Posted By Erin…

This winter I was looking for a new “fancy” meal to add to my repertoire for future dinner parties. I had never had Beef Wellington, but I knew that it was impressive.  That, I decided, was what I would conquer.  And, well, a battle it was.  But it is a dish that is certainly master-able, if you have a little patience.  Traditional Beef Wellington is made with Fois Gras, which is not quite my forte, so the recipe I’ll share with you is a derivative I created after looking at a few different recipes.  It’s “Beef Wellington – DIY style” if you will.

Beef Wellington!

My brother wanted to know why you’d ruin a perfectly good Filet Mignon with puff pastry and an oven, but I think this really is a perfect way to enjoy filet in the winter, when you may not want to go near a grill – or perfect for those of us in NYC, where grills are scarce.

The instructions and photos are from my second attempt at making it. My parents helped me experiment with recipes the first time, and we took quite a few learnings away from that session.  Getting the dough (don’t worry – I’m NOT suggesting you make it from scratch!) right is trickier than expected, so I suggest doing a test run before you make it for an important event or dinner.

I have to say, the end result is definitely impressive, delicious and worth the time and effort.  I know when I whip this up for an intimate dinner party that our guests will certainly be excited! (Let me know if you’d like to get an invite!)

You’ll need:

1. Individual Filet Mignons or a larger beef tenderloin for as many people as you’d like to serve.
2. Puff Pastry: I used Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheets, but you can use another type of puff pastry, or phyllo dough.
3. Mushrooms (I like Baby Bella), chopped (I used an 8 oz container + 2 mushrooms for 3 servings.)
4. Scallions, finely chopped
5. Dijon Mustard
6. Herbs de Provenance
7. Salt
8. Pepper

Directions:

1. Chop the mushrooms and scallions.  You’ll want the mushrooms to be small, but not diced.
2. Put about 2 Tablespoons. Olive oil in the bottom of a skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat, add mushrooms and scallions.  Add a little salt and some Herbs De Provenance. (I added about ¼ teaspoon.)  Cook until very soft, about 15 – 20 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. In the same pan, we will sear the Beef Wellington. The purpose is not to cook the meat, just to sear the outside. Cover the filet or tenderloin with a little salt and black pepper.  Sear, about 1.5 – 2 minutes on each side, over medium-high heat. Remove.
4. Roll out puff pastry.  This is where I made a few mistakes.  I like the flavor of Pillsbury products, so I liked the end result of this dough.  However, I rolled it out a bit too thin.  After opening the can, spread out the dough on a little bit of flour on a counter. You can roll it out a very little bit, but not too much.  This dough breaks easily when it’s too thin.  The first time, we used frozen phyllo dough, but didn’t let it defrost properly before using, so it wasn’t easy to use and lacked flavor.  Make sure you follow defrosting instructions.
5. Place half of the mushrooms on the dough, in the rough shape of your filets.  You will set the filets on the mushrooms. You can fit three SMALL filets on one can of Pillsbury dough. If your filets are half pound each or larger, use one can for two.
6. Spread Dijon mustard lightly on both sides of the filet.
7. Place the filets over the mushrooms, and then spoon the rest of the mushrooms on top.
8. Cut the dough so that there is just enough to wrap around each filet, like a package.
9. Place a light egg wash around the edges, and then wrap the dough around the meat and mushrooms. Be careful to not let it bunch up when it overlaps. Try to make it as even as possible, otherwise you’ll end up with a big pocket of dough at one part!
10. Wrap the filets in plastic wrap, and put them in the fridge for 20 minutes.  I left them in the fridge for an hour, and they turned out great.  I may try to stretch it a little longer – to about 2 hours or so – if I’m going to make it for guests, so I can do all the work before they arrive and then just set it in the oven when we’re almost ready to eat!
11. Place on a baking sheet in an over that is heated to 400 degrees.  We like our meat medium rare; we cooked the fillets (which were about .4 pounds) for 15 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and serve!

For this dinner, I also made garlic and scallion mashed potatoes and Kale for me and frozen broccoli with cheese for dinner date.  In case any of you out there wondered what our final dinner looked like.  And no, my date was not a child, just a grown man who likes cheese on his broccoli.  Enjoy!