This video is brought to you by Squarespace.
Website.
Online store. Marketing tools. Analytics. The go-to platform
when you want to run your business or create a
beautiful website like I am doing at the moment.
So more on this later but for now
Beef Wellington
Hey guys, salud! This is Alex.
So today
I want to try improve Gordon Ramsay's
Signature Dish - Beef Wellington.
Right off the bat,
I want to clarify something,
I'm not saying that my version will be tastier than Gordon's obviously.
He's a Michelin star chef, he has many restaurants
so much more experience than I do,
but I want my method
to be more systematic. I want my version to be foolproof.
I want it to be easier to understand
and I also want break down
everything that's happening deep inside.
Let's have a closer look at his recipe
- the challenges that I see.
english mustard
mushrooms
look, how wet they are
The Beef Wellington is a fully enclosed dish
which means that
plenty of steam will be generated inside
so if you don't want to get a soggy pastry,
you need to find ways around it.
That's the first challenge.
twist it nice and tight
I got no doubt that this guy is using
homemade puff pastry and for a reason.
Homemade puff pastry
will bring this dish to the next level.
This dish is not about beef only -
it is about beef and pastry --
this is the second challenge.
he is an artist
The third challenge is definitely to cook
the meat right.
When Gordon is baking the whole Beef Wellington
he's basically performing two actions at the same time -
baking the puff but also cooking the meat to the
right done-ness. And trust me
this is not an easy part.
You can't touch it and you can't
see what's happening inside.
So yes - this is
a complicated dish but NO it's not impossible
to make. Especially if we take it step-by-step.
And the first step is to get the right meat.
salud
So at my butcher I bought a Chateaubriand
which is the central part
of a beef tenderloin.
Mine weighs - I would say - about a kilo but
the most important part is that it has
a consistent thickness
all the way through.
I also asked my butcher
to do two things for me - first off
to get rid of the excess fat
and then to teach me that butcher technique
when you can tie a roast
using only one piece of string.
I, I think I got it.
Okay, guys we got everything we need.
Let's head back to 'Le Studio'.
Right ! Let me show you how it works.
So that beef fillet is going to stay in there for
about 30 minutes - 1 hour.
I'll come back on this later,
but for the moment let's take a
closer look at what makes a Beef Wellington.
the very structure of that dish.
At the very core - you have Beef.
Then mustard - mushroom duxelle
parma ham - crepe
Puff pastry.
Everything is gravitating around the fillet of beef.
That's why I call this dish the
"Solar System of the Pate en Croute Galaxy"
No no - it does make sense.
I know it's weird but it does make sense.
Beef - there's a lot of water there
that is basically going to steam.
And the layers around it - it could be 'flavoring agent'
'water barrier', or 'absorbers'
or 'texture bring-ers.'
Puff pastry - mainly here for the crispiness but that's
also going to create the barrier.
The crepe
an 'asborber'.
Parma ham -
which is basically a flavor inducer.
Mushroom duxelle -
which is definitely bringing some bold
beef matching flavors.
But also bringing another problem
it's full of moisture.
The mustard - another flavor bringer.
And the beautiful, almighty super tender Beef.
That's basically it for the
structure of this dish.
so
I suggest we get to work.
Cause there's plenty to do.
Right - so a quick comment about searing the meat.
I believe it's important from a flavor
point-of-view.
From a texture point-of-view -- it's useless.
The Beef Wellington needs a full enclosure
there is plenty of steam inside and there is no way
that anything is going to stay crispy -- inside at least.
now I'm going to sous-vide this fillet of beef for about
2.5 hours at 50 degrees Celsius
that's 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Let me compare Gordon's meat
with my own meat by
doing a few drawings on the board.
So on the vertical axis you've got the inner
temperature of the meat -- on the horizontal axis
you've got the time passing by.
Gordon starts with the meat at room temperature.
He sears it and then later on he bakes it.
Which slowly increases the inner temperature of
the meat until Gordon decides that
it's perfectly done.
Very much relying on Gordon's skills.
And it makes a lot of sense -- this guy has cooked 100
Beef Wellington in the past so
this is just fine for Gordon.
now, My method is different.
I sear a very cold meat - so the inside
remains raw.
Then, I cook it sous-vide at 50 Celsius
or 122 Fahrenheit.
Remember that with sous-vide there is no under
or over cooking, whatsoever.
I then quickly chill this perfectly cooked meat to
fridge temperature.
Now the most important
difference with Gordon's method is
this diagonal line -- the baking.
You see, in Gordon's method there is only one moment
and one moment only - where meat
and pastry are perfectly cooked at the same time.
Since you can't see the meat inside
you need a lot of chef experience
to guess that moment right.
Now in my method
I'm taking beef out of the equation during baking.
The meat is already cooked
and since it's cold and protected with all these outer
layers, baking it won't cook it.
It's just going to warm it up.
The only thing you need to focus on
is baking the puff right.
To the color you like.
Since you can see it in the oven
it's an easy job.
And I guess that's the beauty of this method
you don't have to guess, you just know.
From an amateur point-of-view, it's such a relief.
Especially since I've been working so hard
and that piece of beef is so expensive.
The fillet of beef has been cooking in
for about 2.5 hours.
It's going to be beautiful -- I can see that.
