There's a clash of philosophy in Adam Ragusea making a Wellington. His entire niche is extremely accessible recipes that you can sort of wing and still get away with (totally valid but not necessarily the kind of stuff I watch personally), but a Beef Wellington is a celebratory dish where the details really matter, and putting effort makes all the difference.
It is. it's no wonder he did not feel like it was worth it if he did it half assed toward all the step. Of course I hope that the implied meaning was : "If you want a good beef wellington pay others to make it for you." rather than to never eat one again.
@Toastybees I get your point, but I personally think Adam is way too progressive and willing to do away with traditional culinary techniques. Wellington isn’t about what’s easiest, it’s about tradition. He seems to modify most recipes, but I do like his food science videos.
@@Sniperboy5551 His entire cooking philosophy is forget tradition if it means you can't enjoy food. He makes it a point that in his opinion practical home cooking should always be about what you have available and what tastes good, traditions take a backseat. Accessibility over blind adherence to tradition. There are no set in stone rules of cooking besides make it taste good, and specifically make it taste good for you and the people you are serving. You can not agree with his philosophy, but he has the right to express it and his videos are very successful, his personality being a big part of his success.
I believe Adam should’ve just chosen a dish he enjoys and knows he’d be fully invested in instead of this. You can clearly tell he’s not excited about making this dish and wasn’t super concerned about doing it right.
Most of Adams videos are about accepting ourselves the way we are, and that it is okay to make mistakes and not be perfect. It's imo a healthy way of looking at life.
@@timothyblazer1749 agreed. If anything adam fans trying to justify subpar quality of the dish because the philosophy behind it are good is embarrassing. It's even worse if he gave recipe quantity which meant he want someone to replicate his attempt and most inexperienced home cooks lack the knowledge on how to adjust certain things to make it better themselves. Sharing bad knowledge is worse than sharing no knowledge at all. Plus when the chef recommended buying premade pastry dough to cut time, it make 0 sense for Adam to overcomplicate a recipe especially when his channel was really aimed toward inexperienced home cooks.
He absolutely should have, but IIRC this was a topic his community was pushing hard for and he's established a few times he's not great at pushing back under those circumstances, though he has gotten better at it each time.
@@greenblack6552 you shouldn't push yourself too hard but you also shouldn't pat yourself on the back for not trying. i fail a lot in the kitchen. sometimes my omelette comes out perfect, sometimes it is a bit brown, sometimes i just have to go "alright, we are making scramble today, i guess". but while accepting my mistakes i am getting more vary of what i do wrong and try to prevent it from happening again. trying and failing is learning, not trying and patting yourself on the back is laziness.
I made a wellington for Christmas a couple of years ago. It wasn't perfect, but it did turn out great, and it definitely impressed my in-laws. That being said, I really appreciate your comments here. These are great tips that will really make my next one better.
To be fair he tried something to accomodate his wife because she doesn't like mushrooms, and at least on a technical level the layer did it's job. Can't vouch for the taste (I like spinach, but... not like that), but it shows you can try alternative things to accomodate people.
Love the fact that you gave credit to chef Bruno Albouze, while watching Adam make the pastry I was thinking the same thing as you said. Chef Bruno truly is one of the best chefs here on TH-cam, unfortunately not enough people know about him.
That man is a genius with food, it's a joy to watch him cook and talk about food, and he obviously knows his stuff. I am just so perplexed as to why he's not Gordon level of popular.
@@ArchangelShineI follow his work since in his 1k Subs, he is definitely gaining more audience now, almost 1M subs, definitely one of the most talented Chef both in Pastry and French cuisine
Never had BW, have no intention of ever making it, but one of my favourite it’s-3-am-and-I-can’t-sleep comfort watches is Alvin Zhou’s 72-hour beef wellington. I don’t know why it’s so comforting to watch really elaborate food being made.
I used to work in a Greek restaurant. As a test, they made me make phyllo - basically an excuse to sit back, drink, and laugh. Puff pastry is right up there. PS: they used to put msg in their baklava fillings. I absolutely kid you not
I actually used frozen filo dough for my wellington this year b/c the grocery was out of puff pastry, and it turned out great. So light and fluffy and flakey. Actually, this is the second time I've had to use filo, and both times it turned out so good that I'm making it my go-to for future wellingtons. Traditional duxelles with mushrooms, shallots, herbs and chestnuts, bit of bourbon cooked off, prosciutto layer, hot english mustard, and the result was criminally good. Some years I add a thin layer of păté, but I didn't this year and it might have been too rich if I'd had.
“It’s a good thing that Adam is showing you how to make his puff pastry. Now if you want to learn how to make a good puff pastry…” 😂😂😂 I didn’t know we were getting a Sunday roast today too!
@@marinary1326 then he is not really giving the dish its best chance. Like the chef said, if he already want to half assed it, just buy store bought pastry dough.
@@dodixaber8968 tbf, I've seen Michelin starred chefs call for using rough puff not "proper" puff pastry for this dish, their rough puff was obviously bettee than Adam's though.
Man, I always love that as you react, you always give solid do-and-don't and tips on cooking. I legit learned so much from this channel. Thanks Chef James!
@@ChefJamesMakinson Thanks for enduring the cringe and the pain of watching your preferred art and profession be casually disrespected. The knowledge advice and critique you share and how you share it is inspiring.
16:45 The process involving butter and flour is akin to preparing a roux-based sauce, known in Denmark as 'opbagt sovs.' This method typically starts with a mixture of water, butter, and flour. You then gradually add your stock to this mixture. In this specific method, however, the butter and flour are mixed together first, and then this blend is incorporated into the stock directly in the pan. This technique is widely used to thicken sauces and soups, yielding a smooth and rich texture. It's a fundamental skill in culinary arts, offering flexibility in enhancing both the flavor and texture of various dishes. This method is especially useful for creating a base in gravies, béchamel sauce, and other classic sauces.
When i saw him make puff pastry i instantly thought about Bruno because i actually followed his quick puff pastry and it is amazing, easy and he explains it well.
If I am honest, I think Adam doesn't like to cook/ eat a beef wellington, leading to a lack of practice with the recipe, which shows in the final cook. In his defence, I do think he made it almost completely to his own taste (both eating and cooking) and a lot of the errors he made, he wouldn't have made them if he was that interested in the recipe. Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if Adam never makes another wellington in his life
My Wellington was amazing. I didn't use tenderloin, I used a cut from the shoulder, which was very tender and only cost $10. I wish I could post my pictures because it was beautiful. Thank you, Chef.
I remember in a basic pastry class in culinary school the chef referred to this as an "hojaldre rápido" (quick puff pastry), which pretty much looked like this, instead of the dough and the butter layers we're used to seeing. She then made "palmeritas" and some other stuff with it and it wasn't terrible, but you could see it was just the thing that you could come up with during a cold sunday for tea if you want to have a quick bite. It was never spoken of or used again, and it definitely doesn't bellong on a wellington where you're spending money and time to do something special.
Yeah, this is pretty much how I make "ruff puff" for simple home baking. It will do in a pinch when you have forgotten to buy puff pastry for things like meat pies, apple pies etc. But I would never use it for something as high-class as beef wellington.
You and me had the same scandalised look on our faces when Adam said that making Beef Wellington isn't worth it 😂 only ever made it once for my girlfriend and me and it was DELICIOUS! Hopefully I'll get to make it again sometime soon
Well I am sure even Adam himself admit that his attempt was poor. Nearly every step of prep has the chef criticize and raised concern. What I hate was when people tried to provide tips there, either Adam or his fans would quickly shot them down by saying it was meant to encourage low skilled person to try cooking rather than for doing it correctly. I'd rather watch a more entertaining channel like You Suck At Cooking since with his humourous nature, he made any recipes seemed less daunting to try.
@@dodixaber8968 there are significantly better channels out there than Ragusa. I didn't realize how .... bad he was at some of this? He's making such huge rookie mistakes in almost every single basic preperation step here. I can only imagine he thinks wellington is terrible, because he made a terrible version of it. Chef Makinson is so damn nice helpful his criticism is very gentle (i'm used to goddamn ramsey torching people in to ashes lol) Just off the top of my head, Babish, Sam (the cooking guy) and Guga could all do this 100x better and other than sam they're all amateur cooks. (sam has ran a number of resturaunts that are casual dining)
Awesome review! I liked Adam's original video, but I loved all of your professional advice regarding things he did. I also love your spirit as not being harsh or critical, just honest and offering advice for improvement! Thanks for the upload!
