For an extra-special holiday treat, consider beef Wellington (2024)

According to my calendar and the singerAmos Milburn, Christmas comes but once a year.

So why not celebrate it with something special, culinarily speaking?A Christmas meal should be extraordinary; it should be an edible expression of the love you have for those at your table.

So for this Christmas dinner, I made the fanciest, most elegant and most impressive dish I know: beef Wellington.

It is one of the most delicious dishes you can eat. Not coincidentally, it is also one of the most expensive.

It's what you cook when you want to cook the very best.

BeefWellingtonbegins with a beef tenderloin, the tenderest and costliest cut of meat. The beef is wrapped in a thin layer of duxelles, which is sauteed mushrooms and onions or shallots, and in this case garlic.

Then the duxelles-wrapped meat is wrapped again with a thin layer of prosciutto, the salty yet exquisite Italian ham. And then the prosciutto-wrapped-duxelles-wrapped beef is wrapped one last time, in a layer of puff pastry, before it is all baked together into a golden loaf.

In concept, it is kind of like a turducken, only much better, beefier and classier.

And despite what sounds like an awful lot of effort to make, it is actually quite easy, unless you make the puff pastry yourself.

I made the puff pastry myself because homemade puff pastry is infinitely superior to the kind you can buy at the store — even if you can find the type that is made with butter.

I made an especially stunning puff pastry for my beef Wellington, using a recipe from the famous Claridge's hotel inLondon. But it was a lot of workand, even though the recipe made nearly 6 pounds of puff pastry, which can be frozen and used later, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone who isn't equally obsessed about homemade pastry.

A nearly just-as-good alternative is the recipe that accompanies this story; it makes what the British call "rough puff pastry." It's not quite the real thing, but it is close enough to please even the most uncompromising of bakers.

We don't have space in the newspaper to print the lengthy and involved recipe from Claridge's. There might not be enough space on the entire internet. If you want to try it, it is in "Claridge's: The Cookbook," byMartyn NailandMeredith Erickson.

Once the puff pastry question is answered (and honestly, store-bought is fine), we must tackle the question of the duxelles. Traditionally, duxelles — the combination of mushrooms and onions — are sauteed in olive oil or butter or, preferably, both. Most recipes for beef Wellington say to use that method.

But famous chefGordon Ramsaymakes a good point about it. He looks at duxelles as a paste and says that mushrooms have so much liquid in them that they don't need additional fat for sauteing. He cooks them without oil or butter on a hot skillet until nearly all of their liquid has evaporated.

I tried it his way, and it worked like a charm.

Ramsay has another controversial suggestion for beef Wellington that makes a lot of sense, but I decided not to follow it. When everyone else makes it, they spread a layer of Dijon mustard on the seared tenderloin before wrapping it in the duxelles. Ramsay reasons that beef Wellington is a quintessentially British dish, and that it should therefore use English mustard.

English mustard has a strong and powerful flavor; it is the kind of mustard to use if you want to clear your sinuses or perhaps your kitchen drain. On the other hand, it also happens to go particularly well with beef and also mushrooms.

I used Dijon. You can use English if you are so inclined.

Live it up. It's Christmas.

BEEFWELLINGTON

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Adapted from a recipe byTyler Florence, via Food Network.

1½pounds white button mushrooms

2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves

8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only, divided

Salt and pepper

1 (3-pound) center-cut beef tenderloin, trimmed

Olive oil

12 thin slices prosciutto

2 tablespoons Dijon or English mustard

Flour, for rolling out puff pastry

1 pound puff pastry, homemade (see recipe) or store-bought, thawed if frozen.

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½teaspoon coarse sea salt

Note: The duxelles and the homemade puff pastry (if using) can be made a day or two ahead of time.

For the duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic and the leaves of 2 of the sprigs of thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Place a large saute pan over medium heat, add the shallot-and-mushroom mixture, and saute until most of the liquid it releases has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside to cool. Canbe refrigerated for up to 3 days.

For the beef: Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-bottomed skillet lightly coated with olive oil.

Meanwhile, set out the prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap at least a foot and a half in length. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef. Using a rubber spatula, cover prosciutto evenly with a thin layer of duxelles, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with leaves from the remaining 6 sprigs of thyme.

When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with mustard. Allow to cool slightly, then roll up in the duxelles-covered prosciutto, using the plastic wrap to tie it up tightly. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Twist ends of plastic to seal it completely and hold it in a log shape. Refrigerate 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to form a rectangle large enough to completely encompass the beef (this is vital — if necessary, overlap 2 sheets and press them together). Remove plastic from beef and set meat in middle of the pastry. Fold the longer sides over the meat, brushing the edges with beaten egg to seal. Brush ends with beaten egg to seal, and fold over to completely seal the beef. Trim ends, if necessary. Top with coarse sea salt. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg, then make a few slits in the top of the pastry, using the tip of a paring knife, to allow steam to escape while cooking. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 to 130 degrees on a meat thermometer for medium rare, 135 to 140 degrees for medium, 140 to 145 degrees for medium well or 150 to 155 for well-done.

Allow to rest before cutting into thick slices.

PER SERVING(based on 8): 762 calories, 64 g protein,33 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 41 g fat (11 g saturated),194 mg cholesterol, 1,779 mg sodium

ROUGH PUFF PASTRY

Makes 12 servings

Adapted from "Tasting Paris," by Clotilde Dusoulier.

2 cups all-purpose flour, preferably chilled

½teaspoon fine sea salt

2½sticksunsalted butter, chilled and diced

½cup ice-cold water

Note: This is best prepared in a cool kitchen, on a cool work surface, using light and assertive gestures to prevent overheating the dough. Don't attempt it when the oven is on.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour, stopping when the mixture looks crumbly but fairly even, with the average piece of butter about the size of a large pea.

Turn out onto a clean and cool work surface and form a well in the center. Pour in the water and work it into the flour-and-butter mixture with a bench scraper or a wooden spoon. Knead lightly, just enough so that the dough comes together in a ball, and shape into a rough square. There should be little pieces of butter visible in the dough. If you have time, refrigerate 30 minutes.

Flour the work surface lightly. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough in one direction into a rectangle about 20 inches long. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Brush to remove excess flour and fold the dough in three, like a letter, so the top and bottom overlap, dusting again after the first fold.

Give the dough a quarter of a turn, and repeat the rolling and folding steps. Repeat until you've rolled and folded a total of four times. You should get a neat rectangle or square pad of dough. If you find the dough becomes sticky at any point, refrigerate for 30 minutes to cool again.

Put the dough on a plate, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight before using. If the dough seems too stiff when you take it out of the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before using.

PER SERVING: 246 calories, 2 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 0 sugar, 19 g fat (12 g saturated),51 mg cholesterol, 100 mg sodium