See Also: Beef Dishes · Cooking Club · Main Dishes · Meat Dishes
Beef Wellington
From Dorothy McNett's Recipe Book at www.dorothymcnett.com.
1-2 sheets puff pastry (Defour brand is fabulous, or make your own)
Filet Mignon roast, 1-2 pounds
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/4 cup finely diced onions
8-10 fresh mushrooms, finely diced (crimini, porcini, white button...)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice
3-4 oz. smooth liver pate, or sun-dried tomato pate
1 egg, well beaten
Remove pastry from freezer and allow to thaw completely. This can be done in the refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature 2-3 hours. Trim filet if necessary, to expose the long tenderloin. Save trimmings for something else. Heat butter or oil in skillet, brown meat for about 5 minutes to sear. Set aside to cool. In same pan, cook the onions and mushrooms until they evaporate most of the liquids, adding salt, pepper, and allspice as needed. Cool. Stir the mushroom mixture into the pate. On a piece of parchment or plastic wrap place the cooled meat. Now spread and pack the pate mixture over the roast. Roll it up into the parchment or plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to cool for at least 1 hour or more. This can be done the day before, if necessary. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Remove the roast from the wrapping and place on the pastry. (You may need the second sheet of pastry, just pinch the seams together.) Using the egg yolk as a sealer, bring the pastry up and over the roast, trimming the pastry as needed. Place it with the seam side down in cookie sheet with sides, or shallow roasting pan, making sure the seam is pinched together very well. Brush the whole surface with the egg yolk, and make leaf shaped cutouts of the scraps and arrange over the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until nicely browned and the meat registers around 135-140 degrees on an instant read thermometer, inserted very carefully through the crust and into the meat. Allow to stand about 10 minutes, then slice and serve. This is supposed to look like The Duke of Wellington's boots in the 1800's somewhere in England..............(bet you did not really want to know that!)
Recipe created 2000-08-22.
