Beef Wellington

Total Time: 2 hrs 25 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup sliced onion
• 1/2 cup carrot
• 1/2 cup celery
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon sage
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 allspice berries or 3 cloves
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dry vermouth
• 1/3 cup cognac or 1/3 cup brandy
• 2 lbs mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons shallots, minced
• 1/2 cup dry madeira wine
• 4 -5 tablespoons mousse type pate or 4 -5 tablespoons foie gras
• 4 (8 ounce) filet of beef
• 4 slices prosciutto, thin
• 2 sheets puff pastry
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup madeira wine

Recipe

• 1 place all marinade ingredients (except salt, vermouth and cognac) in a small saucepan.
• 2 cook slowly until vegetables are tender.
• 3 remove from heat and let cool.
• 4 season filets with salt; place in ziplock bag; add marinade mixture; pour on the wine and cognac.
• 5 refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.
• 6 remove from marinade.
• 7 pat dry.
• 8 heat 1 t oil in a heavy duty saute pan over high heat.
• 9 add filet and sear briefly on all sides.
• 10 return to refrigerator until ready to assemble the wellingtons.
• 11 reserve marinade for sauce.
• 12 mince mushrooms in food processor until very small.
• 13 in the corner of a clean kitchen towel, twist the mushrooms a handful at a time to extract as much of the mushroom juices as possible.
• 14 i usually dampen the towel first so it won't absorb the juices of the mushrooms.
• 15 reserve the juices for the sauce.
• 16 saute mushrooms and shallots in butter 7 or 8 minutes or so until the mushroom pieces separate from each other and begin to look dry.
• 17 add the madeira and boil until liquid has evaporated.
• 18 season to taste and stir in the pate or foie gras.
• 19 simmer marinade ingredients and mushroom juices with 2 cups beef broth and 1 t tomato paste for 1 hour or so until reduced to 2 cups.
• 20 degrease, season and thicken with 2 tbs.
• 21 cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup madeira.
• 22 all of these steps can be prepared well in advance and even frozen in separate containers.
• 23 simply thaw everything before proceeding.
• 24 i usually get two wellingtons out of each sheet of puff pastry.
• 25 it depends on the size of the steaks.
• 26 roll out each sheet a little to accomodate the size of the filet.
• 27 cut sheet in half.
• 28 lay one sheet of prosciutto on each half.
• 29 place a spoonful of mushrooms on top; place a filet on top of mushrooms; spoon a little more mushrooms on top of filet; wrap filet in pastry.
• 30 pinch to seal.
• 31 if you have any pastry left over, be creative and decorate the wellingtons to fit the occasion.
• 32 place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
• 33 refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake.
• 34 preheat oven to 375^f.
• 35 egg wash the tops of the wellingtons.
• 36 bake until golden brown.
• 37 about 25 minutes.
• 38 use an instant read thermometer to insure that the meat is done to your liking.
• 39 if wellingtons start to brown too much before the meat is ready, cover with foil and cook until it is done.
• 40 serve with the madeira sauce spooned on top.