Clem's Beef Wellington

 

Beef Wellington is an English dish where fillet steak is wrapped in pastry. The "Wellington" comes from the First Duke of Wellington (the victor at the Battle of Waterloo) but the exact origins of the dish is obscure.
 

INGREDIENTS

  • Around 500 g of fillet steak (centre-cut).
     
  • 1 medium-sized onion.
     
  • 3 clove segments of garlic.
     
  • Thyme, salt and pepper.
     
  • Some butter for saute.
     
  • Puff pastry
     
  • Plain flour, egg and water for crepes.
     
  • Prosciutto slices sufficient to fully cover the fillet steak.
     
  • Plastic food wrap.

 

METHOD
 

To prepare this dish, one needs to prepare the main parts, the outer shell, and the steak.
 

The Outer Shell

  1. The duxelles

    A duxelles is a mince of mushroom which is sauteed in butter with herbs and other flavourings.
     
    • Take 300 g of mushrooms (button or a variety of your liking) and dice down to a very fine mince (like breadcrumbs).
    • Dice a medium-sized onion.
    • Saute the onions until translucent.
    • Add diced garlic (three clove segments) and saute for a few seconds.
    • Now add the mushrooms and saute both items in a pan with a good dollop of butter. Use less butter at the beginning - add more as required if the mixture is too dry. Water will exude from the mushroom and with the butter oil, a much too wet duxelles will result - aim for a relatively dry mix because too much water in this dish will make for a soggy pastry crust later.
    • Add thyme, salt and pepper to taste.
    • When the mixture is cooked to a dry but yet sticky appearance, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
       
  2. Crepes
     

    Crepes are thin pancakes.
     

    • Prepare enough batter to make two crepes to cover the fillet steak.
    • The batter will need plain flour, an egg and the requisite amount of water to make a runny batter.
    • A runny batter is easier to pour out a thin crepe on the pan.
    • Set aside the crepes when done.

 

The steak
 

What is needed is a centre-cut fillet steak. A cut from the centre makes for a uniformly thick piece of meat which should then cook evenly.
 

  • On a very hot pan, sear all the surfaces of the fillet steak.
  • Do not cook the steak - this step is just to brown the surfaces for extra flavour.
  • Set aside.

 

Assembly
 

  • On your work surface (I used an over-sized cutting board), arrange a generous bed of plastic food wrap (dimensions to more than cover/wrap the assembled steak).
  • Layer/overlap prosciutto to achieve an area which will allow the full wrapping/enclosing of the assembled steak.
  • On top of the prosciutto, deposit a layer of duxelles of a shape to cover the bottom of the steak to come (use half the quantity of duxelles).
  • Paint the seared steak with a thin coating of Hot English Mustard (or a milder mustard if preferred).
  • Place the steak on top of the duxelles.
  • Deposit the remainder of the duxelles on top of the steak.
  • With aid of the plastic wrap, bring the prosciutto round the steak/duxelles to completely enclose it.
  • Twist the ends of the plastic wrap and tighten until a nice log shape is achieved.

 


Fillet steak coated with Hot English Mustard atop prosciutto and duxelles ready for wrapping into a log
 


The top of the steak covered with duxelles


Steak wrapped in prosciutto slices and duxelles, and then tightly bound in plastic food wrap
 
  • Refrigerate the wrapped steak.
  • Repeat the plastic wrap step and this time place one piece of crepe on top of it.
  • Take out the steak from the refrigerator, unwrap it, and place on top of this piece of crepe.
  • Place the second piece of crepe on top of the steak and start wrapping the latter with the help of the plastic wrap.
  • Again, tighten the plastic wrap by twisting until the crepe layer conforms to the shape of the steak log.
  • Refrigerate the log.


The steak log covered with pieces of crepe below and above
 
  • Repeat the plastic wrap step and place sufficient puff pastry on top. The size should be generous enough to fully wrap the log assembly.


Crepe-wrapped log ready to be further wrapped in puff pastry
 
  • With the help of the plastic wrap, roll the puff pastry around until the whole log is wrapped.
  • Tighten the plastic wrap by twisting and then refrigerate the log.
  • Remove from the refrigerator after some ten minutes.
  • Beat an egg to which a little water has been added and use it as a glaze to coat the entire upper surfaces of the log.
    You may wish to add decorative puff pieces (as I did) or inscribe lines into the pastry.


Fully assembled Beef Wellington with egg glaze
 
  • Bake at 180 degrees Centigrade for some 30 minutes (monitor to assure against scorching).
  • When baked, remove from the oven and let the log rest at least 15 minutes before carving.


My Beef Wellington as served
The beef is usually cooked to rare or medium rare
 

The key to success in making Beef Wellington is to control the amount of moisture which comes out from the steak and the duxelles during baking. If there is too much water, the pastry at the bottom parts of the log will be soggy:  Prepare a dry duxelles; use a crepe layer (to absorb water); use fresh or chilled steak rather than frozen (these produce exudates during cooking and after).

 

 

www.clemkuek.com

 

18 January 2024
 

 



Created by Clem Kuek