Special Occasions Recipes - Steak en Croute Recipe

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 40 g/1 1/2 oz butter

• 1 tablespoon oil

• 2 small onions, finely chopped

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 125 g/4 oz mushrooms, finely chopped

• pinch of ground nutmeg

• 4 fillet steaks, trimmed

• 250 g/8 oz Flaky Pastry or frozen puff pastry, defrosted

• 1 egg, beaten

• 4 slices of ham

• salt and pepper

• chervil or parsley sprigs, to garnish

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Method:

1. Heat two-thirds of the butter and the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onions and garlic until soft.

2. Add the mushrooms, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste and stir over a gentle heat until the mushrooms are cooked and the moisture has evaporated. Remove from the pan, divide into 8 portions and leave to cool.

3. Heat the remaining butter in a clean frying pan, add the steaks and sear quickly on both sides. Remove from the pan, cool quickly and keep chilled until required.

4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 8 rounds slightly larger than the steaks. Brush a 2.5 cm/1 inch border around the edge of each pastry round with beaten egg.

5. Cut the ham into 8 rounds the same size as the steaks. Place one piece of ham on each of 4 pastry rounds. Cover the ham with a portion of the mushroom mixture, a fillet steak, another portion of mushrooms and another round of ham.

6. Top with a pastry circle. Press the edges of the two pastry rounds between your fingers to make neat parcels and then seal with a fork. Cut any pastry trimmings into leaves and use to decorate the croutes.

7. Brush with beaten egg and cook in a preheated oven, 220°C (425°F), Gas Mark 7, for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve with chervil or parsley sprigs.