I made beef Welington only once as well, though in Serbia beef is not that expensive, the whole tenderloin was like 25 E , but instead of parma ham, I used Njeguški pršut, from Montenegro, it is amazing, it is a local version of pruisuccto, between mountains and Adriatic sea, cures where Adriaticsea (Mediterranean) meats 2000m mountains which cause speacial winds, also it is smocked unlike Parma ham, idk with an olive and a beech tree, result was amazing. Plus it is mich cheaper then a parma ham, though I cheated and used sousvide method for a perfect medium rare. For the mushrooms I used porchini, bell, button briwn mushrooms and some black truffle for extra flavor.. And I added some sesame seed on the puff pastry . All my friends were blown away
From the man who brought you "knife safety is optional and elitist" and "don't salt your steak, salt the cutting board," Adam comes back with another banger video. 5:53 just about sums up my thoughts on watching adam ragusea's videos
@@deathbyboa1 Adam's opinion on knife safety has no redeeming qualities. You're welcome to bring up the parts of his two videos on it that you agreed with so that I can explain why you're dangerously dumb.
I could not disagree more.. Amatures should learn from teachers not professionals... Adam is a teachers not a pro chef. As he has estabilished multiple times, chefs often just follow functional algorithms that function in the pro kitechen (with tools and scale not accessibke to the home Cook)....
I tried making beef wellington for the first time after watching your review of Gordon Ramsay’s version. It was a learning process but the end result was delicious. Now making it for Christmas dinner. So pleased that your reviews helped me approach this wonderful dish ❤️ I used frozen puff pastry. Much easier,
I think this is a good reminder that Adam is not a chef, not a butcher, nor is he a baker. He is a journalist with a cooking-themed youtube channel. It's worth taking most things he says about cooking with a hefty grain of salt.
that's what annoys me so much about him..... he says so many things that just make it painfully obvious that he thinks a lot of his (sometimes terribly uninformed) opinions are objective fact... the dude should maybe try baking himself some humble pie every now and again
@@stefanforrer2573 It's amazing what you can get away with by just plowing ahead with an air of absolute confidence and authority. For instance, "Cooking With Jack" actually had a large following in the earlier years of TH-cam. It took an entire wave of foodtubers entering the scene for people to eventually figure out that he was just some incompetent, narcissistic redneck making garbage while declaring himself amazing.
@stefanforrer2573 I remember when I watched his videos, Adam accused Alton Brown of doing what you wrote in your comment: stating his cooking opinions as if they're facts. Once Adam said that, I realized he was doing the exact thing he accused Brown of doing! I stopped watching him after I saw him arguing with commenters over something about a sponsor.
@@wamken619 yeah he has a history of pointless arguments in comment sections, quite dreadful, some instances one would joke and he'd practically make it into an issue.
the fact that he thought making his own pastry for the dough would leave less room for error than using store bought because "it just flakes off" is actual buffoonery. Adam's reasoning doesn't always pan out the way he probably envisions it.
It's interesting to me to see Adam speak on things with a tone that makes it sound like he knows what he's doing and is knowledgeable about the process, and then hear you basically shoot down all his inaccuracies. I guess it's a good lesson that these cooking enthusiasts might not actually be the pros that they think they are in these videos, despite how confident and convincing they may sound.
There were warning signs from the get go on this one. Not properly mixing the dough so there were still visible chunks of butter was one, but the most obvious issue for me was the uneven shape. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to cooking, but even I know that it's not going to cook evenly if one part is so much thicker than another.
You're not supposed to mix the dough fully - that is ROUGH puff. He called out that he had decided to do rough instead of proper. James seems to completely ignore the existence of this statement, you can hear it at the start of the video. And yes it IS specifically a different technique from "proper" puff. It's designed to be 20% of the effort for 60% of the result.
THANK YOU!!! It's baffling to me how people seem to not be able to grasp this concept. He explained it and why he prefers it and the only reaction is "huh, that's not real puff pastry". No! It's not supposed to be, by design and by choice.
Eh I think that's okay. Clearly he never was super interested in perfecting the recipe, but either it was brought up in the household or his fans wanted it so he made it Raguseaized. That's okay, if it was tasty and his family liked it and he got what he wanted out of it then I'd call it a win for Adam, but a loss for Beef Wellington. Lmao
@@Madadader That's fine for an amateur that's trying to follow a pro's recipe. It's not okay for a guy that makes youtube tutorials on how to make food. Like how Chef Makinson said, if you're gonna spend the money to do all of this, do it right.
@@Daugust77 there is truth in that but i think nuiance is important too. Adam is the chef for people less stringent on "doing it right" so this recipe isnt even a him recipe but its okay that he does it because he expresses his nonchalance during the video and food is expression at the end of the day. Beef Wellington isnt really a home cook week-night recipe anyway. So obviously if you want to make it you SHOULD try but I dont see this video as harmful either.
after my 3rd homemade welly, - the crepes and the ham are non negotiable, both bring so much to the table. Stronger mustard the better; And contemplate a sous vide to 125 on the meat overnight before(this also alleviates the over/undercooking worry of an uneven shape); you can keep all the rest of the steps; but be able to have the meat be perfect the moment the puff pastry is done as well. also- if you dont have a tenderloin/ a great option is to trim and tie a tritip. (its smaller, but that makes an incredible amount of impact on the prep work) if you can make the crepes & duxelle in advance and buy puff pastry, its not much more work than a roast done right.
In my opinion sous vide cooking delicate cuts of beef much longer than it needs to reach the final temp makes the meat's texture and taste overcooked no matter what temperature it reached. There is no point in precooking the meat all the way through since it needs to be in the oven long enough to cook the pastry.
I too believe it's overblown in the culinary world. The texture and flavor of a well caramelized steak is far superior imo. You don't get enough of what's good. It's all about the fancy packaging. I've had it, and FAR prefer a well seared filet mignon with red wine reduction sauce and mushrooms.
Also a great hack when trimming meat: if it‘s too slippery to grab, grab it with a paper towel. this adds a lot of friction and makes for example pulling off the silver skin much easier. also you absolutely need the sharpest knifes possible, this makes cutting away only as little material as possible way easier.
I’d love to see you cook again Chef James, don’t get me wrong I love these episodes, but hearing you speak about all these techniques makes me want to see more of you cooking.
James is such a nice guy and a teacher by heart, his "the beef wellington could have been a little bit better" is absolutely devastating.^^ I love your Videos, James, I'm an amateur home cook, and I already learned so much from you. Keep going! 🙂
I've watched so many of your videos and can't believe I've only just subscribed (I thought I had before, but evidently not). I love your work. Very much appreciate your experience-based, no-bullshit attitude in these videos. I'm learning a great deal.
I made a Beef Wellington about 2 years ago (Joshua Weissman's recipe). At that point, I had been cooking for about a year or so, and I wanted to challenge myself. I was genuinely surprised that it came out well, almost perfect. It was a labor of love, spent like 3 or 4 hours making it. It wasn't even a special event, I just wanted to make something that was tough. I even made the lattice by hand, spent like 20 or 30 minutes cutting slits with a pairing knife. I still have the photos saved, it's such a milestone in my cooking journey. It's funny, because I could now blow my old self out of the water with how good I've gotten (my mom and friends are always shocked when they see how quick I'm with a knife), but I haven't really attempted to something on that level since the Wellington.
Your videos are always a comfort watch especially when everyone is loud or use loud edits. I started cooking a lot recently, and i plan to try out corquettes or making my own pasta so im going to check urs out :> Ive been really enjoying a lot of japanese or korean dishes, but i feel like im not being creative enough bc all i make is chicken lol (I had didnt think food was THIS expensive i had to put back some stuff from my cart because $80 makes me already feel self conscious about how much its going to make my paycheck that week hurt)
Yeah.. I made my own filo dough once, and it turned out great. I can almost guarantee I will never do so again... But I'd probably try puff pastry at least once.
