Beef Wellington

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Using string or butcher’s twine, tightly wrap around the tenderloin in 5 places and tie, cut off excess string.
3. Season both sides of tenderloin with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
4. In a 12” skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil on high heat until oil is smoking.  Add tenderloin and sear on all sides until browned.
5. Remove pan from stove and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
6. Remove tenderloin from oven, cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until completely cool.
7. In another 12” skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  Cook 2 minutes, or until softened.
8. Add the water, and cook 2-3 more minutes, or until mushrooms are tender.
9. In a small sauté pan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat.  Add shallots and cook 2-3 minutes, or until translucent.
10. In the large workbowl of a food processor, pulse the mushrooms 5-6 times, or until they are coarsely chopped.  Add the shallots and pulse 3-4 more times to mix the duxelle.
11. Remove duxelle from the food processor, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate until cool.
12. Once cool, remove tenderloin and duxelle from refrigerator.  With a wet cloth, dampen your work surface, and lay out a large sheet of plastic wrap.
13. Spread the duxelle out in a rectangle on top of the plastic wrap, large enough to cover the entire tenderloin.
14. With scissors or a sharp knife, remove the twine from the tenderloin and carefully place it on top of the duxelle.
15. Using the edges of the plastic, roll the tenderloin up in the mushroom mixture, and tie the ends of the plastic so that it is wrapped tightly.  Place in refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes, or overnight.
16. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the teaspoon of water.
17. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
18. Place 1 sheet of puff pastry on a greased baking sheet.  Brush generously with egg wash.
19. Remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and carefully remove the plastic wrap.  Carefully place the mushroom-coated tenderloin in the center of the sheet of puff pastry.
20. Place the second sheet of puff pastry on top of the tenderloin, and press down around the edges to seal the dough around the steak.
21. Brush the top of the wellington generously with more egg wash, and cut off excess puff pastry, leaving a 1”-1 ½” border around the steak.
22. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Secrets:

• If one end of your tenderloin is thinner than the rest, fold the end under when you tie the steak so that the entire tenderloin is the same thickness.
• It is important to prebake the tenderloin for 15 minutes, because the puff pastry would get too dark if you tried to cook the entire tenderloin after having wrapped it.
• When you spread the duxelle on the plastic wrap, use a piece of twine to measure the steaks length and width, so that you know how big of a rectangle to make the mushroom mixture.
• To decorate your Wellington, use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the excess puff pastry dough, and stick these to your Wellington with egg wash