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Are you looking for the perfect gourmet meal for a special occasion?
Beef wellington is an impressive choice
tender pieces of filet mignon are wrapped in puff pastry and then baked until golden brown.
It might seem a little bit intimidating but the process is actually pretty straightforward.
Come on, let's get started.
The first thing to do is defrost the puff pastry, they come in frozen sheets.
So you're going to leave them at room temperature for about 30 to 40 minutes.
They should be cool and pliable which will make it much easier to work with.
Make sure to cover it with plastic wrap so that the edges and the top doesn't get dried out.
And if you don't use it right away after that 40 minutes,
make sure to transfer it to the refrigerator to keep it cool
this will prevent the layers from melting together.
You could also defrost it in the refrigerator for four hours.
Set the oven rack to the middle position, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
To make the mushroom filling, I'm going to take 8 ounces of brown mushrooms
that I've already washed and trimmed, and dried
and put them into a food processor we want to process them into
little bits the size of coarse bread crumbs
we don't want it to become a slurry just break it down into smaller pieces.
As you can see the mushrooms are broken into smaller pieces but they're packed with moisture
so we're going to go to the stove and saute them until that moisture evaporates
otherwise, if you put them in raw into your puff pastry it's going to make it really soggy.
Let's head over to the stove.
Heat a medium-sized pan over medium heat.
Add 1 teaspoon olive oil, add 8 ounces of chopped mushrooms, saute until the mixture is softened
and most of the moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Season mushroom mixture with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and refrigerate until completely cooled.
I have one pound of filet mignon steaks, 8 ounces each
and I recommend that you get at least choice or prime
because they have really nice marbling of fat that runs through the meat
which is going to make it really juicy and tender.
You want to remove any tough silverskin that's on the outside of the meat
because it's going to make it really tough and chewy.
I see a little bit on these steaks so let's just transfer it to the board and see that
kind of white piece of silverskin
just slice it off as close to the meat as possible
you don't want to remove too much of that nice beef.
You want to get steaks that are at least 1 1/2 to 2-inches thick
because if they're too thin they're going to overcook in the oven.
Dry the surface and then just season each side with salt and pepper.
Sometimes the steaks pull apart into two pieces and if that happens,
to keep that nice round shape you can just grab
some butcher's twine and tie it around it and then
when you sear it you can take it off after that process is done.
Now just transfer it back to a plate and we're going
to go head over to the stove and sear the steaks.
I recommend that you use a stainless steel pan to sear the steaks,
it's going to give a beautiful golden crust
and when you preheat it over high heat it's going to create this non-stick surface
then you add in the oil and then once that's nice and hot add in the steaks.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, once hot add 2 tablespoons of oil.
When the oil just begins to smoke add the fillets to the pan and brown for 2 minutes on each side.
Quickly sear the raw edges of the meat so that the red turns to brown on the surface.
Remove the steaks from the pan and place on a plate to cool.
Turn off the heat and save the pan with the drippings for the mushroom sauce.
The steaks are beautifully seared and while they're still warm I'm going to
brush them with 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.
It's going to give a nice tangy flavor to the steaks.
Flip them over and get the other side, you don't have to put on too much just a nice thin coating.
Now we're going to wrap the beef in prosciutto and mushroom filling.
Grab a piece of plastic wrap and then we're going to use 3 ounces of prosciutto, about 3 to 4 slices
depending on how wide the strips are.
So just place it down onto the plastic
and they're really thin and kind of sticky so just take your time
and then overlap them about a 1/4-inch.
You want to add just enough pieces so that they completely cover the steak.
Now take half of that mushroom filling which should be cooled down
and spread it evenly over the prosciutto
and just make sure you leave about 1/2-inch space from the edge.
Now add the beef in the center
and since the prosciutto is shaped like a rectangle,
if the beef is more oval in shape as well make sure that it's lengthwise.
Now just bring the prosciutto over the beef to wrap it completely
then use this plastic wrap to help guide it around.
I'm going to make a little steak present or package.
Fold that corner up and around and that final edge around the side
and then wrap it tightly in the plastic wrap to just hold that shape together.
And then I like to chill it for about 5 to 10 minutes before I wrap it in the puffed pastry
just to give it a few minutes to not be so hot.
Now I'm going to roll the puff pastry into an 11 by 11-inch square.
We're just going to use one pastry sheet
for the fillets because we don't want the dough to be too thick
and if the dough feels a little bit sticky feel free to just sprinkle some flour on top.
Now I'm going to cut it in half into 5 1/2 by 11-inch long pieces, so two rectangles.
Okay, now take that wrapped beef, unwrap it and place it in the center
and just make sure that you have it lengthwise.
And if you have more round pieces of meat it's totally okay to trim it if you need to.
Now just take some water and a brush and just brush a little bit of the water on the edges
it's going to help it stick when we fold it together.
Now just take the long end and fold it over and press the edges.
And fold the other side over, we want to make sure it's completely covered.
I love making this dish for my family during the holidays
because it's like little mini presents, it's the best surprise
And if you need, just add a little bit more water to help it stick.
Okay, just fold it over like that inside too.
Just fold it over so it sticks.
Now we just grab a piece of plastic wrap and just wrap them up
and we're going to chill them for about 5 minutes
just to allow the butter and the dough to firm up a little bit before we bake.
Right before baking, we're going to add an egg wash.
I have one egg yolk and one tablespoon of milk,
and it's going to give this beautiful golden crust.
Brush the surface and the sides with the egg wash and make sure you get underneath
so that that gets color changed too.
Now I like to do a little bit of a shallow design,
we're not going to cut all the way through to where it hits the meat
just a little score on top
So just make some diagonal lines across the pastry just a very light touch
and then go in the opposite direction.
Remember we're not cutting through the pastry.
And then right before I bake, I like to sprinkle with some coarse salts
Now, these are all set, let's go over and bake them.
Wow, these look gorgeous.
I'm just going to check the internal temperature for doneness.
If you like medium-rare you're going to shoot for 120 to 125 degrees and medium 130 to 135.
Now just test it in the thickest part of the meat, perfect, these are ready.
I'm going to let them rest for 10 minutes to allow for a little bit of carryover cooking
and in the meanwhile, we're going to make the mushroom sauce.
To make the mushroom sauce, I'm going to use the same pan that I used to sear the beef.
It's going to have a ton of drippings
and fond on the bottom so we're going to use that to make an incredibly tasty sauce.
Add a 1/4 cup red wine to the pan, whisk to deglaze,
and dissolve the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add a 1/4 cup of chopped shallots, stirring until the wine has reduced by half
and you cannot smell the alcohol, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon of flour and whisk for 1 minute,
slowly add in the beef stock whisking in about a 1/4 cup at a time
until 1 cup has been added.
Simmer the sauce until it has thickened to a spoonable consistency, about 2 minutes.
Add 4 ounces of sliced mushrooms and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes.
The sauce will continue to reduce during this time,
if needed, whisk in additional beef stock to thin the sauce.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, keep warm on low heat until ready to serve.
The beef wellington has rested and it's ready.
You could serve it just as it is, its own individual portion.
Or I'm going to slice them up so that we can reveal the beef.
Wow, these are gorgeous.
For a complete meal, I would serve this with some fresh green beans
and my homemade mashed potatoes right here.
I hope you enjoyed learning the science behind beef wellington
and if you did, please give it a big thumbs up it means a lot when you do.
See you in the next video
and don't forget the mushroom sauce.