Beef Wellington Recipe #2

Alexander already has a fabulous Beef Wellington recipe on TFE but I thought I would throw in my version, which of course is soooo much more betterer than his. Hmmm.

Anyway, this is a pretty much direct steal from Gordon 'Effing' Ramsey with a few of my own add-ins.

Before I start I just want to have one little lecture. This recipe is all about MEAT, it’s showcasing beef in a very opulent and sophisticated way, and so you need to make sure that the beef you buy and serve is of the very best quality.

In Dubai the beef available to us is pretty dire so we need to make the most of a bad lot. I am very fortunate that I have access to some of the best beef I have ever tasted through a great SA chum who brings it up from home but that avenue is closed at the moment sadly due to nonsensical local custom restrictions. Anyway, you need to splurge here, get the very best beef fillet that you can afford, a nice long thick piece, tied if necessary into a good log shape. Make sure the butcher has trimmed off any membrane or fatty bits. I work on approx 175-200g of beef per person.

You will need:

700-800g beef filet
500g puff pastry
2 large Portobello mushrooms
200g button mushrooms,
3 cloves of garlic
6 slices parma ham
1 heaped tbsp English mustard
3 tbsp brandy
Flat leaf parsley


And then you need to:

Put the mushrooms and the garlic in to a food processor and whizz to a coarse paste.

Scrape out the mushrooms into a large dry frying pan (no oil) add 1 tbsp of brandy and over a medium heat cook the mushroom mixture until it is dry. Add the chopped flat leaf parsley, seasoning and put to one side.

Lay the beef fillet on a board and grind a generous amount of black pepper all over. In the same frying pan heat 2 tbsp olive oil over high heat and sear the beef one all sides. Cook it pretty quick, just sear and colour the outside of the beef.

When almost done splash in 2 tbsp brandy and set light to it. FLAMBE!

Remove the beef and set to one side. Scrape any bits and pour the juices into a small pan in which you are going to make the port wine sauce.

Brush the English mustard over the beef.

Roll out the pastry into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface.

Lay out the parma ham in the middle of the pastry in slightly overlapping layers. With a palette knife smear the mushroom mixture on top of the ham. Lay the beef on top and roll the pastry around the beef making sure it is covered first by the ham and mushroom layer. Trim off any pastry not needed and neatly tuck the ends in and lay on a lightly oiled metal baking tray with the seam side down.

Brush the pastry with beaten egg yolk and then bake in a hot oven (400F/200C) for 40 minutes. This will produce beef medium rare.

I serve this delicious beef with these potatoes and with green beans cooked in a thick tomato paste. I also make a small bowl of port wine sauce to go with it.