Thank you Chef, i have always wanted to try and taste and make beef Wellington, I know I find sales here often on beef tenderloin here on sales. I usually slice it paper thin and use it in different uses as I have a huge problem with grisly textures. I will take all your advice to heart, probably make 2, 1 to try first and 1 to film. All scraps including veggies scraps in my house never goes to waste, there is always a use. Fun fact, I worked at the local meat packing plant as a person who used to trim the blue skin off, not a fun job. I have great respect for those who do this as a career
It's the technique and knowledge that people are looking for. Critiquing isn't an attack it's minor corrections through the steps to improve the final product. Thanks for the video brother
If there's one thing that Adam is really good at compared to some other cooking channels, he not only leaves in his mistakes (mostly), but also will point them out and let the viewer know when he just isn't into something or when he's not sure how to get something right. I like that he's not trying to be perfect, but I also think he'd be the first guy to say that you're totally right in your assessment.
I agree. I’m subbed to Adam, but I’m not a huge fan of his videos. He does put out some good stuff and I also appreciate the “bloopers,” but he’s a bit too willing to change things up when it comes to traditional recipes. I guess I’m too much of a purist when it comes to food 🤷🏻♂️
I like his research videos, but I never really watched his cooking videos for this reason. Leaving out all the mistakes is kinda bad in itself. Most effective way to distribute correct way to make dishes is by showing how to make them correctly. He does thing bit too much on "his own way", which is totally fine to do. But if you want to teach people how to cook, you should be using measurements, weight and best practices. If someone wants to wing it later as they get comfortable, that's fine.
@@mukkaar And I actually like Adam's videos for that exact reason, I'm a winger, the way in which he cooks leaves room for you to do whatever with what you have and with what your personal tastes are (or the tastes of people you are cooking for are). Following the strict recipe might lead to a better objective result if you're serving it on a restaurant, but most people cooking at home for other people will be winging stuff 95% of the time to suit the needs of everyone that'll eat the food.
@@Sniperboy5551 He does point out when what he's doing isn't traditional. He'll outright say it and won't make the viewer think that this is what you have to do to get it right. He'll just say that this is how he preferred to do it, and if you prefer it a different way, then it's perfectly fine
That's why I always make wellington with pork tenderloin...it's too expensive honestly. I love your videos James, happy new year and much love from Italy ❤
I love beef wellington!! It was what I had for my wedding meal. I made it for anniversary dinners. All time favourite and worth the faff. (Did use ready made puff pastry 😉)
If you cook British food worse then the brits, you fucked up. (The green duxelles was already soul crushing at first glance but when I learned it was spinach I screamed. From my experience it’s the most wet vegetable ive cooked with especially if your low on patience which Adam seemed to be)
Oof, I’m a home baker and have some issues with the puff pastry. Agree butter should be incorporated into the flour with fingertips roughly, it shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes and then add the water. Also, as you’re folding the puff pastry, he was adding flour with his measuring cup. You just need a little, enough to keep the dough from sticking to the board.
I remember being in history class. A girl asked the teacher, "Whose the guy Napoleon had a beef with?" The teach responded with Wellington and added that she inadvertently made a double antondra about the dish. Now I know that this dish is literally named after that person!
Beef Wellington is my favorite dish, and honestly don’t think it’s all that hard to make, expensive yes. But I just followed Gordon Ramsey’s videos on it and it comes out great everytime.
don't forget the "why I season my cutting board and not my Steak" and proceeds to upload a video where he arrogantly critizies Marco Pierre White. Like, what's wrong with you Adam ..
I like Adam's channel, but tbh I don't cook anything he makes. I've watched this video a few times, and I always wondered about his chunks of butter in dough, your reaction is classic and funny. Thanks for making this video what a really fun watch!
I will say one thing - his forte is definitely in the science of cooking. (And I don't even mean that to criticize his cooking skills themselves - I imagine even Adam would acknowledge he specializes in the science element.)
I know this video is 3 weeks old. I still wanted to mention that I appreciate your comments about learning from a real pastry chef instead of an amateur. I don't normally watch anything Adam Ragusea films because I became very disenchanted with his presentation a couple years ago. Watching this I realize I've missed nothing. I have only made puff pastry once - too much work. But I knew before your comment that he wasn't doing it right. I *do* make a lot of short pastry. I appreciate your comments though. I can learn a lot about what to do instead of what he did.
No no no no no no. You've missed A LOT. This video was by far Adam's worst, which says a lot. Culinary school doesn't inherently make someone a good teacher, Adam is a teacher (university professor)
You didn't attack Adam in any way. In fact, you were too kind. You simply pointed out the proper way to carry out each step of the process. And in a very diplomatic way. His Beef Wellington was an absolute disaster, from start to finish. But your video was really informative and enjoyable. As per usual. Thanks
Hmm, I checked out the pizza video. I know people can get pretty hot headed in internet comments so I don't if there was some excessive toxicity or defensiveness there that I missed in the comments I sampled. At least one seemed to be getting close to over aggressive. From what I saw the big difference in comments between this video and that one is that in this video Adam was wrong about a lot of things, and in that video Adam was fine. Doesn't seem like James attacked Adam in either video, but lots of people including professional bakers agreeing with Adam that adding flour by feel instead of weighing it can be an appropriate approach since even by weight there's a lot of variability in humidity and hydration.
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Ah, finally i see a chef giving Bruno a shoutout. He's just an awesome pastry chef, maybe the best i've seen on youtube.
Chef James, I not only went to cooking school, but had scholarships to Johnson and Whales, the C.I.A., and the Disney culinary program, I decided it was WAY too difficult, and joined the army as an aircraft mechanic instead.😂😂😂
really?? haha maybe it was for the best. I don't know how much pay or time off you get but some places over here, make you work 6 days a week and a few double shifts, 18 hours a day.
@@ChefJamesMakinson the hours were worse, but the reward was the lucrative jobs afterwards. I got to spend living in Dubai for 8 years, and hosted dinner parties almost every weekend. I worked with people from all over the globe and loved learning about their food and ingredients and would make their favorite dishes. Heck, I took 13 trips to Thailand just to learn how to make Thai curries, and 4 to the Philippines to make lechon.🤣👍 I've never lost my passion for cooking, and my family runs out of the kitchen whenever they hear the clicking of the ignition for my gas stove. Why? Because they know they're either one, getting cussed out like Gordon Ramsay, or two getting put to work.❤️
You are absolutely correct in mentioning Bruno Albouze as an experienced pastry chef. He is very underrated and yet has a wealth of knowledge which he shares freely on TH-cam.
I kinda feel that if Adam wanted to do an 'easy' wellington he should have done what he could to make it easier on himself instead of making it even more annoying to pull off. Like I mean the first thing that comes to mind is like 'individually wrapped portions' so you don't have to worry about the shape of the roast, nor do you have to worry about tightly wrapping the thing in puff pastry. Since each portion is individually wrapped you can do different pastry designs on top, you could even personalize them to the people are going to be eating it. The presentation would be nicer overall and zero chance of ruining it with slicing the whole thing if you had the wrong knife, or if the pastry just breaks apart from the roast itself. This also means that if someone doesn't like mushrooms, you can also personalize the duxel part: The vegetable wrap or a mushroom wrap, you can layer in some extra meat, or leave it out. This also means you can customize the amount of meat you want to use. Seems a bit like a missed opportunity and a miss on Adam's part.
Thank you for the commentary and insight. I did notice your face at 17:22 when Adam mentioned the seasoning. My personal opinion is to still taste it and check.
That looks nice (To my untrained eyes anyway 😂) Feeling hungry now. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Chef Makinson (and to all in the comments section) I hope that Santa is kind
A double cheat on the beurre manie is to take dry flour and cook it in the microwave until it is browned ( I've cheated this way to get brown roux for gumbo) before mixing it with the butter. That way there is no raw flour taste.
It's more like he's showing how to make something that looks like a beef wellington... except it uses bread instead of puff pastry, grass instead of mushrooms, and disappointment instead of parma ham.
I like Adam's videos a lot, particularly when he goes over food science, and allows people to disagree with him. But this, made me groan, so I like to see how much he's grown as a TH-camr. The fact he didn't get the food science of umami and the point of the mushrooms was disappointing. There wasn't anything to replace that umami in his end product. I do get the point of a lot of his videos in the present day, but this wasn't his best. He missed on so many basics and basic understanding of food science--the contrast between that and him tackling and understanding a single food science principle made this feel more chaotic than I'm used to.
