Beef Wellington

A couple of Fridays ago, I got it into my head that I was going to make Beef Wellington.  I didn't really know what Beef Wellington was, but I did know that it had beef in it...and pastry.  So, with fellow foodie Alexander at my side, we made two stops--one to the local grocery where I do all of my shopping, and one to Whole Foods for a beautiful cut of 3.5 lbs of beef tenderloin. What ensued was a a brilliantly flavorful--ableit pricey--dinner of the sweetest, tenderest beef I have ever had with a flaky, light pastry casing.  But before these two essential ingredients come together, you must smother it with a mushroom puree and Dijon mustard, then wrap it in ham and finally, wrap it puff pastry.  The final baked item is juicy, richly flavorful, and clearly delicious.




Beef Wellington
This recipes comes--as usual--by way of Elise Bauer over at Simply Recipes (you can find it here).  Elise's recipe calls for 1lb beef tenderloin whereas the one below calls for 3.5 lbs.  I highly suggest making this dish on a smaller scale the first time you make it--one, so that you don't sabotage a fantastic roast with dreams of grandiosity, and two, because this tenderloin is...well...very pricey. 

Ingredients:
* 3.5 lbs. beef tenderloin
* 2 sheets pre-made puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm has a FANTASTIC box of 2 puff pastry available in your local grocer's freezer section)
* salt and pepper
* Olive oil
* 2.5 lbs. bella mushrooms
* 10-14 slices ham
* 6-8 tablespoons djon mustard
* 2 egg yolks, beaten

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
*Meat Thermometer

1.) Preheat oven to 400F.

2.) Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and season your filet with salt and pepper to taste (or "generously" as Elise suggests).  Then, sear fillet on all sides in saucepan until browned.  Elise suggests to NOT move the fillet until it has had time to brown on one side.  Remove from pan and allow to cool and chop mushrooms.

3.) Puree chopped mushrooms in a food processor or heavy duty blender.  Heat saucepan on medium-high heat.  Scrape down food processor's pureed mushrooms into saucepan and cook until mushrooms have not only released their moisture/juices, but also cooked away.  Once the moisture has cooked away from the mushrooms, remove pan from heat and allow to cool.

4.) Prepare the first stage of the Beef Wellington wrap.  Layout a large sheet of plastic wrap and cover with ham so that your slices overlap.  Spread mushroom over the ham slices and beef fillet on top of these two layers.  Pause to spread djon mustard fully over the entire fillet.  Then, roll the ham and mushrooms over the fillet and use the plastic wrap layer to tightly seal your rolled ham-mushroom-fillet bundle.  Ensure that your plastic wrap is tight by using rubber bands to secure the ends, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Remove puff pastries from the freezer/fridge and allow to defrost for these 20-30 minutes.

5.) On a clean surface, spread open your two sheets of puff pastry in a surface that is large enough to cover your fillet.  If you're cooking a 1 lb fillet, you may only need one sheet of pastry.  However, if you're making 3.5 lbs (like this recipe), you'll need to lay out both sides of pastry side by side and combine the two at their edges.

6.) Unwrap beef fillet and place in the center of your pastry dough.  Beat 2 eggs and use a silicone brush to brush all around the edges of the pastry dough with this egg mixture.  Fold pastry around the beef fillet and cut off excess pastry.  NOTE: Elise notes that pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all of the way and remain doughy.  Thus, don't go crazy on the pastry here; one layer is enough.

7.) Place on baking sheet and flip pastry covered fillet to SEAM SIDE DOWN.  Brush the top layer with your egg mixture and score incisions into the top of the pastry dough, but do not go all the way through the pastry.

8.) Bake for 25-35 minutes.  Pastry should be golden brown when removed from oven and meat temperature (yes, you should invest in a meat thermometer!) should be 125-130F for medium-rare.

9.) Remove from oven and allow roast to rest for 10 minutes.  Cut into 1 inch slices (I prefer on a diagonal) and enjoy!

