Today's world food comes from the British Isles under mysterious pretenses and its origins may lay upon the more cuisine-serious shores of the European continent.

There seems to be a great deal of mystery surrounding the origin of Beef Wellington and that mystery begins with its name. There are several stories and no real certainties as to why it is called "Beef Wellington". I can offer that it seems to be the English incarnation of a popular French dish called "filet de boeuf en croûte". Perhaps, as I've read, the anglicized version was named after a British hero during times when English and French relations were much more strained than they are now.

In the end, it doesn't matter what you call it, because "a rose by any other name..." blah, blah, blah. You can call it "tenderloin pot pie" or a "cow in a blanket" and I'm still going to want seconds. The telling is in the taste and not the name, ("spotted dick" fans are nodding while they read this).

Beef Wellington is one of those dishes that for a small amount of effort, you can have something really impressive looking and delicious to serve your friends or family during the holidays and other special occasions. It's hard not to get a reaction from your guests when that golden pastry-clad, juicy tenderloin takes center stage on your dinner table. Sliced good and thick and dressed with just a little bit of au jus and paired with some good roast potatoes, this stuff is going to have a lot of fans.

Other recipes suggest an au jus using Madeira as an ingredient. I suppose that is more accurate than my simple au jus, but I just don't keep Madeira around and my version doesn't seem to suffer from the lack of it. If you're a stickler, I'm sure there are many Wellington sauce recipes online. The internet is a wonderful thing!

My last suggestion for this recipe is that you use a good electronic meat thermometer with a remote read out. This allows you to constantly monitor the cooking temperature and lets you time everything perfectly. I know my roast beef, chickens, pork loins and turkeys have greatly improved since I picked up one of these inexpensive technical doodads.

Easy Beef Wellington

2-3 lb. beef filet (trimmed of fat and silver skin)
2 TBS peanut oil
1 2.75 oz. can of goose liver paté
8 ozs. crimini (baby bella) mushrooms (chopped)
1 TBS butter
2 sheets of pastry dough (homemade or frozen)
1 egg white (beaten together with 1 TBS water)
1 cup white wine
1 14.5 oz. can beef broth
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Put a small fry pan over medium heat. Melt the butter and add the chopped mushroom and sauté until the mushrooms give up their liquid and cook down. Remove the mushrooms from any remaining liquid and allow to cool. Reserve the mushroom liquid along with 1 TBS of mushrooms separately.

Set a large heavy fry pan or dutch oven on medium high heat, add peanut oil and when it begins to shimmer carefully brown the beef filet on all sides and both ends. Good browning is key, so increase the heat if necessary. When finished with browning, remove the filet to a plate to cool.

While the filet cools, you can make the au jus.

Set the pan you used to brown the meat over high heat. When it is very hot, add the white wine and deglaze the pan being certain to scrape up any bits from the pan bottom. When the liquid begins to thicken, add the beef broth and reserved mushrooms and mushroom sauce and continue at a high simmer (lower heat if necessary) and reduce to about half. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven to 450°F.

Lay out one sheet of the pastry dough (if using frozen, be sure to thaw first) on a lightly oiled baking tray (not a baking sheet). In the middle of the sheet where the filet will sit, spread a thin layer of the paté. Sprinkle some of the cooked mushrooms onto the paté. Place the filet gently on the paté and mushrooms.

Spread the rest of the paté evenly over the rest of the filet. Then gently press the rest of the mushrooms evenly into the paté on the filet. Then trim the pastry crust to a 1" border around the filet. Using a pastry brush moisten the border with some of the egg wash mixture.

Place the second pastry crust gently over the filet. Be sure you fit it firmly but gently over the filet. Trim the top pastry dough to match the bottom pastry dough then be sure to seal the two pieces of pastry dough together using the tines of a fork or a pie wheel.


Now here you can get creative. Using the surplus pastry dough, cut shapes or ribbons from it and decorate the covered filet by attaching the pieces of decorative dough to it using some egg wash mixture. In the photo you'll see I did ribbons and a bow. When finished paint the entire wrapped roast with the rest of the egg wash.

Place the roast in the middle of the 400°F oven for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°, and bake the roast for 5 to 10 minutes more, or until the meat thermometer registers 130°F for medium-rare meat and the pastry is cooked through. Let the fillet stand for 15 minutes then remove it using two spatulas to a cutting board, slice and serve with the warmed au jus.

