For you Sir, some Wellington

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

The Dish
Pork Wellington with a horseradish cream sauce and garlic asparagus
The Beer
Hoyne Brewing Co. Vienna Amber Lager
The Album
TOOL – 10,000 Days

• 8 oz pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 198 grams thawed puff pastry
• 3 slices of prosciutto
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 1 tbsp of minced garlic
• 1 egg, beaten
• salt/pepper to taste

The Sauce

• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
• 1 tbsp hot prepared horseradish
• 1 tbsp diced dill pickles
• 1/8 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp salt

Mix all sauce ingredients together and set in fridge to chill

Preheat oven to 350F (176C) and sear the pork tenderloin on all sides in a skillet with some extra virgin olive oil.
Roll out the Puff pastry using a little flour to prevent sticking.
Spread the puff pastry with Dijon mustard, leaving an inch on all sides.
Add prosciutto and lay the seared tenderloin horizontally over it.
Spread beaten egg on edges of pastry and roll up the whole thing tightly.
Seal ends and place on non stick baking sheets.
Place on center rack and bake for 30-35 minutes.
While pork is cooking, sauté Asparagus in a skillet with some olive oil and add minced garlic.
Serve immediately.

The Review

Still with me? Good. If any of you are like myself, you know that looking at a recipe online can be somewhat exhausting at times. You need to read through an entire life story before you get to the good stuff, the actual recipe. This is why I will be formatting these a little differently with the recipe, at the top. So, you can choose to read how I feel about my pairing or not. Maybe you just want the bare bones, And that’s okay. But if you are reading this far, I will tell you how I feel about this triple threat.

A wellington dish, in my mind always seemed like a fairly refined and complicated dish that was something you would see in a fine foods restaurant. And while, this may be true if one was using a finer cut of filet mignon or another comparable meat, I decided to use a pork tenderloin. This is both for financial and for diet preferences. But I digress, the album that I decided to pair with cooking and eating this dish was 10,000 days by TOOL. While there are other very good contenders, I felt 10,000 days would be a little bit better suited to a meal that may be a little bit on the fancier side. I was looking for something that would be a little more toned down. The album was a great mix of energetic and smooth. It went really well with the dish itself as the Pork Wellington is not necessarily a strong tasting meal but the Dijon and horse radish gave it a nice little kick. if I had to pick one song that fit best it would be Jambi. 10,000 days would be a close second.

Now, being that a wellington isn’t really known for it’s strong flavours, I decided that a Lager would pair really well. I chose a Hoyne Brewing Co. Vienna Amber Lager. While the beer itself is a pretty standard lager, it fit really well with the dish and did not overpower it at all. If I was using beef, I would likely go more towards an amber ale or even a stout.

Now, as this is the first time I have made this dish, there are also a few lessons to learn. Let’s talk about those, because lets face it, that’s the fun in experimenting.

Most Wellington recipes call for the use of diced mushrooms and/or onions that are sauteed and then layered on after the prosciutto. However, since I forgot to get these all important ingredients at the grocery store, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to omit them. “What could possibly go wrong with this?” I thought to myself. Well, if you are also wondering the same thing, let me inform you. The mushroom is there to not only add an extra layer of texture, but also to soak up all of the juices that come from the meat whilst cooking. So if you are going to make this, be sure to pick up those mushrooms. The second lesson I learned, was that a puff pastry will not rise properly if you roll over the edges while you are rolling it out. So be mindful of that pin!

The Dish
7/10 – Would be better with all ingredients.
The Beer
6/10 – Pretty standard lager with nothing to speak of.
The Album
10/10 – Always a solid choice with TOOL. Fit really well with the dish
OVERALL
8/10
A good dish that is reasonably easy to make and pairs well with a lighter beer and a less aggressive, more flowing album that has great flow and some great technical instrumentals to back up some very poetic lyrics.

Thank you for going on this adventure with me!
Stay tuned for next week. I will be trying my hand at a home made ravioli with a vodka cream sauce.