Beef Wellington Smith

Wellington Smith is my favorite player on this year's stellar WVU basketball team. I refer to him as Beef Wellington Smith, and in his honor, I decided to make Beef Wellington for dinner last evening.

About 10 years ago, I had a part time job as a bartender at a very small, very private club in the mountains of western Pennsylvania. The job was all right, but it was not quite what I was looking for so I did not spend a whole lot of time there. On the bright side, the club's stereotypically surly chef was quite adept, and he opened my eyes to several dishes, Beef Wellington being one of them.

Wellingtons begin with beef, of course, in the form of two chunks of filet mignon that I purchased at the downtown Curb Market. This beef is top-notch, local beef from Climax, NC, fed on grass for its meaningful life. The flavor was outstanding. I liberally Salted and Peppered the beef, and then I seared it in my skillet. So far so good. As the boeuf rested, I began the duxelle, a cooking term that was new to me, which consisted mostly of white mushrooms with a couple trumpets and shiitakes thrown in for good measure.

I processorized the mushrooms and then squeezed the water out of them through a kitchen towel. Into the pan they went, and here's where I made a mistake: I did not let the remaining water cook out of the mushrooms, but instead added butter and began sauteing. I think the duxelle is supposed to be a little bit dry, and mine was not, as I also added some Chardonnay and more butter. Salt and Pepper and a little bit of cream, and it is becoming something good. I let it cook for a while to get some more of the moisture out.

Next I unfolded a sheet of puff pastry and cut a few flaps to accommodate wrapping the beef and duxelle. I mounded the duxelle in the center of the pastry and placed a filet on top. Then I
wrapped, using a bit of egg wash to bind the dough together. Into the oven they went for about 40 minutes. The pastry browned nicely, but the beef cooked well. That is fine with me as this meat would never have the opportunity to be too dry or flavorless. But the conventional wisdom, which I do not always find to be so wise, states that medium is always better. Whatever.

A small amount of sauce in the pan composed of a little more Chardonnay and Worcestershire initially. I reduced that a lot and then mounted it with butter just before I was ready to eat. Regarding this sauce, I was moved enough to exclaim loudly to no one but The Walrus, “Dangit, boy!” or something similar.

Awhile back, the HT was selling 10-pound bags of carrots cheap, so I bought a bag. Ten pounds of carrots is a lot of carrots, so I decided to make use of them--carrot frites, and I must say it was a good idea. Of course, carrot frites require a lot of carrot chopping, but it's worth it, so I made at least a thousand carrot sticks and parfried them in the deep fryer. Right before I was ready to eat, I finished frying the carrots. When they came out of the hot oil, I dusted them with a mixture of salt, brown sugar, powdered ginger, cinnamon, and a little chili powder. Good, good, good.

In retrospect, the next time I make Beef Wellington, I will roll the dough a bit thinner than it is out of the box and halve the beef to make smaller Wellingtons. The facade was great, but the interior was just a little too moist. I think a thinner pastry and a drier duxelle will make this dish slightly better, even though the result this time was very acceptable and very tasty.