Beef Wellington Bites

A traditional Beef Wellington is made with whole tenderloin wrapped in puff pastry along with mushrooms duxelles and foie gras. These beef Wellington bites are the finger food version made with choux pastry puffs.

Let me start by saying that this dish was the result of leftovers of the very best kind. I made duxelles for a different dish and ended up sharing it for a group post celebrating mushrooms. And I had frozen choux pastry from a croquembouche challenge. When a weekend barbecue left me with a couple of grilled filet mignon steaks, it suddenly came to me that I had the makings of beef Wellington of a sort and just needed some foie gras or liver paté. Oh, we dined richly that night! I'd been waiting for the ideal time to share them when Sunday Supper announced a Finger Food for Dinner theme. Perfect!

Make sure you scroll down to see all the wonderful fork-free dishes we are sharing today, from appetizers through desserts. Many thanks to our host Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures and her guiding light, Marion from Life Tastes Good.

Ingredients
For the duxelles:
3 oz or 85g shallots
1/3 cup or 75g butter
12 oz or 340g mushrooms
1 cup or 240ml dry white wine
1 cup or 240ml whipping cream
Sea salt
Black pepper
- Instructions here  You may not use the whole recipe. Stir the rest through some pasta. Or eat it with a spoon.

For the choux pastry:
1 cup or 125g plain flour
1 pinch salt
7 tablespoons or 100g butter
1 cup or 240ml water
4 eggs, at room temperature
- The dough makes about 50 small choux buns. They freeze well before baking!

For assembly: Makes 18 Beef Wellington Bites
6 oz or 170g grilled tenderloin steak
6 oz or 170g smooth duck or pork paté, at room temperature

Method
Make your duxelles ahead of time and store the bowl in the refrigerator. Do not leave it out as you work, because its volume will greatly decrease, spoon by spoon, if it's handy. That stuff is GOOD.

Now we'll make the choux pastry. Preheat your oven to 445°F or 230°C and prepare your baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper stuck down with a little non-stick spray. If you are feeling particularly anal, as I usually am, you can draw some circles to guide you on the underside of the parchment paper.

Sift together your flour and a pinch of salt and put the bowl right next to the stove in readiness.

In a medium pot, combine the butter and water and bring to the boil.

Pour the flour/salt mixture into the boiling water/butter all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture forms a ball and pulls right away from the sides. This takes just a minute or two.

Now take the pot off of the stove and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with your wooden spoon in between. With each addition, it looks like the egg won’t mix in and the dough starts to fall apart but keep mixing and after a couple of minutes of hard labor, the dough comes together again in one big lump and it’s time to add the next egg.

After the fourth egg has been thoroughly incorporated, put the dough into a piping bag with a large tip, about 1/2 in or 1 cm wide.

Pipe the soft dough on the parchment paper in 1 inch or 2.5cm circles about an equal measure apart from each other.

Poke down any pointy tops with a damp finger.

Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 400°F or 200°C and bake for a further 25 minutes. (OR you can now pop them in the freezer if you want to keep some for later.  You only need 18 for the Beef Wellington Bites. Once frozen, slip them off the parchment and into a Ziploc bag for storage. They are perfect for sweet or savory fillings and can be taken out of the freezer and baked as you need them.)

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Once they are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.

When you are ready to serve, warm your duxelles and your tenderloin steaks. Slice the steaks thinly.

Split the choux buns open horizontally. Add a good spoon of the duxelles to the bottom. Top with sliced steak and finally, add a small slice of paté.

Put the top of the choux bun back on and repeat the process until all the Beef Wellington Bites are assembled.

Enjoy!

Do you enjoy Finger Foods for Dinner? I think they are great for movie nights but in our house we also always do all appetizers for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as well.

I want everything on this list!

Pinky Appetizers

• Artichoke Jalapeño Bruschetta by Grumpy's Honeybunch
• Bacon Wrapped Dates by Our Good Life
• Baked Blue Cheese Olive Bites by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Baked Chicken Flautas by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Baked Piroshki (Russian Stuffed Rolls) by Curious Cuisiniere
• Blue Cheese & Buffalo Chicken Wonton Bites by Moore or Less Cooking
• Caprese Polenta Cakes by Eat, Drink and be Tracy
• Cherry Topped Brie Bites by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Chicken Pesto Pizza by Taste And See
• Classic Homemade Guacamole by Pies and Plots
• Fresh Vegetable Rainbow Rolls by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Italian Fried Stuffed Olives by La Bella Vita Cucina
• Healthy Buffalo Chicken Kabobs by Hardly A Goddess
• Mini Feta Leek Quiche by FoodieTots
• Mini Mediterranean Shish Kebabs by Hey What’s for Dinner Mom?
• Pan Seared Bruschetta by Seduction in the Kitchen
• Raspberry Glazed Chicken Wings by Family Around The Table
• Sesame Chicken Fingers by An Appealing Plan
• Spicy Popcorn Chicken by Brunch-n-Bites

