Website.

Online store. Marketing tools. Analytics. The go-to platform

when you want to run your business or create a

beautiful website like I am doing at the moment.

So more on this later but for now

Beef Wellington

Hey guys, salud! This is Alex.

So today

I want to try improve Gordon Ramsay's

Signature Dish - Beef Wellington.

Right off the bat,

I want to clarify something,

I'm not saying that my version will be tastier than Gordon's obviously.

He's a Michelin star chef, he has many restaurants

so much more experience than I do,

but I want my method

to be more systematic. I want my version to be foolproof.

I want it to be easier to understand

and I also want break down

everything that's happening deep inside.

Let's have a closer look at his recipe

- the challenges that I see.

english mustard

mushrooms

look, how wet they are

The Beef Wellington is a fully enclosed dish

which means that

plenty of steam will be generated inside

so if you don't want to get a soggy pastry,

you need to find ways around it.

That's the first challenge.

twist it nice and tight

I got no doubt that this guy is using

homemade puff pastry and for a reason.

Homemade puff pastry

will bring this dish to the next level.

This dish is not about beef only -

it is about beef and pastry --

this is the second challenge.

he is an artist

The third challenge is definitely to cook

the meat right.

When Gordon is baking the whole Beef Wellington

he's basically performing two actions at the same time -

baking the puff but also cooking the meat to the

right done-ness. And trust me

this is not an easy part.

You can't touch it and you can't

see what's happening inside.

So yes - this is

a complicated dish but NO it's not impossible

to make. Especially if we take it step-by-step.

And the first step is to get the right meat.

salud

So at my butcher I bought a Chateaubriand

which is the central part

of a beef tenderloin.

Mine weighs - I would say - about a kilo but

the most important part is that it has

a consistent thickness

all the way through.

I also asked my butcher

to do two things for me - first off

to get rid of the excess fat

and then to teach me that butcher technique

when you can tie a roast

using only one piece of string.

I, I think I got it.

Okay, guys we got everything we need.

Let's head back to 'Le Studio'.

Right ! Let me show you how it works.

So that beef fillet is going to stay in there for

about 30 minutes - 1 hour.

I'll come back on this later,

but for the moment let's take a

closer look at what makes a Beef Wellington.

the very structure of that dish.

At the very core - you have Beef.

Then mustard - mushroom duxelle

parma ham - crepe

Puff pastry.

Everything is gravitating around the fillet of beef.

That's why I call this dish the

"Solar System of the Pate en Croute Galaxy"

No no - it does make sense.

I know it's weird but it does make sense.

Beef - there's a lot of water there

that is basically going to steam.

And the layers around it - it could be 'flavoring agent'

'water barrier', or 'absorbers'

or 'texture bring-ers.'

Puff pastry - mainly here for the crispiness but that's

also going to create the barrier.

The crepe

an 'asborber'.

Parma ham -

which is basically a flavor inducer.

Mushroom duxelle -

which is definitely bringing some bold

beef matching flavors.

But also bringing another problem

it's full of moisture.

The mustard - another flavor bringer.

And the beautiful, almighty super tender Beef.

That's basically it for the

structure of this dish.

so

I suggest we get to work.

Cause there's plenty to do.

Right - so a quick comment about searing the meat.

I believe it's important from a flavor

point-of-view.

From a texture point-of-view -- it's useless.

The Beef Wellington needs a full enclosure

there is plenty of steam inside and there is no way

that anything is going to stay crispy -- inside at least.

now I'm going to sous-vide this fillet of beef for about

2.5 hours at 50 degrees Celsius

that's 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let me compare Gordon's meat

with my own meat by

doing a few drawings on the board.

So on the vertical axis you've got the inner

temperature of the meat -- on the horizontal axis

you've got the time passing by.

Gordon starts with the meat at room temperature.

He sears it and then later on he bakes it.

Which slowly increases the inner temperature of

the meat until Gordon decides that

it's perfectly done.

Very much relying on Gordon's skills.

And it makes a lot of sense -- this guy has cooked 100

Beef Wellington in the past so

this is just fine for Gordon.

now, My method is different.

I sear a very cold meat - so the inside

remains raw.

Then, I cook it sous-vide at 50 Celsius

or 122 Fahrenheit.

Remember that with sous-vide there is no under

or over cooking, whatsoever.

I then quickly chill this perfectly cooked meat to

fridge temperature.

Now the most important

difference with Gordon's method is

this diagonal line -- the baking.

You see, in Gordon's method there is only one moment

and one moment only - where meat

and pastry are perfectly cooked at the same time.

Since you can't see the meat inside

you need a lot of chef experience

to guess that moment right.

Now in my method

I'm taking beef out of the equation during baking.

The meat is already cooked

and since it's cold and protected with all these outer

layers, baking it won't cook it.

It's just going to warm it up.

The only thing you need to focus on

is baking the puff right.

To the color you like.

Since you can see it in the oven

it's an easy job.

And I guess that's the beauty of this method

you don't have to guess, you just know.

From an amateur point-of-view, it's such a relief.

Especially since I've been working so hard

and that piece of beef is so expensive.

The fillet of beef has been cooking in

for about 2.5 hours.

It's going to be beautiful -- I can see that.

So in the fridge overnigt.

I should just get rid of all the little tasks

starting with the Mushroom Duxelle.

I mean, who am I to challenge the tradition, anyway?

Duxelle has to be done by hand.

Thyme, mushrooms, shallots

garlic, salt and pepper.

Now it's time to try and remove the water from it.

Sneaky cognac.

I'm going to place this bowl in the fridge

I'm not going to cover it because

I want it to dry -- that would be a terrible example !

Now that the mushroom duxelle is completed

let's tackle the crepe problem.

Usually a French crepe is round because

the crepe pan is round.

Beef Wellington is basically a cylinder

so if you were just to roll it [out] on table

you would get a big fat rectangle.

If I can make a big

rectangular shaped crepe

I won't have to mess with the overlap.

I can't stand the overlap !

One...two...three

Whoops...ten-four.

And here's how it looks five minutes later.

Yes, might need a bit of cooking on this side, as well.

I'm going to put it for 5 minutes in the oven.

But overall, I call this success!

Great, so all the minor tasks

have been taken care of.

Let's tackle puff pastry.

As I said earlier, it's not complicated

from a technique point-of-view, it's just time consuming.

So let's get to it.

Dough.

Butter.

First of all you start by making a sandwiched

dough composed of two layers of 'lean dough'

and one big greasy slab of butter.

Then that sandwich is flattened and

folded onto itself like a wallet.

Then you chill that in the fridge for about 15 min.

That whole folding / chilling operation

needs to be repeated for

six times.

If you want to see a more detailed

step-by-step decomposition of this process

then please watch my croissant series.

Just keep in mind

we are not using milk -- just water.

Also, it's not going to be sweet -- but savory.

Okay, so I've got to the thickness that I wanted

I'm just going to place in the fridge until I need it.

It's going to be super crispy and light.

As light as butter can be - I mean.

And in the fridge it goes.

The beef has been resting and chilling in the fridge overnight.

Fully cooked, but it's now super cold, as well.

I'm going to keep the juices for the sauce, of course.

Then I'm going to start the wrapping.

Obviously, I'm using Dijon mustard.

Just because it's a British inspired dish

doesn't mean I have to lose all identity here.

Time now to wrap the whole thing in a crepe

in a nice beautiful rectangular shaped crepe

that I made in the oven.

Viou!

This goes in the fridge before

the final wrapping.

The only step left is to wrap the whole

thing in puff pastry.

I know this is not going to be very reassuring

but if something went wrong

at this moment, it's too late.

There's not turning back so...

Wish me luck.

Wish. Me. Luck.

Excited is an understatement, right there.

I'm going to pour some of that sauce

I made with the trimmings.

If you want a recipe, I'll share one with you

in the comments.

Ah - got the mushroom

savory -- saucy -- beefy.

It's something I never experienced in my life.

It's so tender.

It's almost like you don't need chewing.

The mustard is definitely a nice little kick.

I can't feel the crepe. I know it's there

but I don't feel it.

After all this preparation - after all this work.

This part is so

soothing.

It's so calm and quiet.

Puff pastry plus mushroom duxelle.