Subscribe to Clearly Delicious by Email

Meatloaf

Tonight, I'm making my friend Joe's favorite food--MEATLOAF. Joe has spent the entire day "playing army" whilst doing a field training exercise known as "FTX" in the rain and chilly weather. Needless to say, when Joe told me he was coming back, I thought, "What better comfort food is there to serve a hard working army man?" After much meditation, I heard the gods say, "MEATLOAF."

So, here is the best recipe for the best meatloaf I've ever made. I've tried tons--many from the Food Network (of which cooks, I won't mention here) and many that have been given to me from family and friends. Thus, when I came across the below entry, I was intrigued--spicy pork sausage and ground chuck versus regular old 3 pounds of beef? FASCINATING! This combination is both flavorful and not too far from your original beef-based meatloaf recipe.

For tonight's recipe, I have used 1.5 pounds of spicy turkey meat (of which you can substitute spicy pork), and 3/4 of a pound of ground chuck.

Finally, the original recipe calls for 1/3 cup of fresh chopped parsley. Unfortunately, I always forget to buy this item when making meatloaf. Fortunately, the output is still flavorful and delicious. Thanks again, as always to Elise Bauer and her meatloaf recipe on Simply Recipes. Have I mentioned that I'm possibly Elise's biggest fan?

Also, two very useful notes from my friend Joe: one, when we were sauteing the vegetables, Joe asked if we had put any butter in our vegetables.  Actually, I had.  The recipe below calls for 2 tablespoons of butter when sauteing the vegetables, but after 5-7 minutes, the vegetables needed more lubrication and were starting to blacken, not brown (this occurred possibly because I was using a gas stove, which, in all cases, is always hotter than an electric stove).  Finally, once we started combining these sauteed vegetables with the other ingredients, Joe had the brilliant idea of using a potato masher.  This addition was really useful--the mixture was consistently combined (which you will see in the photos below).

Classic Meatloaf Recipe

Elise notes that many meatloaf recipes call for ground veal or pork in addition to ground beef.  Elise continues that "You might want to experiment with a third each of beef, pork, and veal."  However, I would like to note that ground turkey is an equally good option here, so please try the above combinations with turkey.  You won't be disappointed.  Furthermore, if you don't have access to spicy ground pork or Italian sausage (which, for those of us who shop at Walmart, it is indeed hard to fine), add "a pinch of fennel seeds and a half teaspoon of hot sauce to regular ground pork."


Preparation time: 20-30 minutes to prep, 1 hour to cook (possibly 50 minutes in a gas stove)
Ingredients

* 1 cup of finely chopped onion
* 1 celery rib, chopped fine
* 1 Tbsp minced garlic (or, 5 small-medium size cloves)
* 1 carrot, chopped fine
* 1/2 cup of finely chopped scallions (can substitute onion)
* 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (you may need more when using the butter to saute the vegetables)
* 2 teaspoon salt (use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using Italian sausage)
* 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
* 2 tsp Worscestershire sauce
* 2/3 cup ketchup
* 1 1/2 pounds of ground chuck
* 3/4 pound of spicy ground pork sausage or Italian sausage (a mix of sweet and hot if you are using links); again, ground turkey, or regular pork sausage works well here (just add the above spices to get the same effect)
* 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
* 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
* 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (optional)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2 In a large heavy skillet saute onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and scallions/onions in 2 tablespoons of butter (you may need to add more halfway through), over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Cover (or not) the skillet and stir occassionally until the carrots are tender, about 5 more minutes. Stir in salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 a cup of ketchup. Cook for 1 more minute, or until carrots are tender.


3 In a large bowl, combine the meats, eggs, vegetables, bread crumbs, and parsley using either your hand, or a potato masher. Form into a loaf and put into a rectangular baking pan with 2-inch high sides; a traditional loaf pan works well for this process. Cover the loaf with remaining ketchup & spread with a culinary brush.


4 Bake the meatloaf in the oven for 1 hour, or 50 minutes in a gas stove.

Serves 4 to 6, with plenty for leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches.