RAMSAY’S BEEF WELLINGTON

This week for Ramsay’s recipes I made a classic Gordon dish: beef wellington. Commonly featured in his shows, like Hell’s Kitchen, beef wellington is a dish of English origin.

Generally, making it involves a filet coated with duxelles (finely chopped mushroom mixture) wrapped in parma ham or prosciutto and pastry. Newer recipes include the layer of parma ham because it prevents the pie from becoming soggy due to the steak. The entirety of his recipe took about 36 hours to complete. 

The steps for this recipe include:

• Wrap each filet very tightly in a triple layer of cling film to set its shape. The following day the cling film can be removed.

• Once removed, sear the filets in a cast iron skillet for 60 seconds and put them to cool.

• After this, the duxelles is made and also left to cool.

• Then, the pastry must be cut to shape and chilled in a refrigerator. This is the part where technique really became vital for me.

• You must lay down a cling film sheet and the pastry on top, and then the parma ham, four slices to be exact, is placed on top.

• The duxelles is then spread, and the filet is set on top.

• Carefully but firmly, I had to use the cling wrap to seal all of my hard work together. These “logs” are chilled before being brushed with egg wash and thrown in an oven.

• While those were baking, I completed the recipe with a Gordon signature red wine sauce. 

If I’m being honest, all my labor paid off. Whether it’s because I’m the next Gordon Ramsay or his recipes are super easy for a teenager to cook, this was easily the best meal I’ve made all year. The filets were perfectly cooked, and the sauce served as a perfect accompaniment. The wonderful people I shared this work with also agreed with my opinion on this one. Gordon may have stood up this time, but we’ll see if he withstands my palate next time.