I’m forever telling loved ones not to discount baking queen Mary Berry from their dinner recipe rester – I’ve tried and loved many of her savoury offerings.
But let’s be real here; when I decided to make my first beef wellington this weekend, there was only one person I had in mind to help me along.
Gordon Ramsay has slightly different beef wellington recipes on the BBC’s site, his restaurant group’s page, and his own website.
Only one of them features an overnight trick that I’ve used before to make the meat extra tender, evenly cooked, and perfectly juicy.
The secret lies in clingfilm
On his Gordon Ramsay page, the chef recommends “tightly” wrapping your beef fillets in three layers of clingfilm “to set its shape.”
Once it’s been encased in its new plastic home, the meat should be chilled overnight in your fridge.
When you’re ready to make the beef wellington, the first step should be to remove the beef from the clingfilm and fry it in a hot pan for 30-60 seconds, Gordon adds.
After that’s done, you can cook finely chopped mushrooms in the oil until all the moisture has been steamed out and you’re left with a paste (called a duxelle).
Then roll out the pastry to chill in the fridge and lay Parma ham on yet another sheet of clingfilm.
Spread the cooled mushrooms over that, then season the beef, lay it over the mushroom paste, and, “Using the cling film, roll the Parma ham over the beef, then roll and tie the cling film to get a nice, evenly thick log.”
Once that’s chilled for another half an hour, it’s ready to wrap in pastry for one last cooling session before cooking.
Why does wrapping the beef help?
Not only does it improve the appearance of the food when you cut into it (so THAT’s why his cross-sections are so satisfying), but it also means all of the ingredients are dispersed, so cook, evenly.
That means you won’t face wild variations in texture or taste as you bite into the main.
Of course, it’s not mandatory; his BBC Good Food recipe does use clingfilm when assembling the wellington, but not when resting the beef.
His restaurant site recipe uses clingfilm to wrap the beef with chicken mousse and crêpes (I don’t know either), but again, no overnight set and chill for the meat alone.