THE MENU QUICK AND DIRTY BEEF WELLINGTON IMPROV

Let's say you  are out in one of the former colonies, cannot get back to Maxim's in Paris, or The Savoy.

You want Beef Wellington. 

What do you do?

You get a piece of meat. It can be beef, antelope, wildebeast, crocodile, panther, goat, whatever, but it has to be tender, or made tender, somehow. Marinade it, say. 

If it's a tough cut, simmer the bejesus out of it, then drain, carve into steaks, and use as the Wellington filet, reserving the juice to reduce for gravy. If tough, you can also grind it into patties, if you have the tools out there.

Use liver pate as previously described to wrap the meat.

Let's say you don't want to go through the process of making pastry dough?

What do you do? Give up?

You get a prepared substitute. What are some?

How bout pita bread (you might need to use 2)? What is wrong with lavash (they come larger, easier to roll up tight)?

Wouldn't a large flour tortilla work almost as well?

You could even make a thick style French crepe, or a Dutch pannekuken, and use this!

How about naan?

Of course, you should grease both sides of the bread. your choice of what to use. I recommend butter or smoked temporarily liquefied al dente bacon fat.

Bake no longer than necessary, since everything in there is already cooked at least to rare.

Everyone loves wraps nowadays.

You can thin slice the meat, smear the pate on it in a very thin layer, and literally roll it up like a 'conventional' wrap, or pita pocket.
 

Beef Wellington Wrap or Kebab, or naan keema wrap. This is just a fancy, large, baked wrap or filled pocket.

 

Home cooks throughout history did analogous things, I am sure. If called on it, the more well to do said it was frugality. In more cases, among the poor, it was more a matter of survival. Poor people have always had to improvise at times, just to survive.

This post is dedicated to Randy, a Shaman of improv theory.