Beef Wellington (Re-visited)!

I've made Beef Wellington in the past, and it's a very impressive looking dish!  I am convinced, however, that while it's delicious; it just isn't as good as it looks or as the work you have to put into it.  If only it were easier!?  Well, I tried a new version of this dish for Men's Night last week, and the fellas were only too happy to be my guinea pigs!

This dish is still a bit challenging (I give it a 7/10 for "time and trouble"), but it was worth it!

You Will Need: 

• 4 8oz Beef Tenderloin Filets
• 1 Large Pack of Whole Portabella Mushrooms
• A few Tablespoons of Yellow Mustard
• Several Slices of Prosciutto 
• Several Thin Slices of Bacon
• 6 Cloves of Fresh Garlic
• 1 Stick of Butter

This recipe starts with the mushroom "Crumble."  Simply dice your 'shrooms into the tiniest bits you can (I used a food processor and pulsed them into oblivion), and cook them with the butter and garlic (and maybe some red wine) until the liquid reduces and they're delicious.  Set them aside to cool.  Once they've cooled, they'll have the consistency of couscous or mashed potatoes; this is a GOOD thing!

Now; grab of your filets and brush some yellow mustard onto the top and sides.  This is the "glue" that will hold the mushroom crumble. It will cook away, so don't worry about it!  It's entire job is to help stick the shrooms to your meat.  I had doubled this recipe and I was working with 8 filets.  Your mileage may vary...

Here's the "fun" part; using your fingers, grab up some mushroom crumble and press and moosh it all up and around your filet.  You can see in this picture that I was working the filet while it was sitting on a slice of prosciutto.  This is key to the next step...

Here's your goal!  You want to get the filet coated with shroom goop, wrapped tightly in a sheet of prosciutto, and then wrapped in bacon!  Don't worry, it's gets easier as you go.  

Once all of your filets are wrapped, place them onto some plastic wrap and roll/wrap them up SUPER tightly before parking them in the fridge. Leave them in the fridge for a few hours (or even overnight).  The object here is to use the chill air to firm these up into tight little balls that stay together.  

When it's time to cook (not before), take the steaks out of the fridge and unwrap them.  You'll notice a huge difference in their desire to stay firm and wrapped!  Working quickly, place them on the "cool" (indirect) side of a solid fire in your grill OR place them into a pre-heated smoker at 300 degrees F. 

I cooked mine to an internal temperature of 115 degrees, then I seared each one of them over the direct flames on the HOT side of the smoker's firebox, just to add a nice crust.

They were amazing.  Slicing them open revealed a true Medium-Rare center and a nice ring of mushroom paste. The salty prosciutto gave it a perfect balance and the bacon, well?  Who doesn't love bacon?