My Version of Beef Wellington With Baked Potato

I wanted to make Beef Wellington but I don't like much the traditional filling of mushrooms and mustards, so I decided to replace it by peppers and onion, which is a classic combination where I live. I also made a baked potato as accompaniment.

Hope you like it!

For the beef Wellington:

1 Onion

1/2 Red Pepper

1 Green Pepper

3 Garlic Cloves

500g Beef

30x30 cm Pastry dough

Olive oil

Salt

For the baked potatoes:

2 Small Potatoes

Cured cheese

Herbes de Provence (savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, lavender)

- Slice the onion and caramelize it, which means frying it very slowly on a very low heat.

- Open the pepers and fry them on very low heat adding water. We want to bake them in the pan with some oil.

- Once the peppers are baked, peel them and cut them in thin strips.

- Season the beef adding salt and pepper.

- Chop the garlic and slow fry it in a pan.

- Sear the beef along with the garlic:

As they say in this article from AmazinRibs.com, Mythbusting: Searing Steaks Seals In The Juices:

"Meat is about 70% water and much of that is locked in thousands of long thin muscle fibers. Heating meat always squeezes out juices and nothing can stop the process. Some juices drip off during cooking and some evaporate. Although searing turns the surface brown, makes it harder, and makes it better tasting, it does not somehow weld the fibers shut and lock in the juices. In fact, the reason the surface is crusty is mostly because it has dried out a bit due to the high heat"

So we will sear the beef just to enhance its taste.

- Let it all cool.

- Unroll the pastry dough and put the peppers and onion on it.

- Put the piece of beef on the centre and roll it in the dough.

- Wrap it in plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

- Decorate it and spread olive oil or beaten egg on it to look golden when baked.

- Bake it for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown at 220ºC (425ºF)

- Wash the potatoes with a brush and cold water.

- Make vertical cuts along the potatoes.

- Put a slice of cheese every three cuts.

- Spread some olive oil and put some Herbes de Provence on the potatoes.

- Bake them for 50 minutes at 220ºC (425ºF), so put them in the oven 10 minutes before you bake the beef.

I cut the beef in half and made an extra pastry with a little piece of beef and some cheese.