Beef Wellington is a dish that is rated under the “top 10 hardest dishes to make”, at number 4. One of the hardest parts of this dish is cooking the meat correctly, and not over cooking it. Typically a beef wellington’s tenderloin should be at a medium rare – which is not always an easy feat to achieve. The other hard part about making this dish perfectly, is making the mushroom duxelle so that it doesn’t wind up making your puff pastry soggy during the cooking process. Well last night, I attempted to make this wellington to the best of my abilities and it actually came out pretty close to perfect. My only issue was that the bottom of the puff pastry wound up getting a little soggy, but I don’t know if that was from the mushroom duxelle or from the beef’s juices when cutting it.
Either way, the flavors were amazing – the real star of the show, was the sage! This is a great dish to experiment with if you’re in the mood to challenge yourself!
1 1/2 lbs Beef Tenderloin (tied together in butcher's twine)
11 oz Puff Pastry
Directions
Heat up a medium sized saute pan with 1 teaspoon of Olive Oil. Once hot, add in your mushrooms and onion and cook over a medium heat for about 20 minutes - stirring frequently. Add in your garlic, sage and thyme and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add in parsley, salt and pepper, and place all contents of the saute pan in a sieve to drain out all the liquid. Place the solids in a food processor and pulse about 8-10 times. Reserve.
Next in a metal saute pan, heat up enough canola oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Heat til almost smoking - season your beef tenderloin generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Sear the tenderloin on all sides until it's a nice golden brown. Remove tenderloin from the saute pan and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Once it has rested, remove the butcher's twine.
While the beef is resting, roll out your puff pastry to a large rectangle (large enough that you can wrap it around your beef tenderloin and cover it completely. Spread the mushroom mixture (duxelle) all over the puff pastry, leaving a 1.5 inch border clean. Place the tenderloin in the center of the puff pastry and carefully enclose the pastry around it. Seal the edges with your fingers by pressing it together.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the puff pastry on a silpat-lined baking sheet with the seam side down. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
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Browning the beef gives it complexity and meaty depth. Tying the tenderloin improves both the appearance of the final dish, and leads to more even cooking. Phyllo provides a moisture barrier, preventing the puff pastry from getting soggy. A double layer of plastic wrap makes it easier to wrap up the tenderloin.
Beef wellington is not an easy dish to prepare with perfection. For starters, getting the tenderloin steak right is a challenge in itself. It has to be tender on the inside but decently firm on the outside, so it doesn't get mushed inside. The pâté and the duxelles are like preparing two individual dishes themselves.
It is generally agreed that the dish was created in celebration of the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and his victory at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18 1815. The Duke was given his title after defeating Napoleon Bonaparte the year before, and not long after he became Prime Minister.
Unfortunately, beef Wellington often falls victim to soggy pastry from excess moisture. The beef Sirloin juices are one explanation, but mushroom duxelles can also cause excess liquid to soak into the crust.
As the beef cooks and juices start to run, they all end up right at the bottom of your pastry. So, what do we do? We make a moisture barrier! Before wrapping it all in pastry, add a pancake to the bottom of your Wellington to absorb some of that moisture and help the pastry cook.
How do I make the bottom of my beef Wellington crispy? Make sure you score the pastry. This will let proper airflow in and keep your pastry with the right texture.
Beef Wellington begins with a beef tenderloin, the tenderest and costliest cut of meat. The beef is wrapped in a thin layer of duxelles, which is sauteed mushrooms and onions or shallots, and in this case garlic.
Gordon Ramsay's best recipes include Beef Wellington, Coq au Vin, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Piccata, Rack of Lamb, Baked Salmon with Lemon and Dill, Shrimp Scampi, Beef and Guinness Stew, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Beef Burgundy.
The main difference between this Beef én Croute and a Beef Wellington is that this is a puff pastry parcel of fillet steak topped with pate and a Beef Wellington has no topping. In this recipe we are going to use pureed mushrooms and onions instead of pate.
Cook the mushrooms until they release all their liquid
If they retain too much of it after being cooked in the pan, it will leak out onto the pastry. This will make it soggy and interfere with the carefully made layers of the Beef Wellington, as the pastry will likely break.
You can prepare the Wellington up to 24 hours in advance at this point, but make sure you remove it from the fridge 30-40 minutes before the final bake.
Bake in 425°F oven 35 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 135°F for medium rare; 150°F for medium.
Tenderize the sirloin by pounding with a meat mallet for several minutes (we're trying to simulate a filet here). In a medium-hot pan, sear the steak on all sides, about 30 seconds per side. The steak should still be rare inside at this point. Refrigerate until ready to use again.
What's a Beef Wellington? It's a beef tenderloin (better know as "filet" outside of the US) covered in a mushroom paste (duxelles) and wrapped in puff pastry. It looks stunning, tastes amazing, and can be prepared up to the final bake the day before the event.
Bake in 425°F oven 35 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center of roast registers 135°F for medium rare; 150°F for medium.
Introduction: My name is Margart Wisoky, I am a gorgeous, shiny, successful, beautiful, adventurous, excited, pleasant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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