The Ultimate Beef Presentation, Beef Wellington

Fillet and Steaks

The fillet is the underside of the short loin of beef, the tenderloin.

The following, traditional, recipes are not technically roasted, but are usually considered to be such.

Beef Wellington is beef; (usually; but not always; fillet-tenderloin, the same cut as should be used for Chateaubriand. What is now known as Fillet mignon is also used).

Like Chateaubriand; Beef Wellington is just a beef recipe. 

The recipe calls for BEEF; covered with truffle duxelles, and a pâté; that is baked in a pleated puff pastry covering. 

Because of the pâté, and puff pastry, covering; it may be, probably should be, regarded as a Braised or En-Casserole recipe.

Beef Wellington is, also, one of those 'classic dishes' that many are afraid of. It is, primarily, accepted as an English dish; though the fact is: it's an English take on the French filet de boeuf en croute; which fell out of favour during the time of the Napoleonic Wars (early 1800s). As a result the dish was re-named by an enterprising chef after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and victor of Waterloo. The dish itself is a puff pastry crust which enfolds a fillet mignon (sometimes, a whole fillet) covered in and duxelles.

Ingredients:

Two and a half to three pounds, beef fillet, preferably the large end (from which comes porterhouse steaks) or you may also use the smaller, slightly less desirable, middle portion (often called the fillet mignon). 

4 Tbsps. thyme leaves, finely minced

 Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

1 lb. duxelles

 ¼ lb. Pâté de foie gras (truffels, goose liver etc.)

2 tsps. English mustard

 1 lb. puff pastry

 1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. milk and melted butter, to glaze the puff pastry

Preparation Method:

Liberally season the beef with the thyme leaves, sea salt and black pepper and set aside to infuse for 30 minutes.

After this time add a little olive oil to a pan and use to sear the beef on each side until golden brown. Set the beef aside to cool.

Roll the pastry on a lightly-floured surface until slightly wider than the beef. Coat the pastry (leaving a 1/2 in. rim) with the pâté then take half the duxelles and use to cover the pastry half that's closest to you. Cover the beef with the mustard then place on top of the duxelles. Use the remaining duxelles to cover the visible surfaces of the beef then lift the pastry to entirely cover the beef.

 Trim the ends of the pastry so they're flush with the beef and crimp together (use the egg and milk mix to seal). Cut a piece of baking paper so it's the same size as the beef Wellington. Grease with butter and use a spatula to lift the beef Wellington on top.

Transfer to a baking tray and place in a refrigerator to set for 40 minutes. Take out of the refrigerator at the end of this time, brush with remaining butter, egg milk, to glaze, then place in an oven pre-heated to 350 F and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and is a dark golden brown in colour. Take the beef Wellington out of the oven, cover and set in a warm place to rest for 10 minutes then slice and serve with a bouquet of suitable vegetables; and Duchess, Château or Roast potatoes.

Fillet of Beef Wellington-No. 2

Remove the tail, trim a good-sized fillet of beef, and wipe the meat with a cloth dipped in brandy. Slice not quite through, into 6 equal parts, between each slice put thin slices of cooked ham spread with pate de foie gras(available at gourmet and speciality stores). Reshape the fillet and braise it in a moderate oven (350 F.) for about 12 minutes, or until it is half done, basting it frequently with 1/2 cup beef stock. Brush the tenderloin with melted meat glaze. Cool it slightly, spread the top thinly with pate de foie gras, and sprinkle with diced black truffles. Roll out puff paste to a thin sheet, cut out an oval slightly larger than the meat, and lay it on a roasting sheet. Brush the paste with dorure.

Lay the meat on the oval. Cover the beef with another oval of paste and fold the edges of the paste together. Cut the edges of the base to form a serrated edge. Decorate the top with strips of paste cut into floral shapes. Chill for 30 minutes. Return the pan to a moderately hot oven (375 F.) and bake the meat for 40 to 50 minutes, or until paste is golden brown. Shield the paste with foil if it browns too quickly.

Fillet of Beef Wellington-No.3

Trim a good-sized fillet of beef, smear it generously with butter, and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Put it in a shallow, flat, pan with scraps of celery, carrots, onion, and parsley, 1 bay leaf and a pinch of rosemary (mirepoix)and roast it in a very hot oven (450 F.) for about 25 minutes. Remove it and let it cool.

When the fillet is cold, spread it with a substantial layer of pate de foie gras, and wrap it in pie pastry, rolled about 1/8 inch thick. Trim the edges of the pastry moisten them with a little cold water and press firmly together. Bake the fillet on a baking sheet in a hot oven, again (450 F.) for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is delicately browned. For a shiny crust, brush the surface with beaten egg yolk before baking.