Manual Mains

• Battered-dipped Turkey Tenders by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Beef Wellington Bites by Food Lust People Love
• Broccoli, Ham and Cheese Egg Muffin Cups by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Broccoli, Ham & Cheese Double Stuffed Potatoes by Simply Healthy Family
• Cheesy Baked Garlic Chicken Strips by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Chicken Parmesan Sliders by The Chef Next Door
• Cuban Sandwiches by My World Simplified
• Ethiopian Injera and Tikel Gomen (Cabbage, Carrots and Potato) by Caroline’s Cooking
• Fish fingers and Old Bay Dip by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets by Gluten Free Crumbley
• Crunchy-Coated Haddock Fingers by Turnips 2 Tangerines
• Ham and Cheese Sliders by Feeding Big and More
• Mini Pizza Pockets by The Freshman Cook
• Mini Pizzas by Angels Home Sweet Homestead
• Ribs with Whiskey Maple Barbecue Sauce by Palatable Pastime
• Savory Beef and Veggie Hand Pies by Positively Stacey
• Spinach-Feta Rolls by Wholistic Woman
• Lasagna Cupcakes by A Mind Full Mom
• Tacos in Lettuce Wraps by Simple and Savory
• Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce Wraps by Casa de Crews
• Thai-Indian Beef Lettuce Cups by The Texan New Yorker
• Vegetarian Piadina Sandwich by she loves biscotti
• Yuca Fritters Stuffed with Cheese by Basic N Delicious

Digit Desserts

• Blueberry and Brie Tarts by Momma’s Meals
• Roasted Strawberry Hand Pies by Baking Sense
• Salted Caramel Cream Puffs by The Redhead Baker

 .

Individual Beef Wellingtons

Tonight is my sweetie’s last night in KL before HIS official move to Cairo.  I’ll stay on a little longer to organize the packing up and prepare for Christmas here with elder and younger daughters.  Also, he sold his own car today, which he loved, so tonight called for a special compensatory meal.  We were given some filet mignon a few weeks back, which was just hanging out in the already too-full freezer so Beef Wellington came to mind.

Ingredients
25g (or about three tablespoons once they are minced) shallots

35g or 2 1/2 tablespoons butter

125g or 4.5 oz button mushrooms

2 sheets butter puff pastry

2 filet mignon steaks (150-160g or 5.3-5.6 oz each)

1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine

1/2 cup or 120ml cream

1/2 chicken stock cube

90g or 3.2 oz fine pork or duck liver pâté or mousse

Sea salt

Black pepper

1 egg for the egg wash

Method

Finely chop the shallots and mushrooms.  Sauté gently with the butter until the mushrooms are cooked down and then the liquid is almost all gone.

Add the 1/2 cup white wine and simmer again.

Meanwhile, dry off the steaks and sear them for one minute on each side in a very hot pan.  Put them back in the refrigerator to chill.

Remove your puff pastry sheets from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator.

Once almost all the liquid is gone again in the mushroom pan, add the 1/2 cup of thick cream, the 1/2 chicken stock cube, a few good grinds of fresh black pepper, and simmer.  

When it is very dry once more, remove from the heat and chill in the refrigerator.

Cut your pâté into two equal pieces. Keep chilled until ready to assemble the Wellingtons. Or the Beefs. I don't know how to shorten the name. Let's go with Wellingtons. 

To assemble the Wellingtons:  Put a piece of cling wrap straight on your counter top.  Put the thawed puff pasty on top of this.  Pull off the plastic that separates the puff pastry squares.

In a small bowl, beat your egg and add a little bit of water to make an egg wash.  Brush the egg wash all over the pastry square. 

Add half of the mushroom mixture (formally known as duxelles – why Beef Wellington, the quintessential English dish should have a French sub-ingredient, who knows? I object so I will continue to call it the mushroom mixture.  Just didn’t want my readers to remain in the dark.) in the middle of the pastry. 

Pop the steak on top and give it a gentle push down into the mushroom mixture.  Give it a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

Top the steak with the pâté.

Start folding in the pastry, corner by corner, getting it as tight as you can, with as little air as you can manage between the pastry and the meat.

Transfer them, using your cling film, to a baking pan.  Brush the little Wellingtons with your egg wash.

These can be kept in the refrigerator for an hour or two, until you are ready to bake them.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.  Put your baking tray into the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes, test the steaks inside with an instant read thermometer.  Rare should read around 130° or 54°C, medium rare up to 140° or 60°C, medium up to 150° or 65°C.  If you cook tenderloin more than that, I don’t want to know about it. :)

Serve with red wine sauce (As you will notice, I used just the red wine sauce recipe here.) and the roasted vegetable of your choice. 

Enjoy!