Beef Wellington: Putting It All Together

All the components of Beef Wellington can be made days -- or weeks, if frozen -- in advance of creating the dish. If you do choose to make everything the day of serving, here's a timeline to follow as you prepare each component so that everything gets done at the right time:

1. Sauce -- Put the sauce together first so that it has enough time to simmer. It'll take 30 minutes to make and about 4 hours to reduce.

2. Puff Pastry Dough -- Make this next. It only entails about 30 minutes of prep time, but it requires multiple rests and refrigeration that brings the total time involved to about 4 hours.

3. Paté -- Make the paté third so that it has time to solidify. It'll take about 30 minutes to make, and 2 hours to become firm in the refrigerator.

4. Duxelles -- Make the duxelles last because they are the easiest to do. They'll only take about 20 minutes to make and 1 hour in the refrigerator will cool them down enough to mix into the paté.

5. Beef Wellington -- It'll take about 10 minutes to assemble the roast, and cooking times vary from 30 minutes to a little over an hour depending on the size of the roast and preferred doneness.

If you move quickly and don't make any grievous errors, you could be eating your B Welly about 6 hours after you start the process. It is truly an all-day affair, this.

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Once you've got puff pastry dough, liver paté, duxelles, and sauce prepared, get out your beef and get roasting.

Move a shelf to the center and preheat the oven to 400 F.

Put a piece of parchment paper over a large baking sheet and lightly flour.

Take your well-chilled paté and duxelles, mix them together thoroughly, and set aside.

Beat one egg with a tablespoon of milk to from an egg wash and set aside.

Roll out the pastry dough onto the floured sheet, forming a rectangle large enough to fully enclose the beef when folded up.

Slather a layer of the paté-duxelles blend in the footprint that the beef, then lay the beef on top. Cover the sides and the top of the beef. When finished, fold up the pastry dough, sealing off the ends completely. If there is any dough leftover, use it to make whimsical decorations like, for example, cleavers or leaves. OK, cleavers and blobs. Whatever.

Carefully flip your baby over and coat with some good brushes of egg wash. Slide the baking sheet into the center shelf of the oven and relax. If your filet is about 3 pounds, rare meat will take about 40 minutes, medium about 50, and well done about 1 hour. If you test it with a meat thermometer, it should measure about 120 F rare, 135 F medium, and 145 F well. Remember that the temperature will go up a few more degrees at rest. If the pastry looks to be getting past a healthy golden glow and your meat still isn't to your liking, just cover it over with aluminum foil.

Remember to let the B Welly rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting to finish the cooking and allow the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat. The latter objective is particularly important for this dish because one hates to have juices overflowing from the roast running all over the perfectly crusty pastry.

Serve with a good hearty Bordeaux and mixed green salad. Anything more would be too much, anything less would not be fit.