A New Wellington

I’ve been in the restaurant industry since 1986, with a few small sabbaticals. To say I’ve seen and cooked many different styles of cuisine is a gross understatement. As most chefs do, we are always looking to make the next new creation. Without stating my resume or abilities as a chef, I have most definitely taken an old dish and redefined it into an exquisite innovative new creation only to be mocked and scorned.

It all started as I watched a famous T.V. chef prepare the great classical dish “Beef Wellington”. From this dish, my inspiration was born. I set out to re-create this time-tested and wonderfully difficult dish to perfect. I witnessed Chef Ramsey perfect this dish. How was I going to top his execution of perfection and create the “New Wellington”????

After much thought, I decided on lamb tenderloins. I assumed lamb tenderloins have a chateaubriand (thicker section from the middle). After much labor making laminated dough (puff pastry), and duxelles (mushroom pate), selecting the perfect Dijon mustard, red wine, and other essential ingredients, I began searing the delicate small cylindrical pieces of lamb preparing them for my new masterpiece. As I labored, with love, I glanced outside the kitchen window and saw my youngest son sharpening a small stick. As I saw the long thick shavings coming off the stick, I was inspired again to make the perfect simple side dish, “Honey Glazed Carrots” cut like long thick shavings from sharpening a stick. Could be a new way to cut carrots as well as a new way to make Wellington. ?

As I lovingly brushed egg wash over the scalloped puff pastry preparing to place in the oven, I heard my son come inside and ask about dinner. I told him there was a special treat cooking for him in the oven. “Go wash up and get ready for dinner,” my wife said. My excitement for this new idea being presented to my family could hardly be contained. The smell of tenderloin searing, the mushrooms cooking, the carrots in honey, and the red wine sauce reducing permeated the air. The smell filled the house and my family started to gather in the kitchen with questions about dinner. My excitement increased.

I removed the finest serving platters from the pantry and my wife, privy to the details, set the table with the finest of our dishes. I removed the “New Wellingtons” from the oven to rest. I piped mashed Yukon gold potatoes around the border of a platter, the long shiny glazed carrots just inside the potatoes, and gently lay the lamb wellingtons in the center. I poured the wine sauce into a sauceboat. My wife and I placed the items on the table, where two of our children sit anticipating the meal. Our youngest stick-sharpening boy came up to the table, stick in hand, and proceeded to skewer a lamb wellington. He took one bite, with the entire family in shock, and stated “Holy moly Dad, you found a way to make corn dogs with the mustard already inside. These are great”.?