Boeuf en Croûte (Beef Wellington)

I know beef Wellington is pretty old-school, but I love recreating these types of recipes and I find that my guests really enjoy them – either for the first time or for the first time in a long time.

Although beef Wellington looks fancy and difficult to make, it is not, even for novice home cooks.  The dish is beautiful to present to special guests but straight-forward enough to make on any weekend night.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 ½ pound piece of beef tenderloin, patted dry with paper towels
• 1 tsp. each salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 large shallot, fined minced
• 1 pound Cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. each salt and freshly cracked pepper
• ½ tsp. dry thyme
• 4 ounces mousse of duck foie gras (1/2 an 8-ounce container)
• 1 sheet from a 17 ¼-ounce frozen puff pastry box, thawed
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour for dusting when rolling out the pastry
• 1 egg, scrambled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a large frying pan, heat oil over high heat.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the surface of the beef and add to the hot pan.  Sear on all sides until deeply browned, about 5 minutes total.  Remove beef from the pan (reserve pan for later use) to a platter and allow to cool completely.
3. Melt butter in the reserved large pan over medium-high heat.  Add the shallot and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper and thyme to the shallots and sauté until completely softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from heat, and allow to cool completely.  Drain any liquids that might have been released from the mushrooms and pat the mixture well with paper towels.
4. Add the mushroom mixture and the foie gras to a food processor and pulse until nearly smooth with a few small pieces, about 1 minute.
5. Spray an unrimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet, ensuring it adheres to the cooking spray.
6. Unfold a puff pastry sheet on a floured work space.  Using a rolling pin, lightly roll the pastry to enlarge the rectangular sheet by 2 inches in each direction.  Move the pastry to the baking sheet by rolling it over the rolling pin.
7. Place the tenderloin in the center of the pastry and spread the mushroom / foie gras mixture over it, patting down the mixture with your hand to ensure it coats the beef completely and evenly.  Fold the pastry over the beef and seal all the seams – there will be extra pastry that needs to be cut away using a sharp knife.  Delicately, turn the pastry-wrapped beef over so that the seams are beneath the Wellington.  Cut a few slits on the pastry top and brush the Wellington with the egg mixture.
8. Bake 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 425 degrees for 5-10 additional minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and a meat thermometer inserted into the tenderloin is a few degrees short of the desired doneness.  Let the Wellington rest for 5-10 minutes then slice into 4 portions with a serrated knife.

Serves 4.

Notes:  This recipe can easily be doubled to serve 8.  Don’t like or want to use foie gras?  Simply replace with softened butter.  Serve this dish with mashed potatoes and pepper / Béarnaise sauce.