Pork Wellington

An Alton Brown Recipe, located here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pork-wellington-recipe/index.html

I found it to be absolutely delicious, and surprisingly cheap as well.

Ingredients:

• Pork tenderloin (came in a pack of two)
• Prosciutto, thinly sliced, less than .25 lbs (cost me a little less than 2 dollars)
• Mustard (bought grey poupon mustard that would be used in other instances than this recipe.)
• Thyme, fresh, chopped. One teaspoon is all it calls for, and it was no more than 2-3 sticks.
• Puff pastry, thawed (came in a frozen pack of two)
• Dried apple, medium chop (On the smaller side is useful, they reconstitute nicely inside.)
• Salt, pepper
• One egg
  

Directions:

1. Begin pastry thawing time on a well floured sheet of wax paper or parchment paper. It takes a while.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
   
3. Trim the fat and silver skin from the tenderloin. Anything you wouldn't want to eat, get rid of. Split tenderloin down the middle, and reverse one section to even the size at each end.
4. Layer prosciutto between layers of parchment paper or wax paper. Use a rolling pin to adhere the slices of prosciutto together into a sheet.
5. Peel one sheet of the paper off the prosciutto, and sprinkle with the teaspoon of thyme, teaspoon of pepper, and teaspoon of salt.
6. Lay the tenderloin halves down the middle of the prosciutto, and place the chopped apples inside. Use the paper under the prosciutto to fold it up around the tenderloin, enclosing it. I found that it held well if constant pressure is held around the outside, keeping it in shape.
7. Roll out the thawed puff pastry sheet to a width allowing you to get about a roll and a half around the tenderloin, and about long enough to fold the ends closed around the meat.
8. Spread a thin layer of the mustard down the middle of the pastry.*
9. Place the tenderloin package in the center of the pastry, and use the paper to help roll the tenderloin over itself.
   
10. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (NOTE: WAX PAPER IS NOT OVEN SAFE.) to make for easy cleanup.
11. Whisk the egg and some water in a bowl to make an egg wash. Brush evenly over the top of the wellington.
12. Place the wellington in the upper third of the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
13. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing into portions and serving.
    

*The mustard seems to be optional to an extent. I enjoyed it with the mustard a little more, but the dish was also delicious without it.

Pictures:

Looks pretty good for a first attempt.


Awww yeahh. Just as delicious as it looks.

Summary and notes:

• It is super delicious.
• Most of the flavor is from the prosciutto. Said prosciutto is also likely not very healthy for you, but it is in such small quantities that it ceases to be an issue.
• The dried apples help soak up the moisture let off by the meat. By doing so they reconstitute to feel like the apples in stuffing made for thanksgiving.
• The puff pastry browns nicely in the eggwash, becomes light and flaky, and is really easy to use when you don't have to make it from scratch. It also helps the dish to retain moisture, allowing the pork tenderloin to be fully cooked without being dried out.
• It is not a dainty dish. It will not hold it's shape when you are trying to cut bites out, so don't worry about it, and just enjoy.