, the caster sugar and a pinch of Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes. Then whisk this together until pale and fluffy. Then pour in the cooled melted chocolate and butter, along with the flour and fold in carefully.
Pour the mixture into the prepared moulds leaving a 2cm gap at the top. Place the moulds onto the preheated tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the tops and edges are set.
Remove from the oven and allow them to sit for 30 seconds. Then place a plate on top, flip it over and carefully invert the fondant. Serve immediately with some extra cocoa powder dusted on top, a sprinkle of Maldon Original Sea Salt flakes and some vanilla ice cream.