Add 1 cup veal stock, 1/4 cup pate de foie gras, and 1 large truffle, diced, to the roasting pan. Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes and serve it separately.

©Al *Alex-Alexander)D. Girvan.All rights reserved.

A Descriptive Story of Meat Cookery

There are only five general methods of cooking meats: They  are described below.

Moist Heat-Cooking in liquid: For: Large less tender cuts of  meat; stews, soups .    

1. Brown meat on all sides

2. Add seasonings

3. Cover meat with water, vegetable juices, or soup stock.

4. Cover pan tightly.

5. Simmer until tender, about 185 F. do not boil.       

6. If vegetables are to be added, add whole or large    pieces, just long enough before the meat is tender, to cook them.

Stew Tips:

1. Seasoning Suggestions: Bay leaf, Celery Seed, Celery Salt, Parsley, Thyme, Marjoram, Cloves, Peppercorns, or Curry powder.

2. Variety in Vegetables: (Select vegetables of various colours, textures, and flavours.) Cabbage, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Celery, Green Pepper, Tomatoes, Lima beans, Navy or Green Beans, Potatoes, Peas, Corn , Turnips(white or yellow).

1. Dredge meat with flour, if desired

2. Season with salt and pepper and other seasonings, if desired.

3. Brown slowly on all sides in small amount of fat.

4. Add small amount of liquid.

5. Cover tightly.

6. Cook at simmering temperature on top of range, or in a slow to moderate oven (325-350 F) until tender.


Braising Steaming Method

1. Dredge meat with flour, if desired

2. Season with salt and pepper and other seasonings, if desired.

3. Brown slowly on all sides in small amount of fat.

4. Add small amount of liquid.

5. Cover tightly.

6. Cook at simmering temperature on top of range, or in a slow to moderate oven (325-350 F) until tender.

Oven Broiling Method

You are really roasting the meat. This is the closest many Canadians have ever come to eating roast beef.

1. Turn oven regulator to "Broil". (Broiler may be preheated or not, as desired).

2. Place meat 2 to 5 ins. from heat.

3. Broil until top side is brown.

4. Turn and broil the other side.

5. Season and serve at once.

6. Season with salt and pepper, and other seasonings, if desired. Do not use salt before cooking. Salt draws out the juices and will cause the meat to be tough.

7. The one disadvantage to broiler cooking is that many home broilers are not hot enough to successfully cook, without drying out and toughening, the thinner cuts of meat now so common in the supermarkets

Broiling also includes all, grill and rotisserie cooking

Broiler tips:

1. Place steaks desired rare close to flame. Surface will brown before meat is cooked through.

2. Place 1-ins chops 2 to 3 ins. from heat. Place 2ins steaks 3 to 5ins from heat.

Pan Broiling Method-The preferred method for cooking a "Really Good" steak or chop.

1. Place meat in sizzling hot heavy frying pan or on griddle.

2. Do not add fat. Do not add water. Do not cover.

3. Brown meat on both sides.

4. Turn occasionally to cook evenly.

5. Remove fat as it accumulates.

6. When done, season and serve at once.

Pan Frying Method

(Thin, tender meat or meat made tender by pounding, scoring, cubing, or grinding.

1. In hot, heavy frying pan, brown meat on both sides in a small amount of fat.

2. Season with salt and pepper only after cooking.

3. Do not cover meat-to cover it would be braising.

4. Turn occasionally and cook at moderate temperature until done.

Roasting Method

Remember-Modern roasting  (in an oven)is really baking

1. Season with salt if desired (Use salt very sparingly, salt dries and toughens meat. More can be added later. I prefer not to add any salt until the meat is almost cooked) and pepper. .Searing is not necessary, again, it only dries, hardens and toughens the meat.

2. Place meat, fat side up, on rack in a shallow, open roasting pan. Do not use the deep covered pan commonly called a roaster (which is really a very poor quality casserole and an "American" innovation and suitable only for braising). You do not want to steam the meat.

3. Insert meat thermometer. The bulb of the thermometer should be in the meatiest part of the roast. Be sure the bulb doesn't touch bone or rest in fat.

4. Do not add water. Do not cover. Why spend the extra money to obtain a tender cut, if you intend to braise it? Strange as it may sound, many North Americans have never eaten true roast beef or roast meat of any kind. All hope is not lost however, as recently I have seen several styles of fairly well designed roasting pans- all of European or Asian design- coming into the hardware and department stores. Most of these new pans have good sturdy carrying handles and are equipped with a rack that facilitates lifting of the meat and prevents it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Because these pans are intended for roasting-usually fish, meat, or poultry but sometimes vegetables, there are, of course, no lids.

