Beef Wellington with Shallot Relish

by Mongol

This is the main course in my entry for ICSA 20.

• Black Bean and Mushroom Risotto
• Beef Wellington with Shallot Relish
• Grilled Asparagus with Shaved Parmesan and Balsamic Reduction
• Chocolate Mousse

Our main dish tonight is Beef Wellington. I chose this because I feel that beef tenderloin needs very little for it to be delicious, the pinnacle of minimalist cooking.

Ingredients

• 3 cups 1/4 cup Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted Butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup cold solid Vegetable Shortening
• 5 - 6 tbsp Ice Water
• 3 4 - 5 oz Beef Tenderloin Steaks
• Safflower Oil
• 1 1/2 lbs White Mushrooms
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp Water
• 1 Shallot, chopped
• 1/2 cup Red Wine

Procedure

First, start by making the dough. Put the flour, and salt in a food processor and pulse to aerate the mix. Then add the cold fat, and pulse to combine. Drizzle in enough cold water so that the dough is solid, but still crumbles.

Form the dough into a disc and put in a freezer bag and put in the refrigerator, so it can fully absorb the moisture.

Clean out your food processor and put the mushrooms in it. Pulse until the mushrooms are chopped very, very finely. You may have to work in batches, depending on the size of your food processor.

Place the mushrooms in a skillet and saute until they're dry. It will look like a dark paste when it's ready.

Meanwhile, take a look at your beautiful steaks. While you're looking, season with salt and pepper.

When the mushrooms are dry, add the heavy cream. Reduce until the mixture is dry and paste-like.

Using a heavy skillet, cast iron preferred, sear the steaks on the top and bottom for 1-2 minutes each. Once seared, take off heat and let chill. It's very important that the steaks have a chance to rest and come back to room temperature or cooler before being further cooked.

Once the dough has had a chance to hydrate, take half of the dough and roll it out.

Divide the dough into quarters and roll into balls.

Roll out each piece thin and place steak in the center. Top with mushroom mixture and fold dough over steak, using the fourth ball of dough to patch any holes.

Beat the egg with the tbsp of water to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash on the outside of the dough, to promote a delicious brown color on the final dish.

Bake at 425 until the dough has browned, as mentioned above, about 25 minutes.

While the steaks are baking, add the shallots to a skillet and saute. Once they have colored, add the wine and reduce until it forms a thick syrup that coats the shallots.