Coming home from the CNE last Saturday, we decided pretty much last minute to try making a Beef Wellington. Anytime you’re cooking meat (in this case a gorgeous beef tenderloin we managed to get on sale for $27) wrapped in pastry, you should be scared. Well, I am at least!
Interestingly, there is still much murkiness over where Beef Wellington originated. Some figure it lies with the chefs to Arthur Wellesley who was the lad who beat Napolean at the Battle of Waterloo back in 1815. Lord Wellington was notoriously indifferent to food and so his chefs worked to present a meal that would wow his lordship, beef wellington being the dish that won. Others say it has more to do with the wellington boot, which is all shiny much like a beef wellington fresh out of the oven. And some folks even claim its discovery is more recent (circa. 1960s) when some now-forgotten housewife thought up the dish as a way of one-upping the other hostesses in the battle for most unique dinner courses. I suppose we’ll never really know.
Regardless to make a beef wellington you’ll need tenderloin, mushrooms, mustard, thyme, puff pastry and shallots, white wine.
2) the beef tenderloin; 3) the ingredients
4) sear the beef on all sides and set to cool; 5) prepare the duxelles (a mixture of mushrooms, shallots and herbs) and cook; 6) until it is dry before adding 1/4 cup of wine and reduce again
7) brush tenderloin with mustard; 8) drop half the duxelles on puff pastry
9) center the tenderloin and add remaining duxelles to top; 10) carefully gather and brush with egg yolks
11) bake at 200° C for about 30-40 minutes (this is really guess work); 12) let stand a good 10 minutes and slice
AppsScraps 
omg…that looks greaaaat…always fancied steak. can only imagine how good it is with pastry.
WHO THE HELL makes their own beef wellington??? (well, YOU do). Bravo!
Lordie…lordie….the dish so divine…I wonder what’s for the wine pairing? haha~~
I don’t care who invented it. I love it. But you know it is difficult to find in except in the best of the best restaurants. I guess I will have to start doing my own.
OMG! That looks so good! It looks like a giant pigs in a blanket sorta except with a hunk of beef.
The last pic makes me wish I still ate beef!