Beef Wellington from my friend at UNM Student Center

Beef Wellington from my friend at the UNM Student Center

I got this recipe back in the fifties from a friend who was the catering manager at the UNM Student Ceneter
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Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 or more
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • Cream Cheese Pastry for Wellington and for Baked Brie
  • 1 3-oz. package of cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup butter room temperature
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • I quadruple this recipe for a beef wellington as it was originally created to wrap a small wheel of brie in for a baked brie. This means that you will need:
  • 12 oz of cream cheese which is 1 1/2 of the 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
  • 1 cup of butter two sticks
  • 3 cups of flour.
  • For the paté
  • In 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 lb of mushrooms
  • 1/4 lb of cooked ham
  • 1/3 cup sherry
  • 1/2 lb chicken livers

Equipment

  • 1 medium frying pan
  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

  1. For the Wellington
  2. Sauté in melted butter 2 Tbsp. butter, sauté for 5 minutes, 1/2 lb of mushrooms and 1/4 lb of cooked ham, both very finely chopped and 1/2 garlic clove, crushed with a little salt. Add 1/3 cup sherry and 1/2lb chicken livers, sauteéd and chopped. Mix well and remove from heat. Put in food processor and process until a paté smoothness.
    For the pastry
    Put the cream cheese, butter and flour in a food processor and process until it comes together like a dough.
    Remove from processor and shape into a wheel kneading it a little to remove any cracks in it. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour. Roll out dough large enough to enclose the entire filet and a bit larger so you will have excess to make decorations with after you have wrapped the filet.
  3. Roll out the pastry using( you can use puff pastry if you like but I find the following cream cheese pastry holds up better with the juices from the filet) in a sheet large enough to enclose the entire filet. Lay the cold filet in the center of the puff pastry and pile the ham, mushroom and liver mixture on and around the filet. Carefully wrap the filet in the pastry, turning in the ends and press all seams together firmly. Lay it seamside own on a baking sheet and brush with egg white. Cut decorative shapes from the trimmings of the pastry(I have these little cutters that cut out different leaf shapes and arrange them on long narrow strips of the pastry so it looks like a tree) brushing each of them with the eggwhite to make them stick to the pastry. Brush the tops of the decorations with the egg white as well.
  4. Chill the Wellington before cooking.
  5. Bake the filet in a hot oven (425degrees) for 25 or 30 minutes or until the pastry is a nice solid brown. Remove from oven and allow to rest for fifteen minutes. The end pieces will be medium rare and the center cuts will be rare.
  6. To the reserved pan juices add 1/2 cup each of beef stock and sherry or madeira and 1 tblsp. tarragon. Heat the sauce for a few minutes.
  7. Carefully slice the wellington keeping the crust intact around each slice and serve with the sauce. I also make a bearnaise sauce to serve with this and supply a horseradish sauce as well for those who like that with their beef and who doesn’t

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