Beef Wellington
Beef Wellington recipe
Beef Wellington is a dramatic and delicious beef dish, fit for a Duke! The dish is named for the Duke of Wellington, British victor at the Battle of Waterloo. It's a rich mix of beef tenderloin and Duxelle (a mushroom-onion-pâté coating), all wrapped in puff pastry. Yumm!
Duxelle (mushroom, onion, pâté mixture):
600-700g (1 1/2 lbs) button mushrooms very finely chopped (aka brunoise cut)
2 shallots very finely chopped (aka brunoise cut)
4 cloves garlic minced
2 sprigs Thyme finely chopped
400g (0.9 lb) liver pâté
neutral oil as needed
butter as needed
Madeira or Marsala to taste
Brandy to taste
Beef, pastry:
1.4kg (3 lbs) center cut beef tenderloin, cut in half for easier handling of each piece
about 12 sheets of prosciutto
3 sheets puff pastry (roughly 23cm x 23cm or 9" x 9")
egg wash (1 egg with equal volume of water)
Beef searing, Duxelle steps:
1. coat a sautoir or frying pan with oil and warm on high heat.
2. sear all sides of the beef to seal in the juices and then set aside to cool.
3. turn down the heat to medium and add butter to the searing pan.
4. add the shallots and garlic and soften.
5. stir in the mushrooms and soften.
6. sprinkle in the Thyme, and splash in Brandy and Madeira or Marsala.
7. blend in the pâté.
8. set aside to cool.
Wellington assembly and cooking steps:
1. preheat oven to 400°F. You can vary the temperature up or down 25°F adjusting the cooking time up or down, depending on the temperature.
2. cover the cooled tenderloins with prosciutto. This aids in keeping the beef juices from leaking onto the pastry.
3. cut one pastry sheet in half and join one half to each of the other two pastry sheets, using water as a "glue". The idea is to make a pastry sheet large enough to cover with Duxelle and then encase the beef tenderloin completely. I usually measure the circumference of the beef tenderloin to make sure that the pastry will be wide enough to completely encase the beef.
4. spoon the Duxelle onto the pastry leaving about 2.5cm (1") borders.
5. brush the borders with egg wash.
6. place the prosciutto-covered beef in the middle of the Duxelle-covered pastry and fold the pastry over the beef, tucking in the ends. Turn over the seam to the bottom. The result should look like a pastry log.
8. brush the pastry with egg wash. This should give the Wellington a golden brown color when it is finished cooking.
9. optionally, cut a pattern into the pastry or add puff pastry stars or other patterns for decoration.
10. cook for 30-40 minutes, testing with a thermometer until the desired beef temperature is achieved.
11. let the Wellingtons rest 8-10 minutes after being taken out of the oven and then slice and serve.