I’ve found a great substitute for the duxelles for those that don’t like mushrooms is simply red onion put through a food processor. Just cook out all the moisture and it works very well, tastes surprisingly good (not as oniony as you would think)
Beef Wellington is the ultimate roast beef dish. I'd definitely just by my puff pastry, unless I am in a masochistic mood and wanted to publicly demonstrate my own self loathing lol 😂😂😂. Great reaction video James.
is it still a Wellington? I've been told the duxelle is there also to catch meat juices plus flavor, parma ham or dry-cured meat seal the pastry from the juices and puff pastry should be butter and dough layered. so, is it a Wellington or just a Fillet wrapped in pastry?
I gave that same look as you did when he was going to make rough puff pastry which is totally different to full puff pastry from what I recall - hated pastry I loved sauces. 😂. Shop bought puff pastry is perfectly fine and I've heard many restaurants use it or have it specially made for them. I cannot imagine seeing a pastry chef spending hours making full on puff pastry - I'm sure there are some who do but time wise and if you get that wrong it's another disaster to a long list of things which can go wrong with making a Beef Wellington 😂. I've seen some chefs do lamination using sheets of butter to make rough puff - very similar to real puff pastry.
he definitely cut corners with the rough puff, but the idea is basically the same, Adam is known to simplify things for the lazy person who wants to do something time consuming
@@prodigypenn im not sure if thawing and rolling out store-bought pastry is more time consuming or difficult than spending hours making from scratch something inferior.
@@prodigypenn i mean if the chef himself had recommended us to just use store bought pastry just to save time, it should tell you bit of Adam weird niche? He claimed he likes cutting corner but at the same time does not want anyone to be labeled as lazy by doing unnecessary step for home cooks. However on other vids he claimed that boxed cake mix is superior and tried to use science to justify it when plenty of others had chimed it that it's not always the case. You have to pick a side in your stance, if you like cutting corners just do so and use as many store bought as possible, but it's weird seeing him to also show you how to make bullion / stock from scratch to be used later when store bought alternatives exist.
Rough puff isn't the same as puff sure, but I saw a video of Michel Roux making beef wellington and he recommended using rough puff, and he was a Michelin starred chef, so a proper rough puff can't be too bad for the dish.
If you don't like this recipe, I recommend you check out Erin Patterson's Beef Wellington with Death Cap mushrooms. You should try it at least once. There won't be a second time anyway.
Adam: "Now, lets make puff pastry from scratch...." /facepalm Adam: "I'm going to spill this" ... Like, get a funnel. Adam: "Here's how you make a sauce the wrong way" Adam: "This recipe takes a lot of effort and is super error prone, don't make it." Yes. It has a bunch of steps. It can be challenging. That's what makes it worth doing. It's easier if you make it more than once for a video. =P James: "If there's one thing you can do to make your wellington look nicer." Me: "Don't follow Adam's video. Got it."
I've been a fan of Adam's for years and years, and I really appreciated your critique! I learned a few things. In no way did I feel you were attacking Adam. Just stumbled on your channel because of you watching his Spanish Omelette episode, which was great. Subscribed. Thank you!
@@ChefJamesMakinson to this observer, you're commenting on things as they come. whether you're trying or not, i couldn't tell, just seemed like you being honest in the moment.
I love myself a great BW, but this one, honestly, didn't look that great. 😅 Sure it did taste fine, but the puff pastry and lack of a consistent shape, it would be almost well done at both edges and even for my liking, a bit overdone in the middle. Not to comment on the sauce, not saying it was a bad BW or sauce, but it didn't look right in my humble opinion. Great reaction video, James, keep up the great work and have yourself an absolute fabulous rest of your Sunday. 😊
For an easy puff pastry use frozen butter and grate it on a box grater instead of chopping cubes. One small thing to note puff pastry does require you to rest it after about 5 mins of work in the fridge to prevent the butter from melting ideally you can get about 4 to 6 rolls and folds in that 5 minutes. A good puff pastry will usually have about 20+ sets of rolls and folds done.
Felt like watching this again. I like how you say courgette and aubergine, instead of zucchini and eggplant. I can't really get away with that, with my Canadian accent. lol
@@ChefJamesMakinson I have a weird relationship with aubergines. In principle, I quite dislike them, but in certain dishes -- like mousaka -- I find them delicious. Courgettes, too, when I was a kid, I thought they were heavenly, and now as an adult, I haven't been able to enjoy them as much as I did back then.
The thing about Adam is the following: He does not care what is traditional and "supposed to be", but he cares about that it is doable for normal people and still will have a result that will be at maximum 10 % of the "traditional" thing. Like with the thinnes of the sauce: you say "if it is thinn like this, it is not finished", which technically is correct for a very specific recipe, but is completly wrong here because: the sauce is finished, when it tastes good and is to the taste of the people eating. what you would consider "finished" would probably be "way to thick" for adams family (and also many people). Same with adams puff pastry: it is a pastry and it puffs up. so it is a puff pastry. it is not the traditional way of doing it and how you are "supposed" to do it, but adam said in the beginning, that the traditional pastry puffs too much for his liking hence why he makes it himself (also, there is different styles of puff pastry, the french style is only one way of doing it and there is no best way). you need to remember one massivly important thing: The professional way of doing things is NOT the correct way of doing it. Cooking is more art than science and yes, like in art there are some base techniques (cooking, broiling, frying, etc.), but in the end, there is no single one correct way of doing things. arguing so is just unnecesarry gatekeeping - which is also what adam build his whole channel around: "yes, there is the professional way of doing it, but most of the time the professional way is unecesarrily complicated and only done this way because it is done like that forever, but here is a way how you can make something, that is close enough that most people can't tell the difference but done in a much easier way." One example is the zick-zack-cut you critize in adams video: yes, with an different knife it would look nicer - but that would change absolutly nothing in how it tastes and is eaten, let's be completly honest here.
Beef Wellington is the Lebron James of the culinary world. Everybody pretends it's some kind of incredible dish, when it comes nowhere near being Michael Jordan.
What I really like about your videos, James, is that you are always seeking to improve people's understanding and knowledge. Your criticisms are fact-based and never nasty; at the end of the video, we know a few more things to do and not to do, to make a good beef Wellington.
Adam Ragusea is the absolute TH-cam king of self-actualized mediocrity and negative mindset behavior. He needs a therapist, not a cooking channel influencing young men to aim for passability and half-hearted effort. Why put out a video on something he doesn't like, proceeding to change key elements, only to (surprise!) not like the final result? I had to unsubscribe from the guy's channel years ago after recognizing this pattern. It's a paycheck to him, not a passion. His video on Jani Lane of Warrant explains exactly this.
This was good! I was a little skeptical when I started but it wasn't a 'bashing' fest - it was just solid critique from more experience. Solid video, thank you !
Love all the hate for Adam's puff pastry when he not only said it's a "rough puff pastry" but took the time to explain that he prefers that over a proper puff pastry for this particular dish. Definitely not a fan of the green paste subbing in for the duxelle, though. Very different flavor and almost none of the umami you'd get from the mushrooms. I like your suggestion of using eggplant/aubergine; treat it like the mushrooms in the duxelle and it'll still have a different flavor for people who hate mushrooms, but almost as much umami flavor and a similar texture as well. And, honestly, I agree wholeheartedly that beef Wellington isn't worth it. I mean, it's _good_ , yeah, but nowhere near worth the cost and effort. If you're putting that much into a dish, it should either be the perfect showcase of the flavors of the individual ingredients - like, say, the best sushi or wagyu restaurants in Japan - or be a sublime blend of flavors like osso bucco, or be the fanciest pastry you've ever even seen. Wellington is more like an okay tenderloin with, yeah that goes well with mushrooms I guess, and then a pastry you can make look fancy if you really want on top that doesn't add anything to the flavor. I'd pay $50 for the best plate of beef Wellington ever, but I'd be happier paying $50 for a decent osso bucco. (And, yes, I'm perfectly aware the best Wellington ever would be significantly more than $50 a plate. Which is why I'd never bother buying it, not even if I won a billion dollar lottery tomorrow.)
Great video and I totally agree with you. That pastry looked truly dreadful. If you marry someone who doesn't like mushrooms, don't cook wellington. Well I guess there are other suggestions, but they involve expensive divorces. Like sorted food, I have a love hate relationship with this guy. He talks so confidently even when producing substandard fare. I might enjoy the beef in that Wellington, but little else.
