Beef Wellington

This used to be a dish I only ever ordered in a restaurant....and during my "singles" interlude, from M&Ms. I figured we should give it a go with the leftover tenderloin piece from our last full tenderloin purchase.

My dog Logan had different ideas on what should be done with said filet. We walked in the house to find him in the kitchen finishing the $22 piece of beef off. I of course took this all in stride....or not.

Shelley went out and grabbed a new filet, Logan became very familiar with the inside of his crate for the evening.

So, here goes....not a lot of specific measurements in this one:

2 beef tenderloins, or 1 big enough for two
2 Tbsp oil, grapeseed, et el (separated)
2 or more Tbsp Old Style prepared mustard (you can use regular mustard)
3 large shiitake mushroom caps
4-6 thinly sliced strips of Prosciutto
1 Egg
1/2 pkg (220g) Puff Pastry (defrosted)
All purpose flour
Salt and Pepper

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a heavy pan on high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Pop the tenderloin into the pan and sear it on all sides to seal. Remove to cutting board. Turn the heat down to medium, and give the pan a quick wipe to remove any excess oil.

Coat the entire tenderloin in mustard. Let rest to the side while you prep the mushrooms.

Rough cut the mushrooms and add to food processor with some pepper (I don't add salt because I find the prosciutto to be salty enough). Whiz it until it is quite smooth. Dump the 'shrooms into the pan to cook off any excess moisture....not dry, just not soggy. I'm sure there's a culinary term for that ;)

Lay out a strip of plastic wrap on the counter, line it with prosciutto slices...enough to wrap around the tenderloin once assembled. Spread the mushrooms on the prosciutto, completely coating it. Lay your beef in the middle and using the plastic wrap, surround the tenderloin with the prosciutto layer. Wrap this all up in the plastic, twisting the ends to get the plastic tight around the meat. Put this in the fridge while you prepare the pastry.

Lightly dust the counter with flour. Roll out the puff pastry as per the package directions. Think about what you are putting inside the pastry and shape your rectangle as needed.

Using a 9" x 6" oven safe pan, pour 1Tbsp of oil in the bottom. Put this in the oven on the middle rack and turn the oven to 400 degrees. You want to pre-heat the pan so the bottom of the Wellington browns up nicely. You will be surprised how quickly this dish will reach target temperature inside.

Take the meat out of the plastic wrap and place on the puff pastry, egg wash the pastry all around the meat (this is the glue) and then wrap the meat up inside, think Christmas present without the tape. Make sure everything is sealed and cut off any excess pastry or else you'll end up with a pile of mushy, uncooked pastry inside. Only overlap as little as you feel is needed to seal the meat in. Use the remaining egg wash to cover the Wellington, it'll get nice and brown in the oven.

Here's hoping you have one of these...

Insert your thermometer into the center of the Beef Wellington and place in the hot pan we put in the oven. Bake until the center reaches the desired temperature you're looking for. We like rare, so we set the temp for 120 degrees. The meat will continue to cook even after you remove from the oven so it's better to remove it a little early.

Enjoy!!