I had been hearing about Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Beef Wellington from one of my brothers and his friends for quite some time.  So when Christmas came around, my brother asked if I would be willing to do it, and I thought, “Sure, why not?  How hard could it be right?  Challenge accepted!”

Before actually going out to buy the ingredients, I watched the video countless times and read and re-read the recipe, just to make sure I was really up for the challenge.  Cooking anything new can be quite stressful, but cooking Christmas dinner?  Nerve wrecking!

I called ahead to make sure my local grocery store carried this specific cut of beef.  I have major anxiety when it comes to finding the correct ingredients, and like most people, I would rather keep all my shopping to one place instead of driving all around town.  For Miami locals, Fresh Market in Coconut Grove had all of the ingredients except the chestnut mushrooms* and puff pastry, both of which I found at Milam’s.

As mentioned in my About section, I like to cross reference and research recipes further before committing.  I had the video to go by, but I wanted the written recipe as well.  Since this wasn’t the traditional Beef Wellington with foie gras, I settled on this the recipe from Gourmet Guys (which also includes the original video).

INGREDIENTS

• 2.2 lbs Filet Mignon
• 3 tbs Olive Oil
• 250 g Chestnut Mushrooms*
• 50 g Butter (1/2 a stick is 56 g)**
• 100 g Chestnuts
• 1 sprig of Fresh Thyme
• 12 slices of Parma Ham (Prosciutto)
• 100 ml Dry White Wine
• 500 g Puff Pastry (I purchased two boxes)
• 1 tbsp Flour
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp Hot English Mustard (I used Colman’s)
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 1 pinch of Salt & Pepper
• 1 tsp Flaked Salt

*I was not able to find chestnut mushrooms, so I settled for a mix of portobello and other random mushrooms.  I think that finding the correct mushroom is important, and if you can’t find it, definitely use more flavorful mushrooms such as portobello and cremini instead of white mushrooms.

**In Gordon Ramsay’s video he does not use butter, nor is butter actually listed in one of the steps of the site I used, so my version had no butter.

DIRECTIONS

Cooking the Filet Mignon

1. Sear the filet of beef in a frying pan with hot oil.  (Gordon Ramsay shows you in the video how to sear the meat against the side of the pan.  Just be sure your pan is high enough, otherwise you will create a nice hot oil mess like I did!)
2. Once seared, remove the filet from the pan and brush on some English mustard

For the Duxelles

1. Mix in a blender/food processor the mushrooms, garlic clove and salt & pepper
2. Crumble in the chestnuts and blend some more
3. Transfer to a hot dry pan and cook for a few minutes to remove the moisture
4. Add a few leaves of fresh thyme

Assembling the Beef Wellington

1. Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board/working surface
2. Lay the prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row (or however much will be needed to cover the filet)
3. Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto then sit the filet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over
4. Use the cling film’s edges to draw the  prosciutto around the filet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go
5. Chill the filet in the fridge for 15 minutes
6. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface
7. Place the filet in the center of pastry (remove the cling wrap first)
8. Carefully lift and roll the filet with pastry over the filet
9. Trim any excess pastry so that there is no double layer of pastry
10. Pinch and seal the edges
11. Roll in cling film and shape well 
12. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the Beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry
13. Salt the top of the pastry well and follow the cooking instructions below
    

Cooking the Beef Wellington

1. Pre-heat the oven to 392 F
2. Cook until golden and crisp, about 20-25 minutes for medium rare beef, 30 minutes for medium***
3. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving in thick slices

NOTES

***The recipe called for 1 kg of filet (2.2 lbs).  I purchased 2.47 lbs and it was a lot bigger than the one shown in the video, so I had to use more prosciutto and pastry dough.  I followed the cooking time as directed, but given the larger size of our cut and the fact that my family prefers their meat medium, we had to increase the cooking time.  What we ended up doing was cutting the ends and then putting the Beef Wellington back in the over for further cooking, then taking it out again, cutting the ends, and back in the oven.  If you prefer your meat rare, this dish is perfect for you!  (The first time we cut it, the rare part looked like the cut in the pictures on the site.)

The Beef Wellington can be made ahead, which is what we did, so on Christmas Eve all we had to do was bake it.

P.S. It came out great and my brother, who had requested this dish, loved it!  The following night his friends ate leftovers and they too enjoyed it, which is always good to hear.  Personally it isn’t my type of dish, but it is quite tasteful and a great addition to any holiday feast!

Enjoy!

Adri

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