I like Adam but when you substitute the mushrooms for spinach and then remove the crepes as well as the ham, it's just not a wellington anymore. Still looks like it tastes great but it also won't taste like a wellington. To me, if you adjust an existing recipe, especially one as established as a wellington, the idea is to use workarounds to achieve the same, or at least a very similar, result. This wasn't that.
i love how he says he doesnt like wellington then shows us that he changes the recipe, makes butter water for the sauce, skips entire steps, and doesnt think it is worth it. well i wonder why he doesnt like it
Be sure to subscribe and like! 😊
To defend you he’s doing a halfway job to satisfy his people cause he plans to never again make it
Chef pleased react to Adam’s jello based Demi glacé. Yes he uses gelatin to make Demi glacé.
Get yourself a proper rolling pin for the job to start with 😂 😂
ayo, you also watch Chef Bruno, he is one of my favorite chef on you tube channel all of his tips is wonderfully helpful when I tried baking a pastry
Man, Asmongold still hasnt seen your video. Hes missing out
There's a clash of philosophy in Adam Ragusea making a Wellington. His entire niche is extremely accessible recipes that you can sort of wing and still get away with (totally valid but not necessarily the kind of stuff I watch personally), but a Beef Wellington is a celebratory dish where the details really matter, and putting effort makes all the difference.
It is. it's no wonder he did not feel like it was worth it if he did it half assed toward all the step. Of course I hope that the implied meaning was : "If you want a good beef wellington pay others to make it for you." rather than to never eat one again.
Yeah, outside the pastry if I ever cooked one I'd go all out on the details.
@@asimhussain8716 How would you know what his niche is? Doesn't seem like you've consumed enough of his content to make that call. You're projecting.
@Toastybees I get your point, but I personally think Adam is way too progressive and willing to do away with traditional culinary techniques. Wellington isn’t about what’s easiest, it’s about tradition. He seems to modify most recipes, but I do like his food science videos.
@@Sniperboy5551 His entire cooking philosophy is forget tradition if it means you can't enjoy food. He makes it a point that in his opinion practical home cooking should always be about what you have available and what tastes good, traditions take a backseat. Accessibility over blind adherence to tradition. There are no set in stone rules of cooking besides make it taste good, and specifically make it taste good for you and the people you are serving.
You can not agree with his philosophy, but he has the right to express it and his videos are very successful, his personality being a big part of his success.
I believe Adam should’ve just chosen a dish he enjoys and knows he’d be fully invested in instead of this. You can clearly tell he’s not excited about making this dish and wasn’t super concerned about doing it right.
Most of Adams videos are about accepting ourselves the way we are, and that it is okay to make mistakes and not be perfect. It's imo a healthy way of looking at life.
How we feel about ourselves has nothing to do with doing something like this correctly. The message is good, but this isn't anything to do with it.
@@timothyblazer1749 agreed. If anything adam fans trying to justify subpar quality of the dish because the philosophy behind it are good is embarrassing. It's even worse if he gave recipe quantity which meant he want someone to replicate his attempt and most inexperienced home cooks lack the knowledge on how to adjust certain things to make it better themselves. Sharing bad knowledge is worse than sharing no knowledge at all.
Plus when the chef recommended buying premade pastry dough to cut time, it make 0 sense for Adam to overcomplicate a recipe especially when his channel was really aimed toward inexperienced home cooks.
He absolutely should have, but IIRC this was a topic his community was pushing hard for and he's established a few times he's not great at pushing back under those circumstances, though he has gotten better at it each time.
@@greenblack6552 you shouldn't push yourself too hard but you also shouldn't pat yourself on the back for not trying. i fail a lot in the kitchen. sometimes my omelette comes out perfect, sometimes it is a bit brown, sometimes i just have to go "alright, we are making scramble today, i guess". but while accepting my mistakes i am getting more vary of what i do wrong and try to prevent it from happening again. trying and failing is learning, not trying and patting yourself on the back is laziness.
I made a wellington for Christmas a couple of years ago. It wasn't perfect, but it did turn out great, and it definitely impressed my in-laws.
That being said, I really appreciate your comments here. These are great tips that will really make my next one better.
That is awesome! I hope next time this tips help!
Hello yes, Canadian here, that specific green in the finished Wellington is bang-on identical to what our famous geese like to leave everywhere.
Glad I wasn't the only one that thought it looked like literally shit
Isn’t it supposed to be mushrooms? I’ve never seen anyone use spinach
@@MayorMcheese12Spinach is unhealthy and not so great tasting anyway. Easy pass
@@MayorMcheese12 Yeah, it is supposed to be mushrooms.
To be fair he tried something to accomodate his wife because she doesn't like mushrooms, and at least on a technical level the layer did it's job. Can't vouch for the taste (I like spinach, but... not like that), but it shows you can try alternative things to accomodate people.
Love the fact that you gave credit to chef Bruno Albouze, while watching Adam make the pastry I was thinking the same thing as you said. Chef Bruno truly is one of the best chefs here on TH-cam, unfortunately not enough people know about him.
agreed!
That man is a genius with food, it's a joy to watch him cook and talk about food, and he obviously knows his stuff. I am just so perplexed as to why he's not Gordon level of popular.
I learned to make Rhum Baba from Bruno. Excellent vids.
@@ArchangelShineI follow his work since in his 1k Subs, he is definitely gaining more audience now, almost 1M subs, definitely one of the most talented Chef both in Pastry and French cuisine
He's good but he doesn't really teach how to make the recipe... no measurements or anything included. Just watching him cook.
Never had BW, have no intention of ever making it, but one of my favourite it’s-3-am-and-I-can’t-sleep comfort watches is Alvin Zhou’s 72-hour beef wellington. I don’t know why it’s so comforting to watch really elaborate food being made.
It is not easy!
I used to work in a Greek restaurant. As a test, they made me make phyllo - basically an excuse to sit back, drink, and laugh.
Puff pastry is right up there.
PS: they used to put msg in their baklava fillings. I absolutely kid you not
I actually used frozen filo dough for my wellington this year b/c the grocery was out of puff pastry, and it turned out great. So light and fluffy and flakey.
Actually, this is the second time I've had to use filo, and both times it turned out so good that I'm making it my go-to for future wellingtons.
Traditional duxelles with mushrooms, shallots, herbs and chestnuts, bit of bourbon cooked off, prosciutto layer, hot english mustard, and the result was criminally good. Some years I add a thin layer of păté, but I didn't this year and it might have been too rich if I'd had.
MSG in baklava is the thing I never knew I needed in my life, it makes perfect sense, in a deeply frightening way
the problem with using msg in baklava filling specifically is... what exactly?
Respectful, reasoned, and constructive criticism. Just what a response video should be.
Thumbs up.
Thank you!
“It’s a good thing that Adam is showing you how to make his puff pastry. Now if you want to learn how to make a good puff pastry…” 😂😂😂
I didn’t know we were getting a Sunday roast today too!
😂 hahahaha
I mean, he's honest, he says he's not making a real puff pastry
😅😂🤣
@@marinary1326 then he is not really giving the dish its best chance. Like the chef said, if he already want to half assed it, just buy store bought pastry dough.
@@dodixaber8968 tbf, I've seen Michelin starred chefs call for using rough puff not "proper" puff pastry for this dish, their rough puff was obviously bettee than Adam's though.
Man, I always love that as you react, you always give solid do-and-don't and tips on cooking.
I legit learned so much from this channel. Thanks Chef James!
I appreciate that!
P00@@ChefJamesMakinson
@@ChefJamesMakinson Thanks for enduring the cringe and the pain of watching your preferred art and profession be casually disrespected. The knowledge advice and critique you share and how you share it is inspiring.
16:45 The process involving butter and flour is akin to preparing a roux-based sauce, known in Denmark as 'opbagt sovs.' This method typically starts with a mixture of water, butter, and flour. You then gradually add your stock to this mixture. In this specific method, however, the butter and flour are mixed together first, and then this blend is incorporated into the stock directly in the pan. This technique is widely used to thicken sauces and soups, yielding a smooth and rich texture. It's a fundamental skill in culinary arts, offering flexibility in enhancing both the flavor and texture of various dishes. This method is especially useful for creating a base in gravies, béchamel sauce, and other classic sauces.