Today's world food that you can prepare in your home kitchen is Steak Dianne. This widely popular dish seemingly comes from the annals of French culinary tradition. Perhaps even as far back as the middle ages. However, its lineage isn't clear or straightforward and much to the chagrin of many a French chef, the modern and popular version of Steak Diane (much like the Chinese dish of General Tso's Chicken) may have come straight out of New York City! Hey, let the food historians battle it out over details. I'm in this game for the eats!


This particular recipe comes my way via my friend, Dave "The Food Ninja" (photo to the right). You may remember Dave from the "Academica Steak Sandwich" recipe elsewhere on this blog. There I described how, through his powers of discreet and diligent observation he was able to get the recipe for those sandwiches for himself and good friends. On that occasion he plied his craft to quickly get a great recipe for a much-loved and simple, everyday food. I'll thank him now for that (thanks Dave!). For the recipe below however, Dave had to push his talents to the extreme. The Food Ninja gets what he wants, the Food Ninja will not be denied.

The whole affair started years ago at a favorite restaurant of ours in Providence, RI. We all had our favorite dishes there. My own being Oysters Rockerfeller and Beef Wellington, for the Food Ninja it was frog legs and Steak Diane. Supremely, it was the Steak Dianne. He got it all the time, and each time the moments between him ordering it and it arriving drove him a little mad. He would fidget in his seat and squirm in anticipation and then it would arrive and he would be in gourmet ecstasy. Time and time again, year after year, the ritual played itself off with nary the slightest variation. Finally, he decided he had to get the recipe and prepare it for himself. Not just any recipe, but THAT recipe. The Food Ninja went to work.

"How?" you may ask (if you care). I'll tell you how. He got a job washing dishes there that's how! Several nights a week after his regular 9 to 5 he'd schlep his way to Providence, don the white smock and apron and enter the steamy dishwasher's station and get covered in leftovers and slop until midnight. Week in, week out, he'd sacrificed his free time, his family and the small pleasures of leisure just to get closer to that recipe.

His ruse was perfect. He was so dedicated that his work at the dishwasher's station got him promoted to busboy. In kind his work there after a short while led to a choice of opportunities as either a waiter (much coveted) or as a line cook. He jumped at the opportunity to cook knowing it would bring him closer to his sacred recipe. A recipe from the chef's own book, a book the chef kept by his side, a book he protected from all prying eyes.

Weeks passed and while over time the general preparation of the recipe revealed itself, he still didn't know all the ingredients. He bided his time. Soon he celebrated his first anniversary working at the restaurant and while his experiences there taught him much (he was lauded for his Cherries Jubilee), and earned him some extra cash, what he desired most still eluded him. Then one day came the break he was waiting for.

A new line cook was preparing to flambe some coq au vin when the full bottle of cognac slipped from his hand and broke on the stove top. Flames shot high into the vent hood and that triggered the automatic fire extinguishing system. The chef was furious and in the resulting confusing and commotion of foam, flambe, mushrooms and chicken The Food Ninja struck. He quickly opened the book and scribbled what he needed to know. Afterward he finished his shift and quit that evening turning in his apron. Despite another promised promotion, he never returned to the restaurant. He didn't have to, he had gotten what he wanted and now you have it too.

Steak Diane (or Chicken/Pork/Turkey Diane)

1-2 lbs Beef Tenderloin, Pork, Chicken or Turkey pounded in 1/2 flat cutlets
Dijon mustard
2-3 shallots (chopped)
4-5 garlic cloves (chopped)
6-7 mushrooms (chopped)
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tbs sweet butter
Tabasco sauce
1-1/2 cup of brown gravy
Brandy
1/4 cup light cream
Parsley (chopped)

Liberally spread some mustard on both sides of your selected meat. Use just enough to cover the meat.

Preheat a skillet large enough to fit all the meat, when hot add the olive oil. When the olive oil begins to shimmer add the meat and cook it. If using beef cook just short of desired level of doneness. If using other meats cook almost entirely. When finished remove meat from the skillet and set aside.

To the skillet add: shallots, garlic, and mushrooms, season with a little salt and pepper to taste and sauté for a few minutes until the ingredients are cooked.

Now, (with a fire extinguisher close at hand) add the two shots of brandy and light with a grill lighter or tip the pan towards the stove flame. Let it burn until the flames subside. When flames are gone stir the pan, scraping up any bits from the pan.

To the sauté mixture add the gravy, Worcestershire sauce, several dashes of hot sauce and a heaping tablespoon of the Dijon mustard. Bring this all to a simmer then add the butter and the light cream and blend it well. Add the meat back to the gravy mixture and warm through.

Plate with the sauce and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.