So in the fridge overnigt.
I should just get rid of all the little tasks
starting with the Mushroom Duxelle.
I mean, who am I to challenge the tradition, anyway?
Duxelle has to be done by hand.
Thyme, mushrooms, shallots
garlic, salt and pepper.
Now it's time to try and remove the water from it.
Sneaky cognac.
I'm going to place this bowl in the fridge
I'm not going to cover it because
I want it to dry -- that would be a terrible example !
Now that the mushroom duxelle is completed
let's tackle the crepe problem.
Usually a French crepe is round because
the crepe pan is round.
Beef Wellington is basically a cylinder
so if you were just to roll it [out] on table
you would get a big fat rectangle.
If I can make a big
rectangular shaped crepe
I won't have to mess with the overlap.
I can't stand the overlap !
One...two...three
Whoops...ten-four.
And here's how it looks five minutes later.
Yes, might need a bit of cooking on this side, as well.
I'm going to put it for 5 minutes in the oven.
But overall, I call this success!
Great, so all the minor tasks
have been taken care of.
Let's tackle puff pastry.
As I said earlier, it's not complicated
from a technique point-of-view, it's just time consuming.
So let's get to it.
Dough.
Butter.
First of all you start by making a sandwiched
dough composed of two layers of 'lean dough'
and one big greasy slab of butter.
Then that sandwich is flattened and
folded onto itself like a wallet.
Then you chill that in the fridge for about 15 min.
That whole folding / chilling operation
needs to be repeated for
six times.
If you want to see a more detailed
step-by-step decomposition of this process
then please watch my croissant series.
Just keep in mind
we are not using milk -- just water.
Also, it's not going to be sweet -- but savory.
Okay, so I've got to the thickness that I wanted
I'm just going to place in the fridge until I need it.
It's going to be super crispy and light.
As light as butter can be - I mean.
And in the fridge it goes.
The beef has been resting and chilling in the fridge overnight.
Fully cooked, but it's now super cold, as well.
I'm going to keep the juices for the sauce, of course.
Then I'm going to start the wrapping.
Obviously, I'm using Dijon mustard.
Just because it's a British inspired dish
doesn't mean I have to lose all identity here.
Time now to wrap the whole thing in a crepe
in a nice beautiful rectangular shaped crepe
that I made in the oven.
Viou!
This goes in the fridge before
the final wrapping.
The only step left is to wrap the whole
thing in puff pastry.
I know this is not going to be very reassuring
but if something went wrong
at this moment, it's too late.
There's not turning back so...
Wish me luck.
Wish. Me. Luck.
Excited is an understatement, right there.
I'm going to pour some of that sauce
I made with the trimmings.
If you want a recipe, I'll share one with you
in the comments.
Ah - got the mushroom
savory -- saucy -- beefy.
It's something I never experienced in my life.
It's so tender.
It's almost like you don't need chewing.
The mustard is definitely a nice little kick.
I can't feel the crepe. I know it's there
but I don't feel it.
After all this preparation - after all this work.
This part is so
soothing.
It's so calm and quiet.
Puff pastry plus mushroom duxelle.
*Kiss* *Kiss* *Kiss*
The beef alone is amazing
and when you have it along with the wrapping
with the puff
with the mushroom
then the crepe and the mustard
and the sauce
then I understand the Beef Wellington.
Every little component is here to just
compliment the others.
I wish there was more puff.
This is the ear of
of the Beef Wellington.
A bit like the ear you would
find on a croissant.
Cause there you've got way more puff, on this one.
I'm still surprised.
But that could have been expected since
I made that puff pastry from scratch.
A whole other level of tastiness.
Crisp.
Deliciousness.
Probably my biggest take away on this dish
the pasty is so underrated.
This dish is the pastry.
...and the Beef.
Guys, I have a request for you.
I really want to know what Gordon says about my meat.
I saw his meat. So I think it's only fair
that he sees my meat.
Unfortunately for me
he did not respond to my tweet.
I would love you guys to overflow any
social account that Gordon Ramsay owns
with a friendly, gentle invitation to watch
my video and share his opinion with us.
He is just like a culinary god.
A bit angry from time-to-time.
He's probably like the 'god of thunder'.
Anyway. I hope you enjoyed this video.
I hope you learned something about Beef Wellington.
Most importantly
how to make a great Beef Wellington
every f*%! time.
A more systematic approach to Beef Wellington.
If you enjoyed this
please give this video a big thumbs up - 'Like' It.
and spread this everywhere.
Spread it like butter.
Share this with your friends.
You know what you gotta do.
Subscribe to the channel, of course!
Bye Bye. Salud.
A quick word about my sponsor for this video.
In the past I used to be a coder.
Which means that I built
websites from scratch.
Truth be told
it wasn't always super easy.
I sound like an old dude.
Today, I can use Squarespace
to build my new website
and focus on what really matters the most:
making videos and trying to share something
valuable with you guys.
Instead of just...
On Squarepace com you can find
so many templates.
Modern - classic - contemporary
there's obviously one for any activity you can think of.
You can also register a domain
so that makes is basically the
go-to platform
when you want to build a website - like generally.
So check out Squarespace.com for a FREE trial
and when you're ready to launch head over to
to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Thanks, Squarespace!