Some say it was his favorite meal, and others claim it resembled the boots that he wore. Whatever the case may be, the Duke of Wellington has a grand dish named after him, which became the entertaining extravaganza of the 1960s.
Ingredients
Serves 8
Preparation
Step 1
In a roasting pan roast the beef in the middle of a preheated 400°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the thermometer registers 120°F. Let the fillet cool completely and discard the larding fat and the strings. Skim the fat from the pan juices and reserve the pan juices.
Step 2
In a heavy skillet cook the mushrooms in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until all the liquid they give off is evaporated and the mixture is dry, season them with salt and pepper, and let them cool completely. Spread the fillet evenly with the pâté de foie gras, covering the top and sides, and spread the mushrooms evenly over the pâté de foie gras. On a floured surface roll 1 pound of the puff paste into a rectangle about 20- by 12- inches, or large enough to enclose the fillet completely, invert the coated fillet carefully under the middle of the dough, and fold up the long sides of the dough to enclose the fillet brushing the edges of the dough with some of the egg white to seal them. Fold ends of the dough over the fillet and seal them with the remaining egg white. Transfer the fillet, seam side down to a jelly-roll pan or shallow roasting pan and brush the dough with some of the egg wash. Roll out the additional dough and cut the shapes with decorative cutters. Arrange the cutouts on the dough decoratively, brush them with the remaining egg wash, and chill the fillet for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. Bake the fillet in the middle of a preheated 400°F oven for 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°, and bake the fillet 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.
Step 3
In a saucepan boil the reserved pan juices and the Madeira until the mixture is reduced by one fourth. Add the arrowroot mixture, the broth, the truffles, and salt and pepper to taste and cook the sauce over moderate heat, stirring, being careful not to let it boil, for 5 minutes, or until it is thickened. Loosen the fillet from the jelly-roll pan, transfer it with two spatulas to a heated platter, and garnish it with watercress. Serve the fillet, cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices, with the sauce.
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Reviews (92)
Back to TopFunny, I saved the link to this recipe but this is not the recipe I know and love. How come?
neta.weinryb9605
12/15/2018
I have made this several times, with various paté mixtures (usually one from Whole Foods, made with chicken livers) and it always receives rave reviews at the dinner table. This recipe mentions beef "tied with thin sheets of larding fat". I don't do that. I use my silicon bands (like rubberbands, but food-safe, reusable, and dishwasher-safe) or kitchen twine to tie up the roast (fold the thin end toward the middle to make a uniform width). Then I sear it in a very hot pan with a bit of olive oil, let it cool slightly, remove the bands or twine, and proceed with the preparation. It holds together just fine. I do not roast it 25 minutes before wrapping in pastry; that would be overdone to most of my guests. I have never included the truffles; it's rich enough already, though I'm sure they're a nice touch. After removing it from the oven, be sure to let it sit awhile before slicing.
czkathy
St. Louis MO
2/14/2013
I have made this and everyone loves it but I always have trouble carving it. The puff pastry comes off. It is also soggy on the bottom and does not seem to get fully cooked. Any suggestions?
MrsPeel
Southbury, CT
11/22/2012
This was delicious. I did slight modifications. Instead of foie gras, I used duck pate as it was a fraction of the cost and I used Sherry wine for the sauce. I also added a shallot to the sauce as other reviews suggested. Garnished it with watercress which was delicious and served it with gouda and fennel scalloped potatoes and steamed white & purple asparagus. This meal was a show stopper!
XClaudine
Levittown, NY
1/1/2012
What a fab Christmas dinner! Had to drive around a bit to find the foie gras, but as the other reviews indicated this was an important ingredient...we did...and it was worth it. Followed the recipe and it ended up the highlight of the meal. Was not fiddly as many complained .
grammyhedge
from Carnforth, England..cooking in Troy, Ohio, USA
12/26/2011
I've made this for Christmas two years in a row and it's phenomenal. I roast the tenderloin and saute the mushrooms the day before, then top the beef with the foie gras and mushrooms and roll it all up on Christmas Day while the kids are napping. Have not had any problems with the standard, store-bought puff pastry. For some reason I never get too much in the way of juices after cooking the meat, so instead for sauce I just reduce the heck out of 5 cups of beef broth, 1.5 cups of port and 1 cup of brandy (plus 1T tomato paste whisked in at end). Saute one cup shallots in 3T butter, add the reduced broth, then whisk in some cold butter a bit at a time. DIVINE. This is a really impressive treat that isn't as hard as it looks.
