Beef Wellington

 

This weekend's culinary adventure, I went with a British/Scottish theme and made a classic dish: Beef Wellington.  To me, the idea of red meat, cooked rare and wrapped in dough is pretty much the idea of utopia.  The original recipe for Beef Wellington calls for a filet mignon topped with a thin layer of pate or foie gras, then wrapped in a puff pastry.  I went with another version in which I used a different but tender cut of meat, and instead of a pate filling, I made what's known as a mushroom duxelles (fancy shmancy!)  I have to say, this was a great success and is actually REALLY easy to make!  The recipe I am posting will make 4 individual Beef Wellingtons - perfect to feed 4 people.

Beef Wellington

4 beef tenderloins (about .5lbs each)

1 box of Puff Pastry

Pepper

3 tbsp. Butter (divided)

1 egg

1 tsp Thyme

1/2 lb Mushrooms (I used Porcini)

1 Shallot

1/4 cup dry Vermouth

>Season both sides of your meat with fresh cracked pepper

>In a saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter.

>Place your tenderloins in the melted butter and just lightly cook each side (a few minutes) just to brown the outside.

>Once the outsides are browned somewhat evenly, remove from saute pan, place on plate, cover and set in refridgerator until the meat has completely cooled.   (The filets are deliberately undercooked and then chilled to prevent them from overcooking in the final step. They should come out of the oven medium rare after the final baking.)

>While the meat is cooling, it's time to make your mushroom duxelles (I just love saying that!) You will need your mushrooms, 2 tbsp Butter (divided), 1 tsp thyme, 1 shallot and 1/4 cup of Dry Vermouth.

>Chop up your mushrooms nice and small.

 > Dice up your Shallot.

 > In a saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of your butter.  Once melted add in your mushrooms and your shallot.

 >Cook down until the shallots are translucent and your mushrooms are a light brown color.

> Once they're cooked down, add your Thyme, the last 1 tablespoon of Butter and your 1/4 cup of Dry Vermouth.

>Cook this down until the alcohol is completely evaporated.  Once it's all evaporated, take off heat and set aside.

> Now it's time to assemble! Take out your puff pastry from the freezer about an hour before you're about to use it so that it has time to completely thaw and become pliable.

 > Each box of puff pastry comes with two large squares of dough.  Cut each square in half laterally so as to make 4 rectangles.

>Add a layer in the center of your dough of your mushroom duxelles.

> Place your beef on top.  With a little bit of water, use your fingers to wet the edges of the dough (this will help the dough stick together when assembling).

>Now wrap each side over the meat, pressing the edges together to seal up the meat in a pocket of dough.

> Whisk one egg to make an egg wash - bush the tops of each Beef Wellington with egg.  This will help the top form a nice crust and become golden brown.

> On a greased cookie sheet - bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (or until your dough is a golden brown -- my oven just happens to cook fast, so you may need to cook yours for longer than 20 minutes).

And now you've got an amazing English dinner that looks and tastes extremely impressive!

 YUM!!!