Guest Post – Beef Wellington

Happy Sunday! You probably won’t have time to make this recipe from One Hungry Dude for this week’s Sunday dinner but definitely consider it for next week! And check back with me this week for a series of DIY birthday cards!

I was looking for a special dish for New Year's Eve, and found it with Gordon Ramsay's take on Beef Wellington. My in-laws came over for the meal, and my father-in-law raved about it all night. I only made a few minor changes to the original recipe; no need to mess with a classic, I say. There was a bit of preparation and work put into the entree, but each individual step was surprisingly easy. I made a few rookie mistakes, but the results were delicious and impressive.

Ingredients
• 2 lbs Beef Fillet
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 250 g of Mushrooms
• 50 g Butter
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme
• 100 ml red wine
• 500 g puff pastry, thawed if frozen
• A little Flour , for dusting
• 2 Egg Yolks beaten with 1 Tsp water

Heat oven to 425 F. Sit the beef on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 minutes for medium-rare or 20 for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs.

Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil and the butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on medium heat, with 1 large sprig fresh thyme, for about 10 minutes stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour in the red wine and cook for about 10 minutes until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.
Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Spread half the duxelles over the beef, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over. Roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

Dust your work surface with a little flour. Roll out a third of the 500 g of puff pastry to an 18 by 30 centimetre strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remainder of the puff pastry to about 28 by 36 cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry. Beat the 2 egg yolks with the water and brush the pastry's edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to about a 4 cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours.

Heat oven to 400 F. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp (20 to 25 minutes for medium-rare, 30 for medium). Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices.