Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington

Finally, I got around to making Beef Wellington. The reason I'm writing this in January is mildly amusing. There was stiff resistance against me making it for Christmas. It was seen by the powers that be as too ambitious or even too egotistical a dish. It was discarded in favor of something more social, and that turned out to be a Korean Hot Pot.

So here's the plan. If you're paranoid or unfamiliar with your puff pastry, test yours to know how long it takes to turn golden brown. That's the key, because essentially the pastry takes longer than the filet. Your aim is a pastry that browns early and allows your filet to be tender and pink.

For four people, take 800 grams (2 x 400g) of unmarbled filet, tie it with kitchen twine into a cylinder, and refrigerate for two hours. Next, make the classic French standard preparation, the Duxelles de Champignons, which you then let cool. (Escoffier, Le Guide Culinaire, page 105).

Season the filet generously with salt and pepper and sear it fiercely on all sides. Let it cool with the kitchen twine still on, then place it into the refrigerator.

Place a beeswax cloth on your work surface and spread a single layer of phyllo dough the width of your filet, long enough to roll the filet three times. Remove the kitchen twine. Spread mustard on the filet. Lay overlapping strips of prosciutto on the phyllo dough, sized to your filet, and spread the Duxelles on the prosciutto. Roll the filet into the phyllo dough, the Duxelles, and the prosciutto, but only turn it once and a half. Cut off the excess phyllo dough. For orientation, the side where the phyllo dough is doubled is now the bottom of the Wellington. Then wrap the whole thing tightly in the wax cloth. Tie it again with kitchen twine and chill it again.

Tying it with kitchen twine while cooling serves to hold the filet into a cylinder. The phyllo serves two purposes. First, it prevents the juices of the Duxelles and the melting prosciutto fat from soaking into the dough. Second, it serves as a base for weaving the puff pastry.

Place a sheet of puff pastry on the work surface. Cut the upper corners diagonally. Keep the middle section as wide as the filet roll and cut on both sides of the puff pastry at a 45° angle upwards. Take your fillet rolled in phyllo dough out of the wax cloth and place it upside down on the puff pastry. Press the dough firmly from top to bottom. Then fold the upper right strip of dough down and across the roll, then the left strip across it. Repeat this process from top to bottom. Cut off the remaining dough. Brush the Wellington with egg. Wrap it loosely and put it back in the refrigerator.

After cooling, unwrap the Wellington from the wax cloth, brush it again with egg. Pour yourself a glass of wine and have someone draw diagonal lines on the braids with a toothpick, creating a herringbone pattern. Sprinkle sea salt flakes over it and bake it in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes. Let your Wellington rest covered for 10 minutes and serve it on warmed plates.

Ingredients and method:

Duxelles

Soak 100g of dried porcini mushrooms in Madeira*. Finely chop and cook the following ingredients in butter:

500g long pink Jersey shallots,thyme, flat-leaf parsley, black Malabar pepper, 300g mixed fresh mushrooms, portobello, chanterelles plus the porcini mushrooms

*if it gets too dry, add a splash of Madeira

Beef Wellington:

1 sheet thin phyllo dough
1 roll (250g) puff pastry
800g unmarbled whole fillet seasoned with salt and pepper
Kitchen twine and beeswax cloth ††
8 thin slices of finest prosciutto, Jambon de Bigorre AOP or Jambon de Kintoa AOP, if you can find it
Strong English mustard, sea salt flakes

Sauce:

Sear lamb trimmings and deglaze with Armagnac. Sweat shallots, thyme, and bay leaves in butter, add meat pieces, red wine, and stock, reduce, strain, and mount with butter.

Braided puff pastry:

imgsrc="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0462/1759/2994/files/un_braided_puff_480x480.jpg

If you've made it this far, you might want to give this dough pattern a name. "Chevron" would be obvious, like the grille of a sinister Citroën roadster in a Hitchcock film.

Wine recommendations. Aside from the open wine in the kitchen, the question arises, what wine do you serve your guests? I recommend the La Grande Serène Ventoux AOC from Luc Guénard at Château Valcombe. It is said to be a rare Syrah clone from Côte-Rôtie.

††
If beeswax cloth seems like too much effort, or if you don’t want to come across as some kind of overzealous eco-warrior, then you can also use parchment and then wrap the Wellington in sturdy linen. The important thing is not to use plastic wrap, which, everybody knows, is bad for the environment.

https://www.nmeplastic.com/themanual