5. Roast in a slow oven 250-350 F.

6. Roast to desired degree of doneness (a meat thermometer is the only accurate test for doneness. Be sure to use one, when you roast and remember, a large cut will continue cooking after it has been removed from the oven.

7. Take meat from oven and let stand 10-15 minutes for easier carving.

A History of Pork in Europe and in North America

Unlike the United States, continental Europe has a large high-end pork segment, where farmers raise the best they can, often for the cured meat market. The farmers and scientists have discovered what techniques work to produce the best meat. And why these techniques work.

In Canada and the United States of the Americas (as is true of almost anything "American") almost all the large producers have instead focused on producing; with as little labour as possible, as much meat, as cheaply as possible, and selling it for the highest price possible. In the United States of the Americas, unimproved (lard type) breeds were traditionally just turned loose in forests to feed themselves, or penned and fed agricultural-including animal waste, or some combination of both. Up until now they have done amazingly well.

Unfortunately for "American" farmers and producers and as evidenced by their rapidly declining economy; time is not on their side.

Many of the Europeans who visited the early United States and gave their impressions of it when they got home were struck by the exploitation, greed, and total lack of concern for the tremendous waste shown, and also by the huge amount of meat every American man, woman and child consumed.

Although fast disappearing, game was still abundantly available, and pigs were allowed to run wild and fatten in the woods, or (like the also imported Norwegian Rats) roam city streets and eat up the garbage.

Pigs, being omnivorous (like rats), are also basically scavengers; and prefer food that is slightly spoiled. This being the case, of course, much of the pork was diseased. And then as now, much was never inspected. In order that it would keep, but also in order to kill disease; certain cuts of pork were cured i.e., treated with salt and other substances and smoked. This curing could and often did take a very long time. After hams or bacon were salted and peppered, they were hung in a warm haze of oak, apple, and hickory smoke-which is why we Canadians so often see these names on ham or bacon today. Once the smoking process had come to an end, they were aged upwards of a year (they could be aged even longer than that, and an old Virginia recipe is very specific in its instructions for cooking a ham that is five years old).They gradually shrank, gathering their spices and flavourings unto themselves.  The dry meat would keep for three hundred years. For those of us who are used to ordinary ham- which is cured by injecting gelatine and brine into the blood vessels and smoking it over sawdust (or chemical smoke may be used) a process that can take as little as four days- the strong taste of American country  ham would be a real surprise.

“You should soak it first, and then cook it very slowly. Let it simmer, not boil- for simmering brings ye Salt out and boiling drives it in." 

While originally, Canadian pork was also largely uninspected; most of it was kept penned and Canadians tended toward the longer leaner British "bacon hog" rather than the shorter heavier American Mangalitsa, Tamworth, or Ridgeback "lard hog", which could weigh a thousand pounds. When all the visible fat was cut away from the meat the so called lean pork was still almost a third fat. Because the pork contained so much fat, it was considered more difficult to digest than beef or even mutton.

Canadian hogs were slaughtered at a younger age, approximately one hundred and ninety pounds, so they were not so fat and disease was never so great a problem.

So much salt pork was eaten by so many Americans in the 19th Century that molasses, the most popular of sweeteners, was regularly used to subdue the briny taste. It was marvelled that even the poorest of the settlers had salt meat for breakfast, salt meat, or salt fish for dinner, and salt meat again for supper. An English observer was alarmed that the people he encountered never seemed to eat any vegetables, and evidently had an aversion to fresh meat of any kind.

 However much pork may have been eaten, two things are outstanding about the American diet from colonial days down through the 19^th century, and into the 20^th and 21st centuries, - and they are its protein and alcohol base, which were unequalled anywhere else in the world. The meat and protein certainly had its effect on growing American children, but it is very doubtful if it has been for the good.

The American dream of affluence, luxury, instant gratification, rollicking good times, and world domination just may be the very thing that eliminates them from the face of the earth.

Fifty percent of Americans are now considered obese and many more are just genetically too big, which puts much added unnecessary strain on heart, bones, and joints. Their children, today, are expected to have shorter life spans than their parents.

Americans ate and drank so much that dyspepsia was almost a national disease and they were easy prey for medicine quacks peddling nostrums and elixirs.

Corn whiskey was the American wine. Diluted with water, hard liquor was drunk at mealtimes and in between meals as well. Even ministers and children drank it; boys 12 years of age or less were known to enter stores where whiskey could be had, saunter up to the clerks, "and tip off their drams”.

Perhaps the American propensity for whiskey in the first half of the 19th Century had something to do with the countries troubled adolescence. It definitely had, and has, everything to do with the chronic paranoia and need to dictate to the rest of the world