Anonymous
Boston, MA
12/26/2011
My favorite epicurious recipe to date was filet with port and cranberries. Have been making that for years, but this beef wellington actual either ties or tops that recipe. It was beyond fabulous. It took a very long time to prepare, and after that I swore I would never make it again...until I served it. By far one of the best recipes on epicurious. The pate made the recipe as did the mushrooms. Used a mix of shitake, oyster and baby bellas. We all groaned in delight thru the meal.
terriuccello
Glastonbury, CT
4/15/2011
I splurged and bought prime tenderloin, which was worth it. I did not roll out the puff pastry because I left it out too long and it was warm. I merely added a third of the second sheet, sealed the edges, and tried to enlarge the rectangle with my fingers. This worked surprisingly well. For the mushrooms, I added shitakes (a must), chantarelles, oyster, and button. I probably had 6 cups once all were chopped before saute. I added madiera to the mushroom mix and then after I took off the heat (once dry) I added 5 ounces of truffle mousse pate (Trader Joes). I spread this on the puff pastry, leaving two inch borders around all. I cooled and rolled the cooked meat and used the extra puff pastry to make a decorative cross-hatch pattern down the length of the pastry. Baked just until the pastry was brown and to rave reviews from my dinner guests. I used a meat thermometer to first sear/bake the meat and was a little disappointed since I didn't have the probe placed perfectly. The two ends of the beef were medium plus, but the 12 inch-long center was medium rare and perfect. My husband and I took the ends, so no one knew. Seriously good recipe.
Anonymous
Indianapolis
2/14/2011
Wow, the beef turned out so tender and it was very tasty. Takes a long time to make, though. My puff pastry didn't rise during baking as much as I would have liked, and I had to take my store bought pate and whip it in the food processor to make it spreadable.
cloudles1
Seattle
12/30/2010
Very nice and very easy. Used mousse truffee rather than foie gras. Would definitely have made the sauce with demi glace if I'd been able to buy it or had the time to make it. Use a meat thermometer and it's hard to go wrong with this dish!
rosepeony
Oxford, MA
12/26/2009
Excellent recipe however I misjudged some of the timing that others reviewed and warned about. The only real challenge was the wrapping the tenderloin in the puff pastry. This is well worth all of the work and expense as it was a real hit with all of my Christmas guests. Next time I might try individual Wellingtons as it would be that much more impressive. Like the others, I "added and improved" on the recipe by adding shaved truffles to the puff pastry dough and some of the mushroom liquid from reconstituting dried mushrooms to the duxelles. Duxelles needs to be bone dry before removing from the heat. Pastry needs to be wrapped tight around the whole tenderloin.
lml4400
Los Angeles, CA
12/26/2009
I'VE BEEN MAKING THIS FOR YEARS AND IT IS GREAT. hAVE NOW DECIDED TO SAVE A WHOLE DAY AND BUY THE PASTRY. jUST INVESTED IN PRESIDENT'S CHOICE BUTTER PUFF PASTRY WHICH COMES IN PRE-ROLLED SHEETS. hAS ANYONE USED THIS OR A SIMILAR PRODUCT? IS ONE SHEET THICKNESS ENOUGH OR DOES IT NEED TO BE LAYERED? cUSTOMER SERVICE HAD NO INFORMATION. tHANKS.
Anonymous
Ottawa, On, Ca.
12/1/2009
Only three forks because of the arrow root, use a demi-glace insead, makes a huge difference and is worth it entirely. Otherwise and wonderful method. Enjoyed reading the reviews and rants in response to foi gras. I agree that cheap factory farmed chicken is raised in an inhumane way (if you saw what they do to them you would NEVER eat chicken again)but nothing is what it appears to be (read Omnivore's Dilemma for another perspective) I was also stunned at how incredbly rude the New York cook was... after all everyone is entitled to voice their opinion, if we disagree then surely we can say so politely?
tessaarlen
10/8/2009
This came out PERFECT. I followed the recipe almost exactly as written, except I used truffle mousse pate instead of Foie Gras and sauteed the mushrooms in a bit of truffle olive oil. The oven sequence was absolutely perfect and the store bought frozen puff pastry in the one pound package was exactly enough to cover 1/2 of the filet. It looked beautiful to bring to the table and sliced beautifully.
Anonymous
New York City & Columbia County
1/1/2009
Qite a lot of work, but well worth it. I served it to 9 people, which necissated cutting a fillet into 9 steaks. I seared the steaks in brandy prior to wrappin the pate/duxelles in the puff pastry. What a hit!
Anonymous
10/8/2008