Beef Wellington

 Boeuf en croute or Beef wellington; a piece of tenderloin covered with pate, mushrooms and wrapped in a puff pastry, baked to perfection until a golden brown.

The French call it fillet de boeuf en croute, while the English have named this very French dish Beef Wellington; Legend has it that the Duke of Wellington had once proclaimed this to be his favourite French Meal, hence after the English won the Battle of Waterloo it was decided to label the dish after him!

Either way it is a delicious way of enjoying a good steak. The addition of strips of bacon is a further option. However it tastes just as superb without it.

A beef fillet cooked to perfection

Can serve 2 generously

It is essential to slice thickly to avoid it crumbling

4 to 6 servings
The picture above is off a smaller beef wellington than in the recipe below.

Beef wrapped in puff pastry

1 kg/2.2lb Beef

250gm/1/4lb Pate, at room temperature

250gm/1/4lb finely diced mushrooms; duxelle

1 tbsp Mustard

Salt  and pepper; freshly cracked.

A sheet of puff pastry; approximately 13x9 inches/ 33x22 cm

Egg wash
Lightly beat an egg and add 2 tbsp some cold water.

Pat dry the piece of beef. Lightly season with mustard, salt and pepper. Leave aside.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the sheet of puff pastry on it.
Apply the pate` all over the meat, roll it in the mushroom duxelle and place it on the puff pastry. Fold starting with the shorter sides, and bring the bottom side up, cover with top side to make it into an envelope. press it very lightly across the seam. Turn it over so the seam is down side. 
Brush all over with an egg wash.

Bake in a preheated oven of 410F/200C for 40 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing it. 
Serve it with a peppercorn sauce if you prefer.

Tips

For avoiding a soggy bottom you can take the following extra steps.

1. Keep the puff pastry chilled, work quickly to avoid it getting warm.

2.  Begin with brushing the pastry with a beaten egg white - so this is technically on the inside of the beef wellington. Do not go right up to the edges.

3. Keep a cookie sheet which has holes in it - like a pizza tray or place it on a rack on top of the cookie sheet. 

This circulates the air to the bottom of the beef wellington.

 More Tips

The piece of beef should be like a roll. The best piece is from the center part of a tenderloin
(undercut). 
Prepare this while the meat is cold. It helps to retain the shape better. 
The pate is best at room temperature for easy application.

if using duxelle keep it chilled. 


For more delicious recipes click
Niloufer's Kitchen: French Bistro from read.amazon.com

Peppercorn Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salted butter
1 finely grated fresh clove of garlic ;optional
2 tbsp mixed french peppercorns; these are softer and come mixed in pinks, reds, grey and black
2 finely chopped shallots
4 cups of meat broth, boiled  and reduced to 2 cups
1/2 cup brandy or rum
1 1/2 cups cream at room temperature

Salt to taste

In a pan heat the oil and butter. Saute the shallots until soft. Drop in the peppercorns. Add the broth and allow it to simmer until reduced by half. Add the brandy or rum. Remove from the heat and add the cream stirring constantly.
Return to a very gentle heat to warm the sauce.

Tips
Gently heat the cream before adding it to the sauce
The brandy will make it sharp while the rum will give it a sweeter taste. Pick your preference accordingly.
If you like a smoother sauce ensure the shallots are very finely chopped.

Chutney Fish Pastry Roll.

Chutney ni Maachi | Chutney and Fish in Pastry Roll

A wonderful party dish. This is a westernised, fusion Parsi food recipe. The sharpness and tangy chutney make this recipe pop. Try it out in different ways. Fill up smaller vol au vents and present them individually if you prefer. Or you can even make individual parcels from the rolled-out puff pastry sheets. This recipe doubles easily to serve a crowd. It is an old Parsi favourite which was often served at parties. It cannot be reheated but can be prepared ahead of time up to the stage of prebaking.

As individual servings, open style?

Perfect for larger groups at a buffet table,
(This roll has not been overturned. hence the seam is visible)

Serves 6

Preparing and Poaching Fish

For 1/2 kg/ 1.1 lb fillet of fish, thick fish works easier.

Apply a mix of 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp vinegar all over it.

Poach the fish for a minute or two in

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small onion, chopped

1 slit green chilli

1 small tomato, chopped

 Remove the fish from the water and flake it into large pieces, then set aside.

The Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup of the fish liquid

1 tbsp salted butter

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup ketchup

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon chilli powder

Mix this well and cook it on the stove top till it comes to a boil. Allow this to boil for a full minute to ensure the flour is cooked through. It should be thick and shiny. Yet, it's soft enough to apply over the fish.

 

 

 

Coconut Chutney

 

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 ½ cups of fresh coriander; packed tightly

2 tbsp jaggery

6 green chillies

½ tsp salt

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 green peeled mangoes

10 fresh mint leaves

 

Grind the coconut until fine. With the machine running add the rest of the ingredients - preferably in the order listed. Taste for the tikkhu-khattu-mitthu balance.  

 

Assembling the Puff Pastry

 

Roll out 450 g/ 1.1 lb of puff pastry on a parchment paper. 

Leaving an inch or two all around the pastry, apply the chutney over the pastry. Place the fish in the centre lengthwise and pour the tomato sauce over the fish part only. Then fold the short sides of the pastry on to the fish, next take the bottom part of the pastry over the fish, and lastly, bring down the top of the pastry just over the bottom part of the pastry to seal and fold properly.

Gently push it over to turn the "seam side" down. Make a slit on top and glaze the top portion going down the sides. It can be any of the 3 methods: an egg wash, plain milk, or a spoonful of left-over cream. Place the parchment paper with the roll on a large baking tray.

Preheat the oven and bake at 200 °C | 400 °F for 35 minutes, or until cooked and golden brown. This is best served freshly baked from the oven.

Tips 

Do not overcook the fish while poaching. This is just to ensure the fish does not remain raw and helps to flake it into pieces to fill the puff pastry. The vinegar helps keep the fish firm, and the rest of the ingredients in the poaching water give it a taste to avoid the fish tasting like "boiled" fish. While this is the traditional way of preparing this dish, you can skip the poaching step altogether and use fresh raw fish instead. 

Slice it with a pizza cutter for clean cutting.

Keeping a piece of parchment paper at the bottom makes it simpler to handle before and after baking. It will easily slide onto your platter to serve.

For more Parsi Food recipes, its history and origin read my cookbook
The Art of Parsi Cooking;reviving an ancient cuisine.

For more recipes from Niloufer's Kitchen click

Niloufer's Kitchen: Moroccan from https://read.amazon.com/ 

photo courtesy

Kainaaz R Patell

Yazad Parakh