Beef Wellington, anyone?

nurseangel

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Does anyone know how to make Beef Wellington? I've found some recipes, but I like meat very well done, and don't know how to adjust the recipes so the bread part doesn't burn. (Gee, I hope that makes sense.) Thanks for any advice.
 

megra

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Here's a recipe for you in a video:
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-...eef-wellington

One word of advice. If you like beef well done, it really is a waste of time (and money) doing a dish like this. Fillet is ruined if it is overcooked. The meat needs to be at least pink in the centre to retain its tenderness. Maybe the dish you are thinking of isn't beef wellington because you write about bread and beef wellington is made with puff pastry.
 

yosemite

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I have to agree. If you cook your meat well done, then Beef Wellington is not the best recipe for you. I grew up eating well-done meat because that's all my parents knew. After taking some gourmet cooking classes, I experienced the joy of really good food cooked to perfection. I know that rare meat puts some folks off and I haven't been able to surmount that hurdle myself but I don't have my meat cooked past medium and most often medium rare. You would be simply amazed at the difference in tenderness compared to "over-done" meat.
 
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nurseangel

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Thanks for the advice. I did have Beef Wellington that was cooked well done and delicious...have always regretted not getting the gentleman's recipe. My father has lived in many different countries, and says that in France a chef would not even prepare food the way I like it. And as for the "bread", it's probably just what I am calling puff pastry.
 

megra

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Your father is right. There are some restaurants even here where, if you asked for a well done steak, they would simply refuse very politely to cook it that way and suggest that you have something else from the menu. If I had a house guest who asked for a well done fillet steak, it would break my heart to ruin what is a very expensive and potentially beautiful piece of meat by overcooking it. I'd do it, without a word, but I'd probably never serve them fillet again or any of the other expensive cuts of beef that need to be medium rare to bleu to get the best out of them.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by megra

Your father is right. There are some restaurants even here where, if you asked for a well done steak, they would simply refuse very politely to cook it that way and suggest that you have something else from the menu. If I had a house guest who asked for a well done fillet steak, it would break my heart to ruin what is a very expensive and potentially beautiful piece of meat by overcooking it. I'd do it, without a word, but I'd probably never serve them fillet again or any of the other expensive cuts of beef that need to be medium rare to bleu to get the best out of them.
Amen. If I paid big buck for a beautiful cut of meat and someone asked me to destroy it, I would be devastated.
 

fuzzles

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I just wanted to add that theoretically all of the bacteria that you want to kill during cooking is only on the outside of the steak. As long as you sear the outside then the inside is sterile/bacteria free for the most part and you won't get sick from eating it. This is why ground meat is supposed to be cooked thru because the outside of the meat is ground up with the inside of the cut of meat so the bacteria (e. coli, salmonella) will be throughout the ground meat. Poultry on the other hand..a natural microfluora of their's is salmonella and campylobacter. It's all throughout their body, so that's why things like chicken have to absolutely be cooked all of the way thru so that you will not get sick from it.

Yay for having a poultry science degree and taking food bacteriology!
 

butzie

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The meat should be done as others have stated, but the real presentation and taste of this dish is the fois gras and the pastry. The pastry should be decorated with pastry. This dish is meant to be prepared for a beautiful presentation. My cousin, a professional chef, prepared it for DH and me when we announced that we were getting married.
 
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