THE MENU MARCELLE BIENVENU BEEF WELLINGTON

Times Picayune....I can't find Nixon's White House recipe...

 

"I first attempted to prepare Beef Wellington in the 1960s when I saw Jackie Kennedy's menu for a White House dinner party featured in a Redbook magazine. (I still have that magazine.) I saved money for six months to be able to purchase the ingredients.

I even made the puff pastry from scratch, getting up several times during the night to add the butter to the dough, but now I find store-bought puff pastry is so much easier. Although classic duxelles is usually made with white button mushrooms, I often combine them with cremini and shittakes for a change in flavor.

DUXELLES:

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 teaspoon minced garlic

10 ounces assorted mushrooms, wiped clean, stemmed and finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons port wine

FOR THE MEAT:

Four 6-ounce thickly cut filet mignons

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoon olive oil

Four (1-ounce) slices duck pate

1 sheet (11- by-17-inches) frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

SAUCE*

Make the duxelles: Heat butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are soft and brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add port and cook, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet, until all liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and let tool.

For the meat:  Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Season both sides of each filet with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add filets and brown for 1 minute on each side for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate to cool completely.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Using a 9-inch plate as a template, cut out 4 rounds. Spoon 1/4 of the duxelles in the center of each round, then put 1 slice of the pate, pressing to flatten slightly. Arrange each filet on top of the mixture.

With a pastry brush, brush edges of the rounds of pastry, and wrap each filet with the pastry using some of the egg wash to seal pastry around the filet. Place the "packages" seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet and brush them with more egg wash.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium-rare, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest about 10 minutes before serving.

*For a sauce, consider either a marchand de vin, a Madeira or even bearnaise. Your choice."

 

This looks very good.