Petite Beef Wellington

Prep Time:30 minutes Cook Time: 45 minutes Servings: 4 minutes

Crackling puff pastry and earthy mushroom duxelles enclose juicy roast beef in Sean Brock's mini beef Wellington.

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
  • 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1 1/2 pounds mixed fresh mushrooms (such as hen-of-the-woods, black trumpet, and/or chanterelle)
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter (2 ounces)
  • 14 (3-inch) thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle, plus fresh thyme leaves for decorating
  • 2 large shallots, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 6 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup (2 ounces) madeira
  • 2 teaspoons herbed salt, divided
  • 4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin filets (about 1 1/2 inches thick)
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 8 (about 1/2-ounce) thinly sliced country ham or prosciutto slices
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 3 (14-ounce) packages frozen all-butter puff pastry (such as dufour), thawed
  • all-purpose flour, for work surface
  • 1 large egg, beaten
Directions:
  1. Combine coarse sea salt, dried oregano, dried rosemary, dried thyme, rubbed sage, and granulated garlic in a bowl. Rub using your fingers to incorporate. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. Working in batches, pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped, 6 to 8 pulses. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add chopped mushrooms and thyme sprigs; cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms begin to brown and stick to skillet, about 20 minutes. Add shallots and garlic; cook, stirring often, until shallots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add Madeira; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to stick to bottom of skillet, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon herbed salt. Spread duxelles on a baking sheet; let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove and discard thyme sprigs.
  3. Sprinkle beef with remaining 1 teaspoon herbed salt. Heat oil in a large skillet over high. Cook filets until just browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate; refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to use.
  4. Place a 12- x 16-inch sheet of plastic wrap on a work surface. Overlap 2 country ham slices to form a cross shape on center of plastic wrap; spread 1/2 cup duxelles evenly over ham. Pat 1 filet dry; brush with 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard, and place in center of cross. Fold ham slices with duxelles over filets, making sure to fully encase beef.
  5. Gather and twist plastic wrap to seal into a tight bundle. Repeat with remaining ham, duxelles, filets, and mustard. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour. (Alternatively, freeze for 3 hours or up to overnight; see step 8.)
  6. Meanwhile, roll 1 puff pastry sheet into a 16- x 12-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 2 (8-inch) circles. Repeat process with 1 more pastry sheet. (Reserve dough scraps for another use.) Place circles between parchment paper on a baking sheet, and set aside. Roll remaining pastry sheet into a 16-inch square, and cut out 4 (7-inch) circles. Using a square or round cutter, punch out 3/4-inch squares from the 7-inch circles to create a lattice. Discard scraps or reserve for another use. Add lattices to baking sheet; refrigerate until ready to use.
  7. Preheat oven to 425°F. Unwrap 1 filet bundle; center bundle on 1 (8-inch) pastry circle. Lightly brush beaten egg in a 1-inch border around dough edge. Fold dough up and over to encase filet bundle; pinch dough to seal, and trim off any excess dough. Place pastry bundle, seam side down, on parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Repeat process with remaining filet bundles and remaining 8-inch pastry circles. Brush pastry bundles lightly with beaten egg.
  8. Stretch 1 lattice over each pastry bundle. Tuck lattice edges under; trim excess lattice, if needed. Brush lattice lightly with beaten egg; place thyme leaves in each lattice opening. Refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, 10 minutes.
  9. Insert probe of an oven-safe meat thermometer in thickest portion of 1 bundle. (Alternatively, use an instant-read meat thermometer to check temperature during last few minutes of bake time.) Place baking sheet with all 4 bundles in preheated oven; immediately reduce temperature to 400°F. Bake, rotating baking sheet halfway through bake time, until pastry is golden brown and thermometer registers 115°F, 30 to 32 minutes. Let rest on a wire rack 10 minutes before serving. (Beef temperature will rise to 130°F for medium-rare. For rare, freeze bundles in step 2 for 3 hours or up to overnight; bake until thermometer registers 85°F, 35 to 40 minutes. Temperature will rise to 115°F while resting.)