When i saw him make puff pastry i instantly thought about Bruno because i actually followed his quick puff pastry and it is amazing, easy and he explains it well.
If I am honest, I think Adam doesn't like to cook/ eat a beef wellington, leading to a lack of practice with the recipe, which shows in the final cook. In his defence, I do think he made it almost completely to his own taste (both eating and cooking) and a lot of the errors he made, he wouldn't have made them if he was that interested in the recipe. Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if Adam never makes another wellington in his life
Chef James really went through four stages of grief while hearing Adam first describe his wellington :D
😂🤣
In the rest of the video, chef James doesn't seem very pleased as well.
Given Adam made something that looks like a wellington, but very much isn't...
My Wellington was amazing. I didn't use tenderloin, I used a cut from the shoulder, which was very tender and only cost $10. I wish I could post my pictures because it was beautiful.
Thank you, Chef.
I remember in a basic pastry class in culinary school the chef referred to this as an "hojaldre rápido" (quick puff pastry), which pretty much looked like this, instead of the dough and the butter layers we're used to seeing. She then made "palmeritas" and some other stuff with it and it wasn't terrible, but you could see it was just the thing that you could come up with during a cold sunday for tea if you want to have a quick bite. It was never spoken of or used again, and it definitely doesn't bellong on a wellington where you're spending money and time to do something special.
Yeah, this is pretty much how I make "ruff puff" for simple home baking. It will do in a pinch when you have forgotten to buy puff pastry for things like meat pies, apple pies etc. But I would never use it for something as high-class as beef wellington.
Making a beef wellington was on my bucket list, I made it, it was delicious, and happy I did it, will probably make it again one day
You and me had the same scandalised look on our faces when Adam said that making Beef Wellington isn't worth it 😂 only ever made it once for my girlfriend and me and it was DELICIOUS! Hopefully I'll get to make it again sometime soon
😂
Well I am sure even Adam himself admit that his attempt was poor. Nearly every step of prep has the chef criticize and raised concern. What I hate was when people tried to provide tips there, either Adam or his fans would quickly shot them down by saying it was meant to encourage low skilled person to try cooking rather than for doing it correctly.
I'd rather watch a more entertaining channel like You Suck At Cooking since with his humourous nature, he made any recipes seemed less daunting to try.
@@ChefJamesMakinson Chef pleased react to Adam’s jello based Demi glacé. Yes he uses gelatin to make Demi glacé.
@@dodixaber8968 there are significantly better channels out there than Ragusa. I didn't realize how .... bad he was at some of this? He's making such huge rookie mistakes in almost every single basic preperation step here. I can only imagine he thinks wellington is terrible, because he made a terrible version of it.
Chef Makinson is so damn nice helpful his criticism is very gentle (i'm used to goddamn ramsey torching people in to ashes lol)
Just off the top of my head, Babish, Sam (the cooking guy) and Guga could all do this 100x better and other than sam they're all amateur cooks. (sam has ran a number of resturaunts that are casual dining)
Awesome review! I liked Adam's original video, but I loved all of your professional advice regarding things he did. I also love your spirit as not being harsh or critical, just honest and offering advice for improvement! Thanks for the upload!
Thanks so much!
I made beef Welington only once as well, though in Serbia beef is not that expensive, the whole tenderloin was like 25 E , but instead of parma ham, I used Njeguški pršut, from Montenegro, it is amazing, it is a local version of pruisuccto, between mountains and Adriatic sea, cures where Adriaticsea (Mediterranean) meats 2000m mountains which cause speacial winds, also it is smocked unlike Parma ham, idk with an olive and a beech tree, result was amazing. Plus it is mich cheaper then a parma ham, though I cheated and used sousvide method for a perfect medium rare. For the mushrooms I used porchini, bell, button briwn mushrooms and some black truffle for extra flavor.. And I added some sesame seed on the puff pastry . All my friends were blown away
@macakucizmama831
Hey - thanks for giving me a great idea for my next visit to Serbia!
How would I go about buying a beef tenderlion at a butchers?
If pastries could have depression, Adam’s puff pastry would be the embodiment.
There is a reason that places that make puff pastry use the machines shown at 1:45 to consistently. It's not a task to try rushing at home.
From the man who brought you "knife safety is optional and elitist" and "don't salt your steak, salt the cutting board," Adam comes back with another banger video. 5:53 just about sums up my thoughts on watching adam ragusea's videos
thats the stupidest most reductive interpretation of adams opinion on knife safety........
@@deathbyboa1 Adam's opinion on knife safety has no redeeming qualities. You're welcome to bring up the parts of his two videos on it that you agreed with so that I can explain why you're dangerously dumb.
I could not disagree more.. Amatures should learn from teachers not professionals... Adam is a teachers not a pro chef. As he has estabilished multiple times, chefs often just follow functional algorithms that function in the pro kitechen (with tools and scale not accessibke to the home Cook)....
I tried making beef wellington for the first time after watching your review of Gordon Ramsay’s version. It was a learning process but the end result was delicious. Now making it for Christmas dinner. So pleased that your reviews helped me approach this wonderful dish ❤️ I used frozen puff pastry. Much easier,
I think this is a good reminder that Adam is not a chef, not a butcher, nor is he a baker. He is a journalist with a cooking-themed youtube channel.
It's worth taking most things he says about cooking with a hefty grain of salt.
that's what annoys me so much about him..... he says so many things that just make it painfully obvious that he thinks a lot of his (sometimes terribly uninformed) opinions are objective fact... the dude should maybe try baking himself some humble pie every now and again
On the flip side, most people aren't, either.
@@stefanforrer2573 It's amazing what you can get away with by just plowing ahead with an air of absolute confidence and authority. For instance, "Cooking With Jack" actually had a large following in the earlier years of TH-cam. It took an entire wave of foodtubers entering the scene for people to eventually figure out that he was just some incompetent, narcissistic redneck making garbage while declaring himself amazing.
@stefanforrer2573 I remember when I watched his videos, Adam accused Alton Brown of doing what you wrote in your comment: stating his cooking opinions as if they're facts. Once Adam said that, I realized he was doing the exact thing he accused Brown of doing!
I stopped watching him after I saw him arguing with commenters over something about a sponsor.
@@wamken619 yeah he has a history of pointless arguments in comment sections, quite dreadful, some instances one would joke and he'd practically make it into an issue.
the fact that he thought making his own pastry for the dough would leave less room for error than using store bought because "it just flakes off" is actual buffoonery. Adam's reasoning doesn't always pan out the way he probably envisions it.
It's interesting to me to see Adam speak on things with a tone that makes it sound like he knows what he's doing and is knowledgeable about the process, and then hear you basically shoot down all his inaccuracies. I guess it's a good lesson that these cooking enthusiasts might not actually be the pros that they think they are in these videos, despite how confident and convincing they may sound.
He doesn't know as much as he lets on and everything that he has learned is not from real world experience.
There were warning signs from the get go on this one. Not properly mixing the dough so there were still visible chunks of butter was one, but the most obvious issue for me was the uneven shape. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to cooking, but even I know that it's not going to cook evenly if one part is so much thicker than another.
You're not supposed to mix the dough fully - that is ROUGH puff. He called out that he had decided to do rough instead of proper. James seems to completely ignore the existence of this statement, you can hear it at the start of the video. And yes it IS specifically a different technique from "proper" puff. It's designed to be 20% of the effort for 60% of the result.
@@ivolol, regardless-he didn't make a true Beef Wellington or even something that tasted good.
@@ivolol So he didn't even do the recipe he said he was going to do? The wrong pastry is a _huge_ mistake.
THANK YOU!!! It's baffling to me how people seem to not be able to grasp this concept. He explained it and why he prefers it and the only reaction is "huh, that's not real puff pastry". No! It's not supposed to be, by design and by choice.
@@bcaye most chef use ROUGH-PUFF, for wellington. This is completely correct for rough puff pastry, NOT standard puff pastry.
