DUXELLES RECIPES

Steps:

• Finely chop the mushrooms by hand, or pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until they're finely chopped, but be careful not to over-process them. Traditionally you would chop them by hand, and it will give the best texture.
• Heat a large saute pan with the oil. Heat the pan until hot and nearly smoking, then add the mushrooms and shallots, and stir to coat with the oil. Cook for a minute or two, stirring occasionally.
• Add the salt, pepper and the herbs. Continue to cook, lowering the heat to medium to prevent scorching. Cook the mixture for ten minutes, until the mushrooms have given up their water and the pan starts to look dry.
• Deglaze the pan with the sherry or wine, then cook off the liquid again until the pan is dry, stirring the pan to coat the mushrooms with the juices. From here, if you like the flavor, you can cool the duxelles and refrigerate them for a few days, or freeze right away for later. If the duxelles taste mild to you, as may happen if you're making a large batch, proceed to drying them out in the oven.
• Drying/roasting the duxelles to finish (optional)

Steps:

• Make the duxelles the day before. Fry the shallots and mushrooms gently in butter until they become pulp, about 1 hour, add more butter if the mix looks dry. Add a drop of truffle oil. Cool and chill.
• Heat the oven to 220c/fan 200/gas 7. Pat the trimmed beef fillet with crushed black pepper. Heat a frying pan with a little oil until it is very hot and sear the beef all over. Leave to cool completely. Roll the beef in the duxelles, patting and pressing it all over the beef.
• Roll out the pastry, put the beef in the centre of one half (press back any bits of duxelles that fall off) and fold the pastry over the top. Seal the edge (wet the edge a little to help it stick) and then trim off any excess. Crimp the edges and make a leaf to decorate the top with any extra pastry. Brush with beaten egg.
• Cook for 30 minutes or until the pastry is browned and crisp. If your piece of beef was very fat it may need longer. The best way to test is to neatly and carefully stick a skewer into the beef, count to three and then test it against your inner wrist. If it is cold the beef will be raw, if it is warm then the beef will be rare and if it’s hot, it’ll be cooked through. Leave to sit for half an hour before carving.