Nathalie Chiva <Nathaliedotchivaatgmail.remove.com> wrote:

> I love beef Wellingon and I'm actually making it tonight for 9 people,
> but the recipe you are giving is way too complicated IMO. As the
> saying goes, "Simplify, simplify"! My recipe is very simple (a bit
> trashy too, I admit, the only trashy recipe I use :-))) and yet people
> usually scarf it down like there is no tomorrow, complimenting me all
> the way.

Quite right, "trashy" is the keyword here. It is not at all surprising
that you discovered that "trashy" ingredients do not really change the
dish. This is because the very concept of this dish is trashy. I have
said it once and I will say it again: Of all the famous recipes, Beef
Wellington (or boeuf en crôute or boeuf en brioche, which are basically
the same thing) is one of the most overrated. Roasting or browning a
solid piece of meat and then steaming it (which is what happens, once
you enclose it in a pastry shell and continue to cook) does nothing for
its flavour, except for dumbing it down. The pastry adds its own
bland-down effect and the optional addition of foie gras is designed
more to impress the guest than to improve the dish. It's not accidental
that most pie-type meat dishes call for *minced* meat - it somehow
blends in and contributes to the making of a harmonious whole, rather
than to a combination of basically unrelated ingredients. But that's
just MHO and it doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to enjoy the dish - just
not on the same level as a really well-composed one.

BTW, Nathalie, you might want to fix your clock; it appears to be a day
fast (whereas Beef Wellington is hopefully a thing of the forgettable
past).

Victor