The cut: tenderloin
The dish: Beef Wellington
Feature continues
Beef Wellington is a dish most people encounter either at restaurants or in ready-meal form. It has a reputation for being complicated to make, though in fact it’s no more fiddly than something like fish pie and uses far fewer utensils. It’s essentially beef coated in duxelles (a mushroom paste) and sometimes pâté, wrapped in puff pastry and then baked. Before Waterloo in 1815 it was known by its French name, filet de boeuf en croûte, but was retitled to celebrate the triumph over Napoleon of the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley. Then it became a staple of ’60s dinner parties.
There are loads of Beef Wellington recipes out there. I opt for Gordon Ramsay’s from www.bbcgoodfood.com, which substitutes prosciutto for pâté to delicious effect, and of which a crude précis follows. John O’Connell
How to cook it
Flash-roast 1kg of beef for 15 minutes at 220C, then chill in the fridge while you make the duxelles (chopped chestnut mushrooms, butter, thyme, white wine). Lie 12 slices of prosciutto across two overlapping pieces of cling film; spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto; sit the fillet on top; and spread the remaining duxelles over the exposed meat. Taking hold of the edges of the cling film, draw the prosciutto around the fillet. Chill in the fridge.
Roll out some ready-made puff pastry – a small strip of around 18x30cm and a larger one of 28x36cm. Sit the fillet in the centre of the smaller strip (brushing the edge of the pastry, and the top and sides of the fillet with beaten egg yolk), then drape the larger strip over the top, pressing well into the sides. Glaze all over with the egg yolk.
Chill your Beef Wellington for at least 30 minutes, or for up to 24 hours. Cook it for 20-25 minutes at 200C.
We bought and butchered our longhorn, Del Boy, from Ginger Pig. For information about Borut’s butchery classes see thegingerpig.co.uk. See timeout.com/cow for previous recipes.
3 comments
"Not the triumph I’d hoped for", eh? Well, that would be because you botched the prep, and then bottled the long, slow cooking.
where do i find the Fillet Steak on the animal, Please
I originally thought this article was going to be grossly barbaric however now having fully read the content I love the way your team gave description and fact. It makes me want to read more where I once would have cringed. Thank you Time Out !