Beef Wellington (done right) does have a lot of steps and can seem daunting, but one of the great things about is that you can do most of it in advance by a day or two. This leaves you to just assemble it with the Puff Pastry on the day of service. And while there are several steps, if you take it one at a time it is really not very difficult. You will see a few places where we have put our own spin on things, like just using butter in place of the foie gras--saving the expense and trouble of finding it. (and DH thinks it is gross to even look at!)
The recipe is our adaptation by putting together a few things from Volumes 1 and 2 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs.
Okay, this is the first time that I have tried to do this with this MasterCook Program so lets see if this works:
* Exported from MasterCook *
Beef Wellington
Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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Duxelles
1 pound fresh mushrooms
heavy bottomed 8 in frying pan
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup minced shallots or scallions
1/3 cup finely minced mild cured ready cooked ham
1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup dry Madeira
1/3 cup block foie gras, liver paste or very finely minced cooked ham fat (we use 1 Tb Butter)
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
salt and pepper
Stuffing and Tying the Beef
2 1/2 lb or more beef tenderloin, 8-10 inches long as even as possible in diameter
double thickness of well washed damp cheesecloth, large enough to envelop beef
Roasting the Beef
beef tenderloin, sliced, stuffed, wrapped and tied
cooking oil
1/2 cup dry port wine or Madeira
shallow roasting pan
Wrapping the Beef
cooled to room temperature preroasted beef
Puff Pastry Sheets (thawed)
flour
cooking oil
jelly roll pan or pizza tray with raised edges
egg glaze (1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water in a small bowl)
Meat Thermometer
Brown Stock
2 cups canned beef bouillon *we use beef broth, double rich, double strength, no water added*
3 Tablespoons onions -- finely minced
3 Tablespoons carrots -- finely minced
1 Tablespoon celery -- finely minced
1/2 cup red wine, dry white wine, or dry white vermouth
2 parsley sprigs
1/3 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon thyme
Brown Sauce
2 Tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot
2 cups Brown Stock
*Optional: 1/4 cup Madeira, port or cognac
Duxelles, Stuffing and Tying the Beef, Preparing the Beef, Brown Stock and Brown Sauce can all be done a day ahead or the morning that you plan to serve
Duxelles Stuffing
Trim and wash Mushrooms. Cut into 1/16 inch dice. Twist a handful at a time in the corner of a towel to extract as much juice as possible. Heat butter to foaming in frying pan, stir in mushrooms, shallots and ham. Saute over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until mushrooms pieces begin to separate and start to brown lightly (5 minutes or so). Sprinkle in the flour and stir over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, blend in the wine, and stir again over heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat, beat in foie gras, the egg yolk, tarragon and salt and pepper to tasted. Set aside.
Stuffing and Tying the Beef
With a very sharp knife cut the meat into 16 even slices, each about 1/2 inch thick, setting them aside in the order that you cut them. Lay cheesecloth on a tray (cutting board or cookie sheet) and paint with cooking oil. Salt and Pepper each beef slice , spread with 1 1/2 Tablespoon of Duxelles and reform the roast arranging the slices against each other on the cheesecloth. Tie one loop of string around the length of the reformed roast to hold the slices against each other., then stretch the cheesecloth tightly over the meat to enclose it. Twist each end of the cheesecloth closely against each end of the meat; tie securely with string. Then twist a tight spiral of string around the circumference from one end to the other and back again, so that the meat will keep its shape. It will look like a fat sausage about 12 inches long and 4 inches in diameter. AHEAD OF TIME NOTE: When stuffed, tied, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated a day before roasting it will pick up added flavor.
Preparing the Beef
Make the brown sauce base and refrigerate. Prepare the stuffed filet as described, baste well with fat or oil and place in roasting pan. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and set rack in upper third level. roast the beef for 25 minutes, basting and turning it several times. Transfer beef to a platter or tray (reserve roasting pan) and let meat cool to room temperature. If you are preroasting a day ahead, cover and refrigerate the meat after it has cooled, but set at room temperature for 2 hours before final baking. Spoon fat out of roasting pan, pour in wine and boil down by half, scraping and any roasting juices with a wooden spoon; scrape liquid into the sauce base.
Wrapping and Baking (Before Serving)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and slide rack onto lower middle level. Set out all the equipment and ingredients you will need (heavy shears/scissors, rolling pin, ravioli wheel, small knife, pastry brush, oiled jelly roll pan) Cut wrapping and string from beef. Work rapidly from now on so that the dough softens as little as possible. Roll one sheet into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick and the length and width of the beef. Roll it up on the rolling pin and unroll it onto the oiled pan. Carefully place the beef on the rectangle of dough. Trim off excess dough from around the beef. Roll another sheet into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick and large enough to enclose beef. Roll it up on the rolling pin and unroll it over the beef. Trim off any excess dough and reserve for decorations. Tuck the covering dough against the bottom rectangle of dough and under bottom of meat, sealing edges with your fingers. Paint dough covering with egg glaze, wait a moment and paint with a second coat. Add decorations at this point. See notes
Bake in the lower middle level of preheated 425 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until pastry has browned nicely. Lower thermostat to 350 degrees for the rest of the baking and cover crust loosely with a sheet of foil if it seems to be browning too much. Indications that the meat is done are that you can begin to smell the beef and the stuffing, and that juices begin to escape into the pan; meat thermometer reading for rare beef is 125 degrees. When beef is done, remove from oven and slide onto platter or board. Beef will stay warm for 20 minutes. Cut carefully through the top into serving portions (1-2 slices of beef per person with stuffing and top and bottom crust). Spoon Sauce on on to the plate.
Brown Stock
Simmer the canned bouillon with the rest of the ingredients listed for 20-30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve and the bouillon is ready to be turned into a sauce.
Brown Sauce
Blend the Cornstarch or Arrowroot with 2 Tablespoons of cold stock, then beat in the rest of the stock. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce has cleared and is lightly thickened. Adjust seasoning. Add optional wine or cognac and simmer for 2-3 minutes, tasting, until the alcohol has evaporated. Sauce may be set aside and reheated when needed.
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NOTES : So that any decorations on the crust will show after baking, they must be either deep cuts with rassed edges or dough paste ons. For instance, you may wish to lay on strips of leftover dough in a design, and paint with egg glaze. Decorate blank spaces by cutting into surface of dough with scissors, a knife,k or the metal end of a pastry tube, making definite edges that stick up. Cuts are made after glazing so that the cut portion of the dough will rmeain pale, accenting the design when dough is baked. Immediately the decorations are complete set beef in oven. The object here is to make sure the dough remains a crust.
