INDIVIDUAL BEEF WELLINGTONS

An elegant yet effortless entrée, classic beef Wellington features individual portions of quickly seared beef tenderloin topped with rich mushroom duxelles and enclosed in puff-pastry dough.  There are few dishes more elegant than Beef Wellington. It looks like a million dollars and tastes like heaven. It’s also surprisingly easy to make, albeit time-consuming, but can easily be completely prepped a day in advance and then slid into the oven for 30 minutes to bake before serving.

Eight (4 or 5 oz.) filet Mignon

1 1/3 tsp. salt

1/4 plus a pinch of pepper

2/3 cup chopped onion

2/3 cup chopped carrots

2/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 tbsp. brandy,

1 cup red wine

3/4 tsp. fines herbs

1 1/3 tbsp. butter

Mushroom filling, recipe below

Pastry, recipe below

3 egg yolks

3 tsp. water

2 2/3 cup beef broth

1 1/3 tbsp. tomato paste

2 2/3 tbsp. cornstarch

1/3 cup Madeira or other sweet wine or burgundy for a bolder flavor

Diced fresh mushrooms

Carrot curls

Celery fans

Fresh parsley sprigs

You may please feel free to use frozen puff pastry instead of making it from scratch.

Please note an additional 1 cup of red wine after brandy listing.

Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper, and place in a shallow dish. Sauté onion carrots and celery in oil until tender. Add red wine, brandy and herbs. Pour mixture over filets; cover and marinate in refrigerator overnight. Drain steaks, reserving marinade. Saute fillets in butter in a skillet just until lightly browned on both sides. Place filets in pan; cover and freeze 10 minutes. Remove from freezer, and refrigerate 2 hours. Prepare mushroom filling; chill at least 2 hours.

Combine egg yolks and water; brush edges of pastry with egg mixture to seal. Fold pastry over, and pinch together. (Trim excess pastry is necessary). Put the Wellingtons, seam side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with egg mixture; repeat after 1 minute. Roll pastry-trimming cut into decorative shapes and arrange on top of Wellingtons, if desired. Brush with remaining egg mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Combine reserved marinade, reserved mushroom juice, beef broth, and tomato paste in a saucepan; simmer 1 hour. Dissolve cornstarch in Madeira; stir into broth mixture and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Garnish with mushrooms, carrots, parsley, celery fans.

MUSHROOM FILLING:

2 2/3 lb. fresh mushrooms, finely chopped

1/3 cup minced green onion

3 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup Madeira or other dry sweet wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Place mushrooms in a clean towel or cheesecloth and squeeze until barely moist, reserving juice. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter; cook over medium heat until all liquid is evaporated. Add salt and pepper. Prepare pastry; chill 2 hours.

PASTRY:

4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

1 cup chilled butter and 2 tbsp. cubed

1/3 cup shortening, chilled

1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl; cut in chilled butter and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle ice water evenly over surface; stir with a fork until all dry ingredients are mixed. Shape dough into a ball. Roll pastry into an 18 inch square on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth; cut into 8 (9 x 6 inch) rectangles. Spread each pastry rectangle with 1/3 cup mushroom filling; top with a filet.

Serving Suggestion