Adam: breaks almost every step of a complex and error-prone recipe and does almost everything wrong
Also Adam: I don't like the recipe >:(
lol exactly
Eh I think that's okay. Clearly he never was super interested in perfecting the recipe, but either it was brought up in the household or his fans wanted it so he made it Raguseaized. That's okay, if it was tasty and his family liked it and he got what he wanted out of it then I'd call it a win for Adam, but a loss for Beef Wellington. Lmao
@@Madadader That's fine for an amateur that's trying to follow a pro's recipe. It's not okay for a guy that makes youtube tutorials on how to make food. Like how Chef Makinson said, if you're gonna spend the money to do all of this, do it right.
@@Daugust77 there is truth in that but i think nuiance is important too. Adam is the chef for people less stringent on "doing it right" so this recipe isnt even a him recipe but its okay that he does it because he expresses his nonchalance during the video and food is expression at the end of the day. Beef Wellington isnt really a home cook week-night recipe anyway. So obviously if you want to make it you SHOULD try but I dont see this video as harmful either.
@@Madadader But than don't do a Beef Wellington. It is not that hard to do something else.
Unfortunately it looks like Adam purposely wanted to hate this beautiful dish
maybe
Yeah, but also Adam was probably unexperienced. They said they wouldn't make it again which also seems like it was their first time too.
@@RiteOfSolaris fair enough, it’s sad though no beautiful mushrooms.. I dream of beautiful mushrooms..lol.. happy Holidays
He rushed through it. He definitely wasn't into it from the beginning.
I think more likely he just has negative experience making it. Not that he wanted to hate it. I think he just hates it via personal bias.
Honestly I think he did a good job... I like that he let us see his mistakes, and I could imagine actually trying this myself.
Omg, c 'est la premiere fois que je vois un chef parler de Bruno albouze, grand chef !
after my 3rd homemade welly, - the crepes and the ham are non negotiable, both bring so much to the table. Stronger mustard the better; And contemplate a sous vide to 125 on the meat overnight before(this also alleviates the over/undercooking worry of an uneven shape); you can keep all the rest of the steps; but be able to have the meat be perfect the moment the puff pastry is done as well.
also-
if you dont have a tenderloin/ a great option is to trim and tie a tritip. (its smaller, but that makes an incredible amount of impact on the prep work)
if you can make the crepes & duxelle in advance and buy puff pastry, its not much more work than a roast done right.
In my opinion sous vide cooking delicate cuts of beef much longer than it needs to reach the final temp makes the meat's texture and taste overcooked no matter what temperature it reached. There is no point in precooking the meat all the way through since it needs to be in the oven long enough to cook the pastry.
I too believe it's overblown in the culinary world. The texture and flavor of a well caramelized steak is far superior imo. You don't get enough of what's good. It's all about the fancy packaging. I've had it, and FAR prefer a well seared filet mignon with red wine reduction sauce and mushrooms.
i agree
Also a great hack when trimming meat: if it‘s too slippery to grab, grab it with a paper towel. this adds a lot of friction and makes for example pulling off the silver skin much easier. also you absolutely need the sharpest knifes possible, this makes cutting away only as little material as possible way easier.
I’d love to see you cook again Chef James, don’t get me wrong I love these episodes, but hearing you speak about all these techniques makes me want to see more of you cooking.
I love how I can always see the pain if something is done incorrect... the face always says "I am not mad just disappointed in you".
James is such a nice guy and a teacher by heart, his "the beef wellington could have been a little bit better" is absolutely devastating.^^
I love your Videos, James, I'm an amateur home cook, and I already learned so much from you. Keep going! 🙂
Thank you! :)
I've watched so many of your videos and can't believe I've only just subscribed (I thought I had before, but evidently not). I love your work. Very much appreciate your experience-based, no-bullshit attitude in these videos. I'm learning a great deal.
I made a Beef Wellington about 2 years ago (Joshua Weissman's recipe). At that point, I had been cooking for about a year or so, and I wanted to challenge myself.
I was genuinely surprised that it came out well, almost perfect. It was a labor of love, spent like 3 or 4 hours making it. It wasn't even a special event, I just wanted to make something that was tough. I even made the lattice by hand, spent like 20 or 30 minutes cutting slits with a pairing knife. I still have the photos saved, it's such a milestone in my cooking journey.
It's funny, because I could now blow my old self out of the water with how good I've gotten (my mom and friends are always shocked when they see how quick I'm with a knife), but I haven't really attempted to something on that level since the Wellington.
So Adam kinda do a half ass version, and in the end its not tasty...nahhh, I dont think theres a correlation here
Your videos are always a comfort watch especially when everyone is loud or use loud edits. I started cooking a lot recently, and i plan to try out corquettes or making my own pasta so im going to check urs out :>
Ive been really enjoying a lot of japanese or korean dishes, but i feel like im not being creative enough bc all i make is chicken lol
(I had didnt think food was THIS expensive i had to put back some stuff from my cart because $80 makes me already feel self conscious about how much its going to make my paycheck that week hurt)
Glad you like them!
11:00 Schalottes are more inbetween onions and springonions (not garlic, that's the other end of the intensity scale 😅)
Yeah.. I made my own filo dough once, and it turned out great.
I can almost guarantee I will never do so again... But I'd probably try puff pastry at least once.
I really like your videos! You present disagreements in a very kind way and you have a lot to teach. Thank you!
Glad you like them! I try my best!
Thank you Chef, i have always wanted to try and taste and make beef Wellington, I know I find sales here often on beef tenderloin here on sales. I usually slice it paper thin and use it in different uses as I have a huge problem with grisly textures.
I will take all your advice to heart, probably make 2, 1 to try first and 1 to film. All scraps including veggies scraps in my house never goes to waste, there is always a use.
Fun fact, I worked at the local meat packing plant as a person who used to trim the blue skin off, not a fun job. I have great respect for those who do this as a career
you are welcome!
It's the technique and knowledge that people are looking for. Critiquing isn't an attack it's minor corrections through the steps to improve the final product. Thanks for the video brother
If there's one thing that Adam is really good at compared to some other cooking channels, he not only leaves in his mistakes (mostly), but also will point them out and let the viewer know when he just isn't into something or when he's not sure how to get something right. I like that he's not trying to be perfect, but I also think he'd be the first guy to say that you're totally right in your assessment.
I agree. I’m subbed to Adam, but I’m not a huge fan of his videos. He does put out some good stuff and I also appreciate the “bloopers,” but he’s a bit too willing to change things up when it comes to traditional recipes. I guess I’m too much of a purist when it comes to food 🤷🏻♂️
I like his research videos, but I never really watched his cooking videos for this reason. Leaving out all the mistakes is kinda bad in itself. Most effective way to distribute correct way to make dishes is by showing how to make them correctly. He does thing bit too much on "his own way", which is totally fine to do. But if you want to teach people how to cook, you should be using measurements, weight and best practices. If someone wants to wing it later as they get comfortable, that's fine.
@@mukkaar And I actually like Adam's videos for that exact reason, I'm a winger, the way in which he cooks leaves room for you to do whatever with what you have and with what your personal tastes are (or the tastes of people you are cooking for are). Following the strict recipe might lead to a better objective result if you're serving it on a restaurant, but most people cooking at home for other people will be winging stuff 95% of the time to suit the needs of everyone that'll eat the food.
@@Sniperboy5551 He does point out when what he's doing isn't traditional. He'll outright say it and won't make the viewer think that this is what you have to do to get it right. He'll just say that this is how he preferred to do it, and if you prefer it a different way, then it's perfectly fine
I've just checked your channel and saw this video published 1 minute ago :)
Perfect timing!
😉
That's why I always make wellington with pork tenderloin...it's too expensive honestly. I love your videos James, happy new year and much love from Italy ❤
I love a more serious commentary rather than the shock value. Thanks for the video.
really?
@@ChefJamesMakinsonsame here, your commentary sets you apart, non chefs learn so much
@@ChefJamesMakinson Yeah, I enjoy this more than video that are so shocking the personality is lost.
I love beef wellington!! It was what I had for my wedding meal. I made it for anniversary dinners. All time favourite and worth the faff. (Did use ready made puff pastry 😉)
If you cook British food worse then the brits, you fucked up.
(The green duxelles was already soul crushing at first glance but when I learned it was spinach I screamed. From my experience it’s the most wet vegetable ive cooked with especially if your low on patience which Adam seemed to be)
I find Adam's cooking to be dubious at times.
only at times???
@@ChefJamesMakinson I was trying to be polite. He makes questionable choices often. That puff pastry process was scary.
