The centerpiece "Star" of Vrghr's 2016 Christmas Feast!

These babies take a bit of effort to put together - mostly in the "wrap the puff pastry" stage. They also need a few days of (luckily unattended) prep time. But it was 100% worth it! Wow! Elegant and Delicious! Definitely suitable for the staring role when you want to splurge a bit and set out an impressive meal for special occasions.

Now, though it takes a bit of effort, the good news - Using Chuck Roast for the meat cuts the price of these down Dramatically!

Normally, Beef Wellington is made with beef loin (fillet mignon) for the meat. That's a pricey cut! Don't be surprised if you see stickers ranging from 16 to 19$ USD a pound at your local market! Very easy to shell out $50 or more for the meat alone, if you're feeding a group of 4. Beef loin, while being extremely tender, is also very very lean, which means it hasn't a lot of flavor. This is why you frequently see a Fillet Mignon wrapped in bacon! And it has to be treated carefully by the cook. Over-cook it, and it immediately goes to a dry, tough, EXPENSIVE lump!

The "working muscles" on a steer are where the flavor is. But the more they work, the tougher they are. This is why braised techniques, like slow cooking and stewing, are generally used for those cuts. But what if there was a way to get a piece of meat that was as tender as a loin fillet, but with all that rich flavor from a shoulder or haunch?

There is! All it takes is a controlled temperature, and patience. The Sous Vide controlled water bath is PERFECT for this!

Just sear the roast first, for the flavorful crust, package it(Vrghr used Chuck Roast, $1.87/lb at his market) with a pat or two of butter, some salt & pepper, and your favorite herb sprigs (rosemary, tarragon, etc.), and stick it in the water bath. Then walk away for 2 or 3 days!

That's right! 48 to 72 hours! Wuffy set his temp at 131 degrees (high edge of rare). The long cooking cycle breaks down the collagen and tough fibers, just like braising. But because the temp is controlled, it never "stews" to well done! Instead, you get tender, juicy, rare "Steak" from your cheap, "tough" roast! You could pull it out and enjoy it with some garlic mashers and compound butter at that point. And call yourself a happy fur! *grins*

But wuff refrigerated it to nearly frozen, because he was going to bake his again to get the puff pastry shell all toasty and golden.

Vrghr portioned out the chilled beef. Slathered them with a rich coating of Mushroom Duxelles (recipe found in last year's Christmas feast, here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/18678745/ . Vrghr used Crimini, Shiataki, and Portabello cap mushrooms this year, but most any combo will work). Then wrapped them with a shell of puff pastry. A bit of quick knife work supplied a leaf shape from some of the leftover pastry dough. A wash of eggs for shine toasty color, and "a star is born"!

Wuff served this with a red wine, beef jus, mushroom reduction (recipe follows) to bring some robust flavor and a bit of salt.

Vrghr made enough to serve 6 folks, but it's easy to adjust this recipe to the number of your guests.

Tender, flaky dough with a crisp outer coat, opens to reveal steaming, savory mushrooms with white wine and cream flavors, surrounding rich, fully flavored beef so tender that we never even brought steak knives to the table! Forks and butter knives were all that were needed!

Note: A "traditional: Wellington also includes prosciutto ham around the mushrooms (which wuffy ran out of), or sometimes liver pate' . But both of these serve to add flavor to that lightly flavored beef loin. By using the chuck roast, these really weren't missed.

Note: Some folks are concerned about food safety, when holding meat at such low temperature. Many people want to reach medium-rare (~145) to be "safe". You can still kill off those nasty "bugs" without resorting to high temperatures, but it takes longer. For example, getting chicken to 160 to cook off the salmonella only needs minutes at that temp to do it. But you can be just as safe and effective at lower temperatures, if you hold the temperatures there longer. Cooking the meat for hours at 131 means it is just as safe, and using the lower temperature eliminates the chance of "leaching" anything bad out of the bags, even if you're not using expensive versions advertised for Sous Vide use. Most "food safe" storage bags in America are already safe for this without the extra advertising expense. But the lower cooking temp makes doubly sure.

