Beef Wellington

Having successfully achieved a long-term cooking goal I decided to attempt another.  I have only ever eaten Beef Wellington once.  That was about twenty-eight years ago, made by my cousin Mary.  I recall being impressed that she had attempted such a feat.  I have often thought about it but never gone any further.  Buoyed by the success of the minimum effort tartare, I decided to go for the complex and have a go at the Wellington.  The first step was to find a recipe and Eat your Books again came to the rescue.  I searched the entire EYB  collection where I located a classic beef Wellington by Sophie Grigson.  There is even a helpful video which I recommend you watch if you are planning to make this.
The recipe was for eight and I halved it.  I think any less won't work so well.  We froze the remaining portion for another occasion.  I pretty much followed the recipe as it was written.  I don't often do this but because I had no idea what I was doing, sticking to the blueprint seemed like the best approach.  It was actually very simple, especially because you could prepare so much ahead and there was no real time pressure.  I used ready-bought pastry and pate and homemade beef stock, which I always keep in the freezer.  Although the recipe suggests you do a lot of the prep the day before, I started at 11.00 a.m. on the day of eating and had no time issues.
I was very anxious about the crepes as I felt this was the part that might not work.  They were fine.  Just remember that when you are making crepes the first one out of the pan is always a dud.  Ensure you have enough mixture for one to discard - and roll up with sugar and lemon as a cook's treat.  The ones you are going to use cannot have any holes.
I followed the cooking instructions and I bought a meat thermometer.  This was invaluable as there is no way you can see or feel what is going on inside the pastry case.  In case you don't have a temperature equivalents guide - preheat the oven to 245.  Turn it straight down to 215 when you put the Wellington in and reduce to 200 after ten minutes.  My meat thermometer said 140 was rare so we went for that rather then the 135 suggested in this recipe.  It was closer to 35 minutes than 25 but watch at the end as the temperature increases quickly - 30 mins may be sufficient. Do invest in the meat thermometer if you don't already have one.  It was inexpensive and easy to use and really helpful.  I used the rest time to finish the sauce and steam the asparagus.  I just served this with asparagus and watercress, and would suggest any simple seasonal green or a salad. It all went very well but the meat did bleed a little into the crepes which were intended to prevent the pastry becoming soggy.  This meant the pastry was a little soggy at the bottom.  I did some further research and found a recipe that suggested to prevent this, substitute the crepe by a single sheet of filo pastry which may do the job better. 
I felt a meal of this splendour deserved a pudding  but I didn't want to go to any effort.  I had some cream in the fridge and syllabub came to mind.  I've never made this before either.  This time Sophie Grigson's mother, Jane, came to the rescue with a recipe called Elizabeth David's Everlasting Syllabub.  This was in Jane Grigson's English Food and apparently stems from Elizabeth David's An Omelette and a Glass of Wine, which surprisingly I don't have.  This is supposed to be started the night before but as I didn't think about it until mid-morning on the day of Wellington that didn't happen and it didn't seem to matter.  As soon as you can, steep the pared rind of a lemon in 100mls of white wine or sherry, 2 tbsp brandy and the juice of the lemon. Leave at least two hours and then strain the liquid into a bowl and dissolve 50g sugar.  Slowly pour in 300 ml cream and add a grating of nutmeg.  Beat the cream until it holds its shape and no longer.  It will curdle easily.  Spoon into serving glasses and store in a cool place but do not refrigerate.  Jane says this will keep for two days or more.  The alcohol may keep it fresh, but can you imagine leaving a delicious pudding sitting around for two days and not being tempted to eat it?  Serve with sponge fingers.  This was the perfect ending to the meal and I am now a syllabub convert.