dry run christmas dinner: pork wellington

Last year we embarked on a new tradition in our family by having our first pot luck Christmas dinner. Now that my little man is mobile and my little nephew will be celebrating his first Christmas it is even more important for us to keep things simple.

The only wrench in our plan is that this year is my wife’s year to work Christmas. Since she won’t be able to partake in the feast I wanted to do have a nice sit down dinner the weekend before. As I researched menu ideas by watching some Food Network the idea of a Beef Wellington intrigued me, but the thought of spending over a hundred bucks on just the meat to feed eight people annoyed me.

Fortunately, as I turned to the internet to find more inspiration, I came across Alton Brown’s Pork Wellington recipe. The timing couldn’t have been better and at a third of the price of beef tenderloin, it would be much easier on the holiday budget.

Since this was the first time I’ve ever attempted something like this I played it pretty close to the vest in terms of following the recipe. The only addition I made was some dried apricots to go with the apples. Conversely, the only thing I eliminated was the salt that was called for when making the prosciutto wrap for the tenderloin.

I’m happy to report that the dry run went about as good as it could have gone. The final product was amazing and I’ve got a great deal of confidence heading into the big meal.

The only thing I plan on changing is adding a roasted garlic duxelle to the mix in between the prosciutto and tenderloin. While a duxelle is traditionally made with mushrooms, no one here really cares for them. So, I will be making a duxelle-like mixture with roasted garlic, red onions and pancetta instead.

hardware

• roasting pan
• cutting board, knife
• rolling pin
• measuring cups and spoons
• pastry brush
• parchment paper

software

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 ounce dried apple rings, finely diced
• 1 ounce dried apricots, finely diced
• 1 1-1 1/2 pound whole pork tenderloin
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• all purpose flour
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

assemblage

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• whisk egg and water together in a bowl and set aside
• trim the pork tenderloin of any excess fat or silver skin, then (if the tenderloin came in one solid piece) use a knife and halve it
• lay one sheet of parchment paper on the counter and arrange the prosciutto in overlapping layers
• place a second sheet of parchment paper overtop the prosciutto and roll over it a few times with the rolling pin to help the it stick together into a solid sheet
• remove the second layer of parchment paper, then sprinkle the sheet of prosciutto with the black pepper and thyme
• set the tenderloin in the middle of the prosciutto (you want the thickest ends of the tenderloin at either end, so reverse the other half of the tenderloin so that it makes a more uniform piece of meat), then spread the apples and apricots in between the two pieces

• push them back together keeping the fruit mixture in place, then using the parchment paper roll it up so the prosciutto completely wraps around the tenderloin

• sprinkle some flour on the counter, or cutting board, and using the rolling pin roll out the puff pastry to a dimension that will enable you to wrap the tenderloin completely
• place the prosciutto wrapped tenderloin in the center of the puff pastry, fold one end of the puff pastry over the tenderloin, then roll to completely enclose

• brush the edges of the puff pastry and pinch the edges closed
• put the thickest side of the puff pastry wrapped tenderloin down in the roasting pan (a good idea would be put the roasting pan in the oven while it is preheating to help develop the crust on the underside of the tenderloin)
• brush the entire puff pastry with the egg wash and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees

• remove the tenderloin from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack, allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing

presentation

Since this was just a dry run of Christmas dinner, and I was more concerned with getting the Wellington part right, I didn’t put a great deal of thought into the sides. I did some simple roasted potatoes with parsley, rosemary, thyme and toasted cracked fennel seed and then dressed some baby spinach in lemon, sea salt and olive oil.

Tagged as: Alton Brown, Beef Wellington, Black pepper, Cook, Home, Olive oil, Onion, Pork