By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Joshua Weissman.
Beef Wellington fails in one place: the bottom. Moisture leaves the mushrooms and the beef, soaks into the pastry underneath, and you cut into a grey soggy base. Joshua Weissman blocks it twice - the duxelles goes into the pan until it is genuinely dry, and a thin crepe wraps the beef before the pastry does.
The other thing that matters is temperature. The rolled log goes into the fridge to firm up before it is wrapped, and again before it bakes. A cold, tight parcel holds its shape in the oven instead of slumping.
None of the individual steps are hard. It is a long recipe rather than a difficult one, and most of the work can be done a day ahead. Budget an afternoon the first time you make it.
9 steps · about 9 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Take a thick centre-cut piece of tenderloin, around a pound and a half, and pull off the silverskin. Slide a thin knife under it, angle the blade up towards the membrane and draw it along.
Silverskin does not render. Leave it on and it shrinks in the oven, squeezing the beef out of shape inside the pastry.
Tip
Ask the butcher for a centre cut. The tapered tail end cooks faster than the middle and ruins an even pink slice. Watch this step
A pound of mushrooms, chopped down to something close to a coarse crumb. Cremini on their own are fine, or use a mix if you have one.
Fine matters here. Big pieces hold water, and water is the enemy of the pastry base. A food processor does it in seconds if you pulse rather than blitz.
Tip
Pulse in batches. Overfill the processor and the bottom turns to paste while the top stays in chunks. Watch this step
Sweat two chopped shallots and three cloves of garlic in olive oil, then add the mushrooms. They release a lot of liquid, and you keep going until all of it has gone.
Three tablespoons of whiskey and the leaves from a couple of thyme sprigs go in near the end if you want them. Cook until the pan is dry again.
Tip
Drag a spoon through the middle. If liquid runs back into the gap it is not ready. This takes longer than you expect. Watch this step
Season the tenderloin, get a couple of tablespoons of high-heat oil smoking, and sear every surface including the ends. You want deep colour all over.
This is the only browning the beef gets. Inside the pastry it steams rather than roasts, so whatever crust you build now is the crust you end up with.
Tip
Keep it quick. You are colouring the outside, not cooking the middle, which still has the oven to come. Watch this step
While the beef is still warm, paint it all over with dijon mustard. Use a good one - it is a small amount doing a lot of work.
The mustard cuts through the richness of the pastry and the prosciutto, and it helps the duxelles cling to the meat rather than sliding off as you roll.
Tip
Let the beef cool fully after this. Wrapping warm meat in pastry melts the butter in the dough before it ever sees the oven. Watch this step
Whisk 3.5 tablespoons of flour with 140ml of whole milk, an egg and a pinch of salt, then cook thin crepes in a lightly oiled pan.
This is the trick that separates a good wellington from a soggy one. The crepe sits between the wet duxelles and the pastry and absorbs what would otherwise go into the base.
Tip
Thin is the goal, not neat. Nobody sees these, and a thick crepe reads as a doughy layer in the finished slice. Watch this step
Lay the crepes out on plastic wrap so they overlap into one sheet. Cover them with six to eight slices of prosciutto, then spread the cooled duxelles over the top in an even layer.
Leave a clear margin at the far edge. You need somewhere for the roll to close without duxelles squeezing out of the seam.
Tip
The duxelles must be cold. Spreading it warm softens the prosciutto fat and the whole layer tears as you roll. Watch this step
Set the beef along one edge and roll it up in the plastic wrap, pulling as you go so there are no air pockets. Twist the ends like a cracker to tighten the cylinder.
Into the fridge until it is properly firm. A slack log will not hold a round cross-section, and the slices are the whole point of this dish.
Tip
Twisting the ends tighter forces out trapped air. Keep twisting until the log feels solid through the wrap. Watch this step
Unwrap the chilled log onto a sheet of puff pastry and roll it up, trimming and sealing the seam underneath. Brush with egg yolk wash.
For the lattice, run a lattice cutter over a second half sheet, stretch it open and drape it over the top. Egg wash again, then bake at 425F, or 400F on convection.
Tip
Skip the lattice and one sheet of pastry is enough. It is decoration, not structure, and the wellington bakes the same without it. Watch this step
Keep going
How to Make Butter Chicken (Restaurant Style at Home)
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