Get ready to dazzle you date with your culinary skills. Some dishes are pure classics when it comes to romantic meals for two: Oysters Rockerfeller, Clams Casino, Lobster Thermidor, and Steak Au Poivre. We’ve whipped up a special dish to inspire your Valentine’s Day Seduction Meal, and it is a classic every steak lover should try. Named after the Duke of Ellington, Beef Wellington is a dish that was extremely popular in the 1960’s. For our version we’ve made individual servings using filet mignon topped with foie gras slices (instead of pate), and Duxelles, a finely chopped mixture of mushrooms, shallots, garlic sautéed in butter. If you are cooking for a group, you would use a whole tenderloin that is wrapped and baked, and then sliced for individual servings.
I will say, this is a moderately easy recipe but it is a bit time consuming. Don’t be intimidated – its an amazing dish and well worth the effort. Once you have all ingredients on hand, you have four separate things to make before assembly: the Duxelle or Mushroom Mixture, the seared Foie Gras slices, the Beef, and the Bordelaise sauce. To save time, you can prepare the Sauce and the Duxelles the day before.
Enjoy your time in the kitchen and prepare this dish with leisure and love – it will show in the end result and trust me, your loved one will be oohing and aahing for this one. So there you have it – Beef Wellington. Contender for a special Seduction Meal? I’ll say!
Beef Wellington with Foie Gras and Duxelle
DUXELLE (Mushroom Mixture) / this can be made the day before
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of chopped, mixed mushrooms (white button, cremini, shiitake etc.)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon clarified butter
- 2 tablespoons shallots, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon red wine
Directions:
- Finely chop cleaned mushrooms to a very small uniform size
- In a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat, add butter and when hot add shallots and garlic, sauteeing until translucent and softened.
- Add the mushrooms, salt, pepper and thyme. Saute for about ten minutes until mushrooms are tender. Add the red wine and cook until wine evaporates and the skillet is dry – 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside as you prepare the Beef Wellington, allowing the mushrooms to cool completely.
- If prepare the day before, be sure to place completely cooled mushrooms in an air tight container and bring to room temperature the next day prior to final assembly.
- Note: this makes about 3/4 – 1 cup. If you have any leftovers the mushrooms make a great mix with scrambled eggs!
SAUCE BORDELAISE / this can be made the day before
Ingredients:
- 3 Tablespoons shallots, finely diced
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, crushed
- 1 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 3/4 cups veal or beef stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Combine shallots, thyme, bay leaf, crushed peppercorns and wine in a saucepan
- Over medium heat, cook until the wine thickens to half its volume and is like a syrup (about 10 – 15 minutes).
- Add stock and cook the mixture until thick enough to evenly coat the back of your spoon.
- Strain and season with salt and pepper to taste, and swirl in butter off heat.
BEEF WELLINGTON
Ingredients
- 2 5-oz filet mignons, about 1 1/2 inches thick
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoons clarified butter*
- 1/2 cup Duxelles (recipe below)
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 cup button mushrooms, quartered
- 2 slices of seared Foie Gras (recipe below)
- Bordelaise sauce (recipe below)
Directions
- Season the filets with salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- In a large heavy skillet, heat 4 tablespoons of the clarified butter over high heat. When the pan is smoking, sear the filet mignon for 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. This will seal in the juices. Remove the steaks from the pan and set aside to cool.
FOIE GRAS
Ingredients
- 2 1-inch thick slices of foie gras
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Season the Foie Gras slices with salt and pepper
- In a hot saute pan, sear the Foie Gras on each side for 30 seconds. Remove from heat immediately and drain on a paper towel to absorb any grease. plate. Set aside.
BEEF WELLINGTON PREPARATION
- Lay the pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface and cut into two squares.
- Lightly dust each square with flour and roll out to squares that are twice the size of your steak. You want to be able to cover each filet with its toppings and to fold the pastry over the steak and pinch it closed.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 2 tablespoons of water to make an egg wash
- Take one pastry square and place a slice of foie gras in the center.
- Place 1/2 of the mushroom mixture on top of one of the filet mignons, and slightly press down to secure mixture and carefully invert the steak and mushrooms and place on top of the Foie Fras slice.
- Brush the edge of the pasty with the egg wash and fold the pastry up over the edges of the steak, and pinch together in the center, pressing to seal.
- In a shallow, ungreased roasting pan place each steak sealed side down, and brush each wellington with egg wash.
- Tip: If you have extra puff pastry you can crate an interesting shape, such as a leaf or heart, and place over the top
- Refrigerate for one – two hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.
- While the wellington steaks are cooking, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of clarified butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, and saute for about 10 minutes.
- Place a Wellington Steak in the center of a plate. Add a few tablespoons of the sauce and add mushrooms around the steak. Serve with your favorite side dish and/or a salad.
