Tell me about beef wellington

[wipeyourpawsplease]

Have a lovely fillet for 2, never made Wellington before. It's a birthday dinner. Should I use pancake or prosciutto? Pate or not? Porcini as well as other mushrooms? I can't settle on one recipe over another. Should I buy Marsala for the gravy?

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g that's the recipe!! :) I've done it 2/3 times and it's very easy.
It was part of a tv programme. Tried to find on YouTube but no luck

I do a large one every year for Christmas.

• no to pancake - it would just get soggy with the beef juice
• yes to prosciutto
• definite yes to duxelles (NB: I usually make a large amount of duxelles. You can spread on bread, add some nice melting cheese, and make delicious toasties. You can also dilute with stock and cream and have a yummy quick mushroom soup)
• yes to cooking straight out of fridge after resting the pastry
• also handy is a hand help temperature probe to ensure good results.

It's lovely with a red wine sauce - used the Michel Roux one

I've gone with duxelle made with porcini, chestnut mushrooms, onion, garlic and rosemary (currently cooling). Not using prosciutto or pancake but spreading some chicken liver pate into the pastry before adding the duxelle. Brushing some brandy onto the beef after browning and making red wine gravy with the porcini liquid. Buttered jersey royals and asparagus on the plate too. Thanks for all the comments and I'll definitely to whacking it into a high temp oven from chilled!

Let us know how it turns out!

Hope it turns out well.
I use the recipe on BBC good food, think it's Gordon Ramsey. Always works.
Imo you need the prosciutto to stop the pastry getting soggy. No pancake or additional filo pasty required if you let it rest properly at each stage.
Top tips...
Seal beef, cool, cover with duxelle and wrap in cured meat. Freeze for 30 mins or fridge overnight.
Once you roll out the pastry, egg yolk wash it all and the meat, this helps avoid air pockets..you want the pastry seal with the meat as tight as possible.
Once the meat is covered in pastry, freeze again for 30 mins or fridge for up to 24 hours.
I usually do the dux and meat parcel the night before..wrap in pastry the next morning, then fridge over the course of the day.
Also make sure to rest the meat for long enough after cooking and a meat thermometer is very useful.
It isn't difficult, just requires a little care.

The meal worked out fine, a little overdone but we knew where we went wrong there. No soggy bottom. To be fair, I wouldn't cook it again for 2 but it's a great dish to make a pricey cut go further for a group