Beef Wellington advice
Discussion
So today both my wife's (West Ham) and my (Chelsea) football teams scored many more goals than their opponents, and In a fit of enthusiasm, I decided we needed to open good wine and have a pricey dinner.
So we popped open the good Priorat and I made a Beef Wellington - my first time cooking the dish.
It turned out very well, a tasty rare fillet with a nice golden pastry crust around it. Considering I used "cheat" store-bought pastry, it wasn't really harder than a regular Sunday roast.
But if I am going to make it again, I have a couple of questions for the Pistonheads hive mind.
1) How do you stop the pasty underneath the beef from going soggy with the juices? The top of the pastry was lovely and fluffy, the bit directly under the beef was a bit of a dumpling. Would putting the Wellington on a small wire rack help or ruin it?
2) What is the point of the layer of rich flavors (I used fatty pork and herbs, but various recipes call for fois gras, rich pate, chopped mushrooms, truffles etc) between the beef and the pastry? High quality beef is pretty flavorful in and of itself, and I felt the pork mixture I added was nice, but just made the dish VERY rich. Does anyone have some more subtle filling suggestions that complements good quality beef?
So we popped open the good Priorat and I made a Beef Wellington - my first time cooking the dish.
It turned out very well, a tasty rare fillet with a nice golden pastry crust around it. Considering I used "cheat" store-bought pastry, it wasn't really harder than a regular Sunday roast.
But if I am going to make it again, I have a couple of questions for the Pistonheads hive mind.
1) How do you stop the pasty underneath the beef from going soggy with the juices? The top of the pastry was lovely and fluffy, the bit directly under the beef was a bit of a dumpling. Would putting the Wellington on a small wire rack help or ruin it?
2) What is the point of the layer of rich flavors (I used fatty pork and herbs, but various recipes call for fois gras, rich pate, chopped mushrooms, truffles etc) between the beef and the pastry? High quality beef is pretty flavorful in and of itself, and I felt the pork mixture I added was nice, but just made the dish VERY rich. Does anyone have some more subtle filling suggestions that complements good quality beef?
Ok you have a couple of options here....
Classic beef wellington calls for crepes to be used... so you sear the beef, make the stuffing (I aways do mushrooms) and then use crepes to wrap it and that acts as a moisture guard for the pastry.
I don't see you mention the use of crepes.
For the stuffing, if using something like mushrooms, all the moisture should really be out of it otherwise that will cause soggy underneath.
When you build the Wellington, ideally you should cook the pastry from chilled, so I would advise making all the constitute parts, patting down the stuffing to remove the excess moisture, then let the beef rest to room temperature, etc.
Once all at room temp, build the Wellington with the crepes and pastry, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill, then after an hour or two, cook as normal.
If all else fails then cheat...
Make a base of pastry, cook it, then build the uncooked parts on top and drap with uncooked pastry and seal to the cooked base, then cook as per normal.
If that don't work... go to a restaurant and pay someone else to make it for you.
Classic beef wellington calls for crepes to be used... so you sear the beef, make the stuffing (I aways do mushrooms) and then use crepes to wrap it and that acts as a moisture guard for the pastry.
I don't see you mention the use of crepes.
For the stuffing, if using something like mushrooms, all the moisture should really be out of it otherwise that will cause soggy underneath.
When you build the Wellington, ideally you should cook the pastry from chilled, so I would advise making all the constitute parts, patting down the stuffing to remove the excess moisture, then let the beef rest to room temperature, etc.
Once all at room temp, build the Wellington with the crepes and pastry, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill, then after an hour or two, cook as normal.
If all else fails then cheat...
Make a base of pastry, cook it, then build the uncooked parts on top and drap with uncooked pastry and seal to the cooked base, then cook as per normal.
If that don't work... go to a restaurant and pay someone else to make it for you.
As already said moisture is the killer. Any mushroom duxelle or any spinach etc must be very dry before you begin. And as mentioned, crepes are the secret to crispy pastry. And, cooking fast and not resting too long.
It's my daughters favourite and quite cheap if you get a pack of fillet tails and glue them together.
It's my daughters favourite and quite cheap if you get a pack of fillet tails and glue them together.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SPECIAL-INGREDIENTS-MEAT-G...
Meat glue. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Meat glue. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
2Btoo said:
21TonyK said:
... get a pack of fillet tails and glue them together.
Erm, glue them together? Care to give some more info? http://www.molecularrecipes.com/hydrocolloid-guide...
Edit - too slow.
I've made it a couple of times.
With the duxelles mushrooms, I finely chopped, fried and then left to cool in a sieve to drain off excess moisture. Then squeezed into a ball for the rest of the moisture to escape. fluffed up with a fork prior to assembling.
When assembling, I seal the fillet and leave to cool a little. Instead of using pancakes, I use parma ham. Lay out an overlapping layer, spread mushrooms in the middle and sit the fillet on top. Wrap parma ham around the fillet and if you have time, tightly wrap in cling film to get a nice torpedo shape and chill.
Then after removing the cling film, wrap in pastry and bake.
With the duxelles mushrooms, I finely chopped, fried and then left to cool in a sieve to drain off excess moisture. Then squeezed into a ball for the rest of the moisture to escape. fluffed up with a fork prior to assembling.
When assembling, I seal the fillet and leave to cool a little. Instead of using pancakes, I use parma ham. Lay out an overlapping layer, spread mushrooms in the middle and sit the fillet on top. Wrap parma ham around the fillet and if you have time, tightly wrap in cling film to get a nice torpedo shape and chill.
Then after removing the cling film, wrap in pastry and bake.
Cook the f
k out of the shallots/shrooms with loads of butter until no moisture left. Add wine, some booze and herb and cook dry again. I use filo pastry rather then crepes. But to be honest I quite like a dense, soggy base anyway.
Most important tip is only cook until just over 42-45 degrees. It sounded low to me but came out beautifully after 1/2 hour rest. Over cooked Wellington is a pretty ghastly affair
k out of the shallots/shrooms with loads of butter until no moisture left. Add wine, some booze and herb and cook dry again. I use filo pastry rather then crepes. But to be honest I quite like a dense, soggy base anyway. Most important tip is only cook until just over 42-45 degrees. It sounded low to me but came out beautifully after 1/2 hour rest. Over cooked Wellington is a pretty ghastly affair
This is the most recent one I've seen on't telly.... James Martin's: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beef_wellington_...
Allowing the meat and duxelle to cool to at least room temp is the main thing, and if in doubt press the duxelle between some kitchen roll to take an excess moisture off. Personally though, I use some haggis mixed with the mushrooms, which also absorbs any moisture..considering I usually sear the meat in whisky, and throw a little bit into the mushrooms, it works pretty well.
Traditional menus say crepes in the base, but plain old white bread with the slices squashed as thin as possible also works and isn't noticable when done.
Traditional menus say crepes in the base, but plain old white bread with the slices squashed as thin as possible also works and isn't noticable when done.
21TonyK said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SPECIAL-INGREDIENTS-MEAT-G...
Meat glue. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Many thanks, I didn't know such a stuff existed. And I'm not entirely sure I'm happy to know about it either .... Meat glue. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
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