Cook mushrooms and onion in 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Stir in pâté, crumbs and 2 tablespoons burgundy. Cover and
chill. Place beef on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer. Roast in 425° oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until thermometer registers 130° (longer if you like your meat
more well done). Remove from pan; cool. Reserve drippings. (The meat can be cooked ahead of time, even the night before.) For pastry, stir together 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening until size of small peas. Add water, 1 tablespoon
at a time, tossing with a fork until all is moistened. Form into a ball. Set aside 1/8 of the pastry for the decorative cutouts. Roll the remainder into a 15 inch by 10 inch rectangle on a
lightly floured surface. Spread half the softened butter over pastry. Fold dough crosswise into thirds. Roll the folded pastry dough into a 15 inch by 10 inch rectangle on a floured surface. Spread pâté mixture over pastry
to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Center meat atop. Overlap long sides. Brush edges with a little beaten egg; seal. Trim excess dough from ends; fold up. Brush with egg; seal. Place seam
side down on greased baking sheet. Roll reserved dough; make cutouts (leaves, flowers, etc.). Place cutouts on meat; cover and chill for 2 hours. Brush remaining egg
over pastry. Bake in 425° oven for 35 minutes or until pastry is golden. Heat reserved meat drippings with beef stock. Blend together 2 tablespoons flour and 1/4 cup cold water. Stir into hot mixture with
1/4 cup burgundy and basil. Cook and stir until thickened. Season. Serve gravy on side to ladle over sliced meat. Garnish with snipped parsley. Serves 6 to 8. The meat comes out on the rare side when done according to the recipe so cook the meat longer the first time if you prefer your meat to be more well done. You won't want to overcook the pastry so you can't do it at that stage. This is really a very impressive and delicious dish to serve. If you can find the canned pâté, it ends up being a fairly easy dish to make as well. Looks like you spent a lot of time even when you didn't. (Jana Clark) | 