OK well I’m in the dog house, seeing as I did get up on my tippy toes and managed to pull this interestingly smelling red and white thing off the tree. It did smell pepperminty but didn’t taste so good, but I did growl at dad when he took it away from me. Merry Christmas to all, and I’ll be dreaming of Roast Beef not sugar plums!
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Rutabaga, yellow turnip, swede, neeps, tumshie whatever the name, it’s one of those vegetables that’s a love it or leave it choice. There really isn’t a middle ground with turnips, while some start watering at the mouth with the smell of them cooking, others run from the room.
The general consensus is the best way to serve is to mash. The secret is to cut the rutabaga up into equal size pieces. Not an easy task as it is a fairly dense root, but a good large sharp knife will do the trick.
The easiest way to peel is to cut into quarters and use the knife to slice the waxy skin off, there is a pithy layer that is slightly bitter just under the skin so don’t be afraid to take a good slice off. Cutting into quarters gives you 2 flat surfaces to place onto the cutting board, slice around the bottom of the quarter then turn over and do the same to the other edge. You now have only to slice the center of the quarters to peel all the waxy layer off. Then cut into 1/2 cubes, being careful to watch your fingers as you slice.
Take a large pot with salted water and bring the water up to a boil, add the rutabaga and boil until fork tender. Drain, add butter and a little salt and pepper and mash. It’s that simple.
If you have a good stand mixer with a paddle blade it will do a great job of the mashing. They do get better if they sit overnight and are rewarmed the next day, simply put into a baking pan and heat with a few pats of butter on the top, serve hot.
Rutabaga
There are of course other ways to serve. In Finland there is a casserole starring the rutabaga made for Christmas it adds milk breadcrumbs, molasses, egg, ginger,pepper, nutmeg and salt. Another way to serve is to combine with a few carrots in the mash or add sour cream, in fact the choices are endless. You can add with other winter root vegetables and roast or just oven roast by itself. Slice into very thin julienne to serve on a salad. Cut into small cubes it can be added to stews or pureed to thicken soups .
So the next time your in the grocery store, pick a couple up and give it a try. Add it to your repertoire.
While I do find the aroma interesting, they will certainly never replace a nice slice of roast beef or turkey and I’m not that crazy about vegetables by themselves so 3 paws for the effort.
Although this is an extremely elegant main course, there is no definitive recipe. Like wise there is no true source with which to say the dish was created. Most people assume that the dish is some how related to Arthur Wellesley the 1st Duke of Wellington, and that it comes from some dish he favored. Others theories suggest it was developed by a patriotic chef, another theory invented it in Wellington N.Z. for some occasion. The least favorite theory I find is that it looked, after cooking, like a highly polished “Wellington” boot, Oh so tasty!
About the only two sure things in the recipes is that the beef is en croute, wrapped in puff pastry and it won’t be found in too many French cookbooks. The other ingredients are up for discussion and you can go from a prohibitively expensive dish with foie gras with truffles and a truffle sauce to a more modest version using some form of liver pâté and a more modest sauce. Seemingly a daunting dish to prepare, it is in truth a fairly simple dish that does use slightly expensive ingredients.
The main ingredient is a tenderloin of beef. It can made as one large piece of meat or as individual servings which takes a little more work. The rest of the processes are the same.
Since it is baked in a pastry shell there is no gravy, so a sauce must be prepared and again here you will have a large variety of choices. My two favorites would be Bearnaise or a Madeira sauce, of course you can go with a simple thicken beef gravy, also there are no “laws” or sauce police to prevent you from experimenting.
About the only “must” is to use a piece of meat that is uniform in thickness so that it all cooks evenly.
Ingredients for Beef Wellington
This recipe is for a piece of meat that is 6 -8 inches in length.
1 center cut beef tenderloin 6 -8 ” trimmed of fat and silver-skin
Salt & pepper
2 tbs butter & 2 tbs olive oil
1lbs. button mushrooms
2 large shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 – 2 lbs liver pâté (enough liver pâté to cover the beef but not the ends)
mirepoix of onion chopped, celery chopped and parsley,1 bay leaf and pinch of rosemary
For the Madeira Sauce
2 cups brown sauce (recipe to follow)
1/3 cup Madeira wine
For Brown Sauce
4 cups beef stock
4 tbs butter or beef fat
4 tbs flour
1 onion diced
6 tbs tomato puree
Directions for the Brown Sauce
Making the sauce is the most time consuming part of the recipe and needs to be done well in advance of the actual dish.
In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the onion and cook to softened. Then add the flour and cook until it begins to brown. Once brown add the stock and purée mix well and cook until it’s reduced to about 2 cups.
Directions for Madeira Sauce
Take 2 cups of brown sauce and reduce to about 1 cup, then add 1/3 cup Madeira Wine and increase heat. Do not let sauce come to a boil as this will lessen the flavor of the wine.
Directions for the Beef Wellington
Preheat oven to 450°
Take the tenderloin and season with salt and pepper and in a flat pan roast with the mirepoix sprinkled around it for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Duxelles:
In a food processor place the mushrooms, shallots and garlic and thyme and pulse until you have a finely chopped mixture.
In a frying pan place the butter and olive oil and melt and then cook the mushroom mixture until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
Assembly:
When the meat is cool, take the puff pastry and roll out so that it is large enough to encompass the meat.
Take the pâté and spread to completely cover all the sides of the tenderloin, but not the ends. Spread the duxelles out on a large plate and press the duxelles into the pâté covered beef ,covering all the pâté with the duxelles.
Now place the covered meat onto the puff pastry fold over and seal, completely, trimming ends if necessary. Place it seam side down on a sheet pan. Brush egg wash over entire pastry. If you want before placing in oven you can decorate with leftover puff pastry ie. at Christmas perhaps use a tree cookie cutter and press this piece of dough on top and then brush with egg wash.
Bake in a 450° oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is brown. Serve the sauce on the side.
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Please help us keep our blog going by letting your friends know we’re here and by checking out the links on our front page.
This recipe is for a piece of meat that is 6 -8 inches in length.
1 center cut beef tenderloin 6 -8 " trimmed of fat and silver-skin
Salt & pepper
2 tbs butter & 2 tbs olive oil
1lbs. button mushrooms
2 large shallots
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 - 2 lbs liver pâté (enough liver pâté to cover the beef but not the ends)
mirepoix of onion celery and parsley,1 bay leaf and pinch of rosemary
For the Madeira Sauce
2 cups brown sauce (recipe to follow)
1/3 cup Madeira wine
For Brown Sauce
4 cups beef stock
4 tbs butter or beef fat
4 tbs flour
1 onion diced
6 tbs tomato puree
Instructions
Directions for the Brown Sauce
Making the sauce is the most time consuming part of the recipe and needs to be done well in advance of the actual dish.
In a sauce pan melt the butter and add the onion and cook to softened. Then add the flour and cook until it begins to brown. Once brown add the stock and puree mix well and cook until it's reduced to about 2 cups.
Directions for Madeira Sauce
Take 2 cups of brown sauce and reduce to about 1 cup, then add 1/3 cup Madeira Wine and increase heat. Do not let sauce come to a boil as this will lessen the flavor of the wine.
Directions for the Beef Wellington
Preheat oven to 450°
Take the tenderloin and season with salt and pepper and in a flat pan roast with the mirepoix sprinkled around it for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Duxelles
In a food processor place the mushrooms, shallots and garlic and thyme and pulse until you have a finely chopped mixture.
In a frying pan place the butter and olive oil and melt and then cook the mushroom mixture until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
Assembly
When the meat is cool, take the puff pastry and roll out so that it is large enough to encompass the meat.
Take the pâté and spread to completely cover all the sides of the tenderloin, but not the ends. Spread the duxelles out on a large plate and press the duxelles into the pâté covered beef ,covering all the pâté with the duxelles.
Now place the covered meat onto the puff pastry fold over and seal, completely, trimming ends if necessary. Place it seam side down on a sheet pan. Brush egg wash over entire pastry. If you want before placing in oven you can decorate with leftover puff pastry ie. at Christmas perhaps use a tree cookie cutter and press this piece of dough on top and then brush with egg wash.
Bake in a 450° oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is brown. Serve the sauce on the side.
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