This is one of those retro dishes that conjure up notions of sophisticated dining using the best silver and crystal. It is time-consuming to prepare rather than difficult. I love to cook it from time to time, as I always receive appreciative responses from impressed diners for what is actually a very straightforward dish, especially if you take the shortcuts of using bought pâté and ready-made pastry!
Beef Wellington – Printer Friendly Download
Ingredients
- 1 whole beef fillet
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 35 g/1¼ oz butter
- 225 g/8 oz field mushrooms, chopped into small dice
- salt and pepper
- 500 g/1 lb pâté
- 6 slices of Serrano ham
- 500 g/1 lb puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
- Red wine sauce
- 150 ml/5 fl oz red wine
- 60 ml/2 fl oz beef or chicken stock
- 30–50 g/1–2 oz cold butter, cubed
Serves 6
To Cook
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
The meat should be left out of the fridge for 30 minutes or so to bring it to room temperature. Rub the oil into the meat and place it into a roasting pan and then into the oven for 20–25 minutes for medium to well done. The timing is about taste preference, so adjust it accordingly. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool completely, reserving the pan juices along with any sediment.
Heat the butter in a separate pan, add the mushrooms and stir until all the liquid is evaporated and the mixture is dry. Season to taste and leave it to cool.
Spread the fillet with the pâté, covering it completely. Lay out a large piece of clingfilm and on top of that line up the slices of ham. Place the pâté-covered fillet on top and spread the mushroom mix over it. Wrap the ham around the fillet and then roll up tightly in the cling- film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle larger than the fillet. Unwrap the fillet from the clingfilm and place it on the pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg mixture. Fold up the long edges of the dough to enclose the sides, pressing together to seal. Fold the ends that have been brushed with the egg mix and press together. Transfer the fillet to an oven tray and place it seam side down. Chill in the fridge for an hour so, and then place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden. To make the red wine sauce, pour the wine and stock into the reserved juices in the roasting tin on top of the stove and deglaze over a medium heat, incorporating all the crusty bits. Boil to reduce the stock by about a third, add the cold butter and stir until the sauce has heated through.
We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers
Wagyu beef is fast becoming one of the most desirable meats in the world. Described as the Foie Gras of beef, Wagyu has become famous for its intense marbling which produces a tender, juicy, naturally enhanced flavour to the meat.
Guinness – or stout by any other name – adds a lushness to this dish and the prunes offset any bitterness of the stout with just a hint of sweetness. The oil and butter combination helps to brown the meat and develop crusty caramelised bits that really enhance the flavour when incorporated into the sauce. I love this served with buttery mashed potatoes to soak up the juice.
Tipperary Food Producers, the country based group of artisan producers are combining forces with 12 schools throughout the county to run an innovative Food Connect Programme. This programme is the first of its type in Ireland and has a core objective of linking students within the schools and local food producers.
The 
It’s been a big week at James Whelan Butchers with the launch of our new website and the publication of our 
Michael Kelly visits our Clonmel shop and talks to Pat Whelan about the dizzying complexity of the modern food chain, Wagu beef and the new book, An Irish Butcher.
I got the evil eye from one or two customers this week accompanied by a sharp tongued reprimand. Patrons of James Whelan Butchers are no shrinking violets. I committed the heinous crime in this very column of recently referring to dieters as ‘fat fighters’. One woman went so far as to suggest I could do with a bit of fat fighting myself; that cut deep.
I’m not going all Gordon Ramsay, uttering expletives and being profane, but I am going to talk about the other equally offensive F word; FAT. There is no doubt that this country, and indeed the western world, is in the grip of a growing problem with obesity. Sadly ‘Fat’ seems to have been framed, blamed and tried without jury or due consideration. It has been turned into a catch all for everything negative in the food world and has become very, very misunderstood in the process.
