Beef Wellington’s With No Yelling Involved

We have been wanting to make Beef Wellingtons for a while. Being rather big fans of Hell’s Kitchen and seeing them served nearly every week (for the past few seasons, they have been making lamb wellingtons, not beef) and laughing at Chef Ramsey’s disdain with his troops while he screams at them “The Wellington! Where’s the, curse word, curse word, Wellington!” Only to find out they are “RAW!!! RAWWW!!!”  It totally cracks us up. And makes us want to try and make them ourselves! They really can’t be that difficult, can they?

Our version is really simple. It doesn’t include ham or mustard like Chef Ramey’s Wellington but it is very flavorful and delicious. And really, very easy to make for even a weeknight dinner.

 

Ingredients

1 lb beef tenderloin cut into two 8oz. steaks

4 tbs vegetable oil

1 medium shallot, chopped very fine

1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped very fine

2 sprigs of thyme leaves, chopped fine

2 ounces liver pate

2 tbs butter, softened

salt and pepper to taste

1 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

¼ cup red wine

1 tbs flour

1  tbs butter

Method

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat 2 tbs of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over high heat.  Season the beef with salt and pepper and sear until browned on all sides. Remove from pan to a plate and allow to cool completely. Reserve pan juices.

In a large sauté pan over medium heat add the remaining 2 tbs vegetable oil. When hot, add the onion and mushrooms stirring for 5-7 minutes until soft and all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, add the thyme leaves, salt and pepper and let cool.

Mix together pate and 2 tablespoons softened butter.  Set aside.

Roll out the puff pastry dough into a square large enough to fold around the meat into little packages.

Spread a thin layer of the mushroom mixture in the middle of the dough as a landing spot for your beef.

Place a piece of beef in the center on top of the mushrooms. Spread a layer of pate (about 1 ounce) over the beef and cover with additional mushrooms.

Brush the edges of the dough with the egg yolk.

Fold the dough around the beef like a package and seal all the edges, making sure the seams are not too thick.

Place the beef on a baking tray, seam side down and cut a few slits in the top of the dough for venting. Brush the entire package with the egg yolk.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 425 degrees F and cook for another  10 to 15 more minutes, or until pastry is a rich, golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to rest on a plate before slicing.

Place all reserved juices in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir in beef stock and red wine; boil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly reduced. Wisk in the flour and softened butter to thicken the sauce and continue cooking until desired consistency.

Spoon some sauce onto the bottom of the plate. Slice the wellingtons in half. Place each half on the plate surrounding the sauce and serve with a vibrant vegetable such as roasted asparagus.  The moment of truth!

PERFECTION!  Crispy on the outside and pink and juicy in the inside, just how we like it! Ok, the sauce could have been plated differently, since it seems that the Wellington’s juice and the sauce combined, but it tasted amazing!  The meat was soft and buttery while the pate and mushrooms were rich and earthy. And it was all enrobed in a crispy, crunchy crust!

 

This dish, when paired with a nice bottle of Pinot Noir makes a great Fall dinner.  It’s rich and hearty and just feels luxurious. The earthiness of the Pinot Noir with it’s own mushroom and truffle notes, works beautifully in tandem to create even higher levels of complexity with the liver pate and the mushroom coated beef.  This meal will make your stomach happy!

Enjoy!