Ingredients:
2ea ~3.5lb Chuck Roasts (for 6 people with leftovers)
1 box (2 sheets) Puff Pastry per 2 servings (needed 3 boxes for Vrghr's guests)
6 Tbs Butter, divided
Sprigs of Rosemary, Tarragon, Sage (your choice of aromatic herbs)

For the Sauce
Juices from the roasts
~1 1/2 Crimini (brown) Mushrooms, sliced
2 C Water + 1 Tbs Better Than Bullion Au Jus Base
2 C Red Wine
2 large Scallions, minced
3 TBS chopped Garlic
2 Tbs Butter
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
~2 tsp Corn Starch mixed in a couple tablespoons of cold water, to thicken

2 eggs and ~2/3 C Milk, whisked together, for egg wash

Tools: Sous Vide water bath @ 131 degrees, aluminum foil (to reduce evaporation)

Directions:
Cook the beef
Set the Sous Vide for 131 degrees
Trim any thick layers of fat off the meat, but leave the internal marbling.
In a very hot skillet, sear each side of the meat for about 2 minutes, to get a dark brown coat.
Remove from skillet. Season the your favorite seasoned salt (Vrghr likes Omnivore Salt or Montreal Seasoning for steak), or just salt and pepper.
Add to large (1 gallon) zip top bags (1 roast per bag).
Divide the butter in pats between the two bags. Add several sprigs of your desired herbs.
Lower the bags into the water until almost completely submerged to remove air, and close the top.
Cover the sous vide container with foil if it doesn't have a lid.
Cook for at least 48 and as much as 72 hours. Check occasionally and add more water if needed.

A day before removing the meat, make the mushroom duxelles - see recipe listed in intro. Hold in fridge until beef is ready

Create the Wellingtons:
Remove the meat from the sous vide. Pour off and reserve the juices for the sauce. Refrigerate in the bags until thoroughly chilled (you can even freeze them slightly).

Remove the puff pasty sheets and let them thaw until workable at room temperature

Whisk up the egg wash

Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit a rolled edge cookie (sheet roll) pan

Slice the chilled beef into individual portions about 5-6 oz and roughly rectangular
On a floured work surface, roll out a sheet of puff pastry until it is about 1/8" thick and a few inches larger in each direction
Position a portion of beef on the pastry, allowing enough pastry around the edges to overlap on top of the beef, so seal it into a package. Make sure you have a bit extra of length of the pastry, then trim away the excess with a sharp knife
Slather the mushrooms around the beef until coated about 1/4 " thick on all sides. Flip the beef over and coat the bottom too
Paint the edges of the pastry with some egg wash to make a "glue" and fold the pastry up over the coated meat
Place the loaf of meat and pastry seam-side down on the parchment paper coated pan.
If you wish, cut a decorative shape out of the extra puff pastry and put a bit of the egg wash on the back to glue it. Stick it on top of your Wellington
Paint the entire surface with egg wash, to give it gloss and help it to brown when cooked

Repeat for remaining Wellingtons

You can hold these in a fridge over night, or bake immediately

To bake: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
Place pan with Wellingtons in the center rack. Cook for ~25 minutes, until pastry is puffed and golden-toasty, rotating rack once when cooking

For the Sauce
Add the butter to a medium sauce pan and melt until slightly browned over high heat
Saute the minced shallots and garlic until fragrant, but make sure the garlic doesn't turn brown or burn
Add the remaining ingredients except the corn starch slurry, and boil until the volume reduces by about 1/2
If desired, add a bit of the cornstarch slurry. Allow to return to boil and thicken. Repeat until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Plate the Wellingtons on a pre-heated plate. Serve the sauce in a pre-heated gravy bowl alongside

!!DEVOUR!!