Beef Wellington with Roasted Vegetables

For the first time in a while, I got really inspired about cooking something last week. I had visited my folks and been sent home with a bag of fresh purple beans (I'd never heard of them before then!), capsicum and the courgette chutney I had bottled while I was with them (Mum had already made the chutney, but had to go out so left me to bottle it in their absence).

During the day I found a couple of recipes specifically mentioning Purple Beans, although the tomato and purple bean mix didn't inspire me in the slightest. The roasted purple beans however (and I must find the original inspiration) were certainly of interest!

So starting there, I planned the rest of the meal and settled on making Beef Wellington for the first time ever. I hate to admit that I didn't consult a recipe. The only bit of help I got was to phone Mum on the way home (what would we do without our Mums?!) to check what sort of pastry I needed.

Below is the, if I do say so myself, delicious and gorgeous result! I concede I undercooked the pastry slightly, but it didn't detract from the flavour. And yes, it is VERY blue, but it was a beautiful piece of eye-fillet and so melt-in-your-mouth tender that it wasn't a problem - I don't usually like my steak quite this blue, but seriously, it was delicious! (Larger photos in my flickr photostream)

And yes, I went a little crazy with the roasted veges - 7 in total! Green capsicum & purple beans from Dad's garden, a bulb of garlic, an onion, gourmet potatoes, golden kumara, pumpkin. And a drizzle of aioli on the side. Absolutely delicious!