Start with a whole beef tenderloin. I always buy mine from a wholesale club like Sam's. It's cheaper than a grocery store and they'll even trim it up for you. Personally, I like buying mine untrimmed so I can use my prized fillet knife.
A whole tenderloin is usually about 6 lbs and can make two beef wellingtons or save the smaller half to cut into filet mignon steaks. I always end up making beef wellington for special occasions with over 7 people so I've always made two at a time.
Before preparing the meat, pull out the puff pastry so it will be easier to work with by the time you need to use it. Then, start making the duxelles so they have plenty of time to cook and cool. Take 1 cup of white button mushrooms, 2 cups of cremini mushrooms, a 1/2 cup of rehydrated porcini mushrooms, and about 6 garlic cloves and put them all into a big food processor. Once they're all blended into a paste, put them on the hot dry pan to cook off all the moisture. I like to add lots of fresh thyme, salt, and pepper. Once most of the moisture has been cooked off, set the mixture aside on a plate to cool.
Now for the tenderloin. In my experience, the tenderloin comes to room temperature during the trimming process and while you're preparing the duxelles so there's no need to let them sit out. Prepare an oiled pan (break out the cast iron for this one) on very high heat. Season the tenderloins with coarse salt and fresh black pepper and put them in the pan to brown on all sides (no more than 1 minute per side).
Once the tenderloins are browned, pull them out and brush them all over with English mustard while the meat is still hot. I've tried this with Dijon and even a horseradish sauce but I think English mustard definitely adds the best flavor. Let the meat rest.
This next step can be very frustrating if you've ever had a hard time with plastic wrap (and who hasn't?). It helps to use the 2 ft wide commercial plastic wrap. Get a nice long piece onto a cutting board but don't trim it from the roll as you may need more during the rolling process.
In order to keep the juices from the meat from leaking out and making the puff pastry soggy, you need to have a perfectly sealed layer of Parma ham around the tenderloin. Parma ham is delicate and will rip very easily. The easiest way to layer it on the plastic wrap is to place the slice of ham with it's protective backing directly onto the plastic and then peel the backing away. You want the Parma ham to lay lengthwise in twos with about 2 inches of overlap. It only needs to be wide and long enough to roll around the meat. Sprinkle some pepper over the ham.
Next, spread a thin layer of the duxelles, no more than 1/4 inch, onto the Parma ham. Now we're ready for the meat! Center the tenderloin onto the duxelles-covered ham and roll it up, squeezing tightly. I recommend watching lots of videos on this part because it's the most difficult and I'm terrible at explaining things. Let the rolled meat sit in the refrigerator for ~30 minutes to firm up.
Put down more plastic wrap and roll out the puff pastry. It should be wide and long enough to roll the meat in. With the same technique as before, center the meat on the pastry and roll it, squeezing tightly. Grip the ends and keep rolling until it looks like a really thick salami. Put it in the fridge to firm up for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. The first time I made this, the bottom of my wellington was soggy partially due to my poor wrapping skills and the puff pastry on the bottom being too thawed. The second time, I found that preheating the baking sheet is the perfect remedy! The puff pastry on the bottom will immediately start to cook when you put it on the baking sheet so there's no need to worry about a soggy bottom. Brush the beef wellington with egg yolk and bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp.
Once it's out of the oven, let it rest uncovered for 15 minutes or so (if you cover it, the pastry will get soggy). Then, start slicing away!
Recipe for one beef wellington, serves 4:
1 cup white button mushrooms
2 cups cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
6 garlic cloves
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 lbs beef tenderloin
1/2 cup English mustard
1 lbs Parma ham
2 sheets puff pastry
1 egg yolk
Submitted May 23, 2017 at 08:24PM by yourmomsaidso http://ift.tt/2rwQdHt Cooking
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