Beef Wellington

Here is a dish for a truly special occasion, when only the best will do. It's the work of a few days, so read the entire recipe and make your plan in advance.

Serve this with a rich reduction of demiglace and Madeira enriched with a spoonful of butter at the end.

Ingredients #

Instructions #

96 hours before cooking #

Salt the tenderloin liberally all over, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Place on a small rimmed sheet pan and refrigerate for 48 hours.

Remove the plastic wrap, dab the meat dry with paper towels, and place the tenderloin on a wire rack over a rimmed sheet pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, for another 24 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.

Prepare the duxelles #

Add the oil and butter to a very large skillet over medium-high heat. When it is fully melted and foaming, add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper (this is going to reduce quite a bit) and stir.

When they start to release their moisture, reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallots, garlic, and herbs, and just keep stirring. Your objective here is to cook as much moisture as possible out of mushrooms — this small mountain will shrink to around 2 cups — without browning or scorching them.

Crank up the heat again and deglaze with the white wine, cooking until the wine entirely evaporates. Then do the same with the cognac — but be careful! This may catch fire! Cook, stirring, until fully evaporated. Finally, do the same with the Madeira. We’re building up layers of flavor and complexity, but the final mixture should be quite dry.

Sear the roast #

Tie the tenderloin with kitchen string at 1” intervals along its length (this is to maintain the cylindrical shape of the roast while you sear it). Have the Dijon mustard and a pastry brush ready.

Film a heavy skillet with peanut oil and place it over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, sear the meat heavily on all sides. Be careful here! You really want to get a good sear for flavor development, but you do NOT want to cook the roast! No more than maybe 1 minute on each side.

Remove the tenderloin to a cutting board, snip off and remove the trussing strings, and immediately brush the beef liberally with the mustard. It’s important to do this quickly, as the seared surface with more readily absorb the mustard. When the roast has cooled enough, wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap and return to the refrigerator.

Assemble the inner roll #

Cover your work area in layers of overlapping cling wrap, draping down the front of the counter, about 3’ long in total. Lay out layers of crepes, ham, and duxelles such that the entire roast will be surrounded with only a single layer of each. Place the tenderloin on the duxelles at the top edge, and — using the plastic as an aide — wrap everything neatly and tightly into a uniform cylinder. Wrap in multiple layers of cling wrap, and twist the ends tightly. Refrigerate overnight.

3-4 hours before serving #

Preheat oven to 425F.

Brush the surface of the puff pastry very thoroughly with egg wash. Take the inner roll from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and place on the pastry. Roll tightly and carefully, with a very slight overlap. Cut off any excess pastry, carefully pinch and seal the seam, tucking and smoothing the ends until they’re entirely and carefully sealed.

Brush the Wellington with egg wash all over, twice. Drag the back of a pairing knife over the glazed pastry to form a cross-hatched pattern over the whole roast. Sprinkle generously with flaky salt. Insert a probe thermometer into the center of one end of the roast, and place in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 85F.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest, uncovered, for an additional 45 minutes. On the probe thermometer, you should see the temperature rise to around 135F - 140F — a perfect medium rare.

Place on a platter surrounded with such greenery as you like, and serve. At the table, use a sharp knife and carving fork to slice into neat slices just shy of 1” thick.