Beef Wellington

Writing for the February edition of a magazine, the thought process was Shrove Tuesday.  A tenuous link admittedly but the dish does have pancakes in it...

Shrove Tuesday is historically a day of feasting before Ash Wednesday and the period of Lent.  Pancakes are a tradition on this day (being one to eat lots of fat in preparation for fasting) and personally I can think of nothing better than feasting on a lovely Beef Wellington.  If you make plenty of pancakes (or buy them), you can always do the Pancake Day thing as well and serve them as pudding with oranges and sugar.

1.5kg Beef Fillet (trimmed, left whole)

3 thin Pancakes

250g finely chopped Mushrooms (shitake, oyster and chestnut work well)

2 Shallots (finely chopped)

1 tsp Thyme

2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)

6 Juniper Berries

Sea Salt & Pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh Parsley

1 pack Puff Pastry

10g Butter

Olive Oil

1 tbsp Crème Fraiche

1 tbsp Marsala Wine or Dry Sherry

Egg Wash (for glazing)

Marinade the beef.  In a pestle and mortar, grind the juniper berries with the salt, pepper, thyme leaves, parsley and garlic.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and mix to a thick paste.  Rub over the entire beef fillet and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.

Sauté the shallots in the butter and a drizzle of olive oil until softened but not brown.  Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.  Add the marsala wine and cook until evaporated, add the crème fraiche and season to taste.  Cook until you have a thick pate like consistency.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Take the beef and brown all sides in a frying pan quickly (you are not trying to cook it at this stage).  Place in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes covered with foil.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

When all the ingredients have cooled to room temperature, assemble the wellington.

Roll out the puff pastry to a size which will cover the entire fillet.  Brush the edges with egg wash and lay the pancakes down the middle of the pastry.  Spread the mushroom mixture over the pancakes and the pastry leaving a 2 cm edge all around.  Place the fillet of beef on top in the centre and roll up the pastry around the fillet and seal.  Up end the wellington so the seal is underneath and brush all over with egg wash.  Place on a baking tray and refrigerate until ready to cook or for at least 1 hour.

Place in a hot oven (210 degrees) for 25 minutes (rare) to 35 minutes (medium) or until golden brown and risen.  Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.  

The resting is important as it will allow the meat to relax and the juices to go back into the beef and tenderise the meat.