Beef Wellington - Simon Bryant
Recipe submitted by Philippa
This recipe from Simon Bryant - The Cook and the Chef. As it's not listed on this site thought I would include it as it is such a wonderful recipe. THANKS SIMON!
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients
- Rough puff pastry -
- 450g plain flour
- 300g butter (or combination of butter & lard)
- pinch salt
- ice cold water to mix
- Crepes
- 125g plain flour
- 15g sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 egg
- 250ml milk
- 30g melted butter
- oil & butter for frying
- For the Wellingtons:
- 2 eye fillets - thick - at least 4-5cm high
- salt & pepper
- olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely sliced
- 500g field mushrooms, chopped
- 1 bay lead
- 2-3 stalks fresh thyme leaves
- 100ml white wine or verjuice
- 2 Tblsp flat leafed parsley, chopped
- egg yolk with a little milk, for glazing pastry
Method
- To make pastry:
- Sift flour & salt, add cubed butter/lard and mix with a knife.
- Add enough water to form a stiff dough.
- Roll out on a floured surface in a rectangular shape.
- Fold in three, rotate & roll again. Fold ends in again, rotate & roll again. Repeat once more.
- Rest pastry for 30 minutes.
- To make crepes:
- Sift flour & salt & sugar into bowl. Beat eggs & milk together, adding cooled melted butter.
- Whip into flour mixture & rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Brush a non stick pan with butter & oil & heat the pan.
- Ladle 1/3 - 1/2 cup crepe batter into hot pan & cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Flip crepe & cook other side for 40 seconds or so.
- Remove from pan & place onto a sheet of greaseproof paper, continue to cook remaining crepe batter & separate each with a layer of
- greaseproof paper.
- To prepare steak and mushroom/onion pate:
- Bring beef fillets to room temperature.
- Season beef with salt & pepper & drizzle with olive oil
- Cook individual eye fillets in a hot pan until sealed & browned on all surfaces.
- In the same pan gently saute onion until soft & transparent.
- Add mushrooms, bay leaf & fresh thyme leaves.
- Season with salt & pepper add white wine & simmer gently until the mixture is dry-ish.
- Add flat leaf parsley.
- Assembling:
- Roll out the pastry long enough & wide enough to cover your beef.
- Lay crepes over pastry & then spoon/spread a layer of mushrooms/onions/garlic onto crepe.
- Place beef on top of mushroom mix, bring crepe up to enclose sides then top with another crepe to hold lower crepe in place.
- Bring pastry up the sides of the crepe/beef & crimp at the top.
- Brush pastry with beaten egg yolk/water & refrigerate for 10-20 minutes to cool pastry.
- Bake @ 220DegC for 15 minutes if cooking individual eye fillets - test with probe thermometer - medium rare = 65-67DegC.
- You need to extend cooking time to 30 minutes if cooking whole eye fillet.
Notes & Tips
It may sound fiddly and time consuming but it is well worth all the effort! I would go as far as to say that this would probably serve 4 people - cut each wellington in half (or two ravenously hungry bodies!)
