My First Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington baked to perfection. 

Over the holidays I decided to make my first Beef Wellington, and it was super delicious (eat your heart out Gordon Ramsay).  Laura and Anthony are always happy to be my tasters, and since Anthony lived in Britain for many years I thought the dish would be appropriate for their British inspired Christmas dinner.  Anyway they would be very forgiving if the dish didn't turn out well. 

I found a recipe online and proceeded to gather all the ingredients that I would need.  Aldi's was having a special on their beef tenderloin so I headed over there and bought a 2 lb. cut.  The most difficult thing about the whole recipe was preparing the beef.  I had to remove the chain (a piece of meat down the side of the tenderloin) and all the connective tissue.  The task would have been easier if I had had a proper sharp knife.  (Reminder to me:  buy a good boning knife.)

After removing the chain, fat and connective tissue. 

Searing in a cast iron pan. 

Seared on all sides. 

I seared the tenderloin in peanut oil until all sides were sealed. 

After searing, I wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to assemble.

I made the duxelle by finely chopping mushrooms and a shallot in my food processor and then heating until all the moisture was removed.  You end up with a semi-dry paste. 

On several layers of plastic wrap place slices of Prosciutto to form a square and then in the middle of the Prosciutto place a layer of the mushroom duxelle.

Now it's time to add the chilled tenderloin that has been coated with mustard. 

After rolling up the tenderloin, I tightly wrapped it in the plastic wrap and refrigerated. (I did this the day before I planned to cook it. ) 

I did not make my own Puff Pastry, but the bought one worked just as well.  I removed the wrapped tenderloin from the fridge and after rolling out the Puff Pastry to a size that would just accommodate the tenderloin, I unrolled the meat from the plastic wrap and onto the pastry. 

Ready to bake. 

After enclosing the beef completely in the pastry, I made a few slices in the top to let the steam escape when cooking. 

We all preferred medium, so I cooked it the specified time according to the recipe. 

After resting for 4 or 5 minutes it was ready to slice. 

Anthony did the slicing.  Perfect!

It came out beautifully brown with a crusty pastry (not soggy.) 

It sliced beautifully and it adorned the plate perfectly with a side of lemony green beans. 

I won't have any hesitation about preparing Beef Wellington again.  It really is quite easy and oh so delicious.