Oof, I’m a home baker and have some issues with the puff pastry. Agree butter should be incorporated into the flour with fingertips roughly, it shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes and then add the water. Also, as you’re folding the puff pastry, he was adding flour with his measuring cup. You just need a little, enough to keep the dough from sticking to the board.
I remember being in history class. A girl asked the teacher, "Whose the guy Napoleon had a beef with?" The teach responded with Wellington and added that she inadvertently made a double antondra about the dish. Now I know that this dish is literally named after that person!
Just an fyi: the correct spelling is double entendre. It basically means double "hearing" in french.
@@magnumgaming7341 thank you for the correct spelling. I tried learning French and that went about as well as a dumpster fire.
Slowly I'm watching Adam Ragusea turn into Randy Marsh.
Beef Wellington is my favorite dish, and honestly don’t think it’s all that hard to make, expensive yes. But I just followed Gordon Ramsey’s videos on it and it comes out great everytime.
Thanks for making a calm and reasonable react video with useful information rather than forced, corny humor and silly editing.
Not a problem!
Adam is an expert on sharing recipes he claims to hate, it becomes a vicious cycle.
His gnocchi recipe is shameful.
don't forget the "why I season my cutting board and not my Steak" and proceeds to upload a video where he arrogantly critizies Marco Pierre White. Like, what's wrong with you Adam ..
it is???? I need to see it!
yeah I saw that one and it really disappointed me
@@ChefJamesMakinson It would be interesting to hear you opinions about it in a video, chef.
I like Adam's channel, but tbh I don't cook anything he makes. I've watched this video a few times, and I always wondered about his chunks of butter in dough, your reaction is classic and funny. Thanks for making this video what a really fun watch!
I will say one thing - his forte is definitely in the science of cooking. (And I don't even mean that to criticize his cooking skills themselves - I imagine even Adam would acknowledge he specializes in the science element.)
question, if he trims the centre, isn't it considered wasting?
I know this video is 3 weeks old. I still wanted to mention that I appreciate your comments about learning from a real pastry chef instead of an amateur. I don't normally watch anything Adam Ragusea films because I became very disenchanted with his presentation a couple years ago. Watching this I realize I've missed nothing. I have only made puff pastry once - too much work. But I knew before your comment that he wasn't doing it right. I *do* make a lot of short pastry. I appreciate your comments though. I can learn a lot about what to do instead of what he did.
No no no no no no. You've missed A LOT. This video was by far Adam's worst, which says a lot. Culinary school doesn't inherently make someone a good teacher, Adam is a teacher (university professor)
You didn't attack Adam in any way. In fact, you were too kind. You simply pointed out the proper way to carry out each step of the process. And in a very diplomatic way. His Beef Wellington was an absolute disaster, from start to finish. But your video was really informative and enjoyable. As per usual. Thanks
you should see what others say in his pizza video, I can't disagree with him or else it's attacking him
Hmm, I checked out the pizza video. I know people can get pretty hot headed in internet comments so I don't if there was some excessive toxicity or defensiveness there that I missed in the comments I sampled. At least one seemed to be getting close to over aggressive.
From what I saw the big difference in comments between this video and that one is that in this video Adam was wrong about a lot of things, and in that video Adam was fine. Doesn't seem like James attacked Adam in either video, but lots of people including professional bakers agreeing with Adam that adding flour by feel instead of weighing it can be an appropriate approach since even by weight there's a lot of variability in humidity and hydration.
Ah, finally i see a chef giving Bruno a shoutout. He's just an awesome pastry chef, maybe the best i've seen on youtube.
yes he is!
Adam acts like he’s the alpha and the omega of cooking. Good to see a real chef humble him. He’s an amateur home cook and not a professional/expert.
He literally doesn’t and never claimed to be a expert lmao what are you on about 💀
Chef James, I not only went to cooking school, but had scholarships to Johnson and Whales, the C.I.A., and the Disney culinary program, I decided it was WAY too difficult, and joined the army as an aircraft mechanic instead.😂😂😂
really?? haha maybe it was for the best. I don't know how much pay or time off you get but some places over here, make you work 6 days a week and a few double shifts, 18 hours a day.
@@ChefJamesMakinson the hours were worse, but the reward was the lucrative jobs afterwards. I got to spend living in Dubai for 8 years, and hosted dinner parties almost every weekend. I worked with people from all over the globe and loved learning about their food and ingredients and would make their favorite dishes. Heck, I took 13 trips to Thailand just to learn how to make Thai curries, and 4 to the Philippines to make lechon.🤣👍 I've never lost my passion for cooking, and my family runs out of the kitchen whenever they hear the clicking of the ignition for my gas stove. Why? Because they know they're either one, getting cussed out like Gordon Ramsay, or two getting put to work.❤️
Its remarkable how confident he is in giving the instructions for this weird piece of dough
You are absolutely correct in mentioning Bruno Albouze as an experienced pastry chef. He is very underrated and yet has a wealth of knowledge which he shares freely on TH-cam.
agreed!
Bruno is so good.
I kinda feel that if Adam wanted to do an 'easy' wellington he should have done what he could to make it easier on himself instead of making it even more annoying to pull off. Like I mean the first thing that comes to mind is like 'individually wrapped portions' so you don't have to worry about the shape of the roast, nor do you have to worry about tightly wrapping the thing in puff pastry. Since each portion is individually wrapped you can do different pastry designs on top, you could even personalize them to the people are going to be eating it. The presentation would be nicer overall and zero chance of ruining it with slicing the whole thing if you had the wrong knife, or if the pastry just breaks apart from the roast itself. This also means that if someone doesn't like mushrooms, you can also personalize the duxel part: The vegetable wrap or a mushroom wrap, you can layer in some extra meat, or leave it out. This also means you can customize the amount of meat you want to use.
Seems a bit like a missed opportunity and a miss on Adam's part.
Yeah I know what you mean
Thank you for the commentary and insight. I did notice your face at 17:22 when Adam mentioned the seasoning. My personal opinion is to still taste it and check.
That looks nice (To my untrained eyes anyway 😂) Feeling hungry now.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas Chef Makinson (and to all in the comments section)
I hope that Santa is kind
Happy holidays!
@@ChefJamesMakinson Thank You Chef 😊
A double cheat on the beurre manie is to take dry flour and cook it in the microwave until it is browned ( I've cheated this way to get brown roux for gumbo) before mixing it with the butter. That way there is no raw flour taste.
😮😮😮
Great tip!
Adam just seemed like he couldn't care less about the wellington.
It's more like he's showing how to make something that looks like a beef wellington... except it uses bread instead of puff pastry, grass instead of mushrooms, and disappointment instead of parma ham.
I like Adam's videos a lot, particularly when he goes over food science, and allows people to disagree with him. But this, made me groan, so I like to see how much he's grown as a TH-camr.
The fact he didn't get the food science of umami and the point of the mushrooms was disappointing. There wasn't anything to replace that umami in his end product. I do get the point of a lot of his videos in the present day, but this wasn't his best. He missed on so many basics and basic understanding of food science--the contrast between that and him tackling and understanding a single food science principle made this feel more chaotic than I'm used to.
Man to spend all that money just to end up compromising and taking shortcuts on a lot of things was just tough to watch.
I’ve found a great substitute for the duxelles for those that don’t like mushrooms is simply red onion put through a food processor. Just cook out all the moisture and it works very well, tastes surprisingly good (not as oniony as you would think)
Beef Wellington is the ultimate roast beef dish. I'd definitely just by my puff pastry, unless I am in a masochistic mood and wanted to publicly demonstrate my own self loathing lol 😂😂😂. Great reaction video James.
Thank you!
is it still a Wellington? I've been told the duxelle is there also to catch meat juices plus flavor, parma ham or dry-cured meat seal the pastry from the juices and puff pastry should be butter and dough layered. so, is it a Wellington or just a Fillet wrapped in pastry?
I gave that same look as you did when he was going to make rough puff pastry which is totally different to full puff pastry from what I recall - hated pastry I loved sauces. 😂. Shop bought puff pastry is perfectly fine and I've heard many restaurants use it or have it specially made for them. I cannot imagine seeing a pastry chef spending hours making full on puff pastry - I'm sure there are some who do but time wise and if you get that wrong it's another disaster to a long list of things which can go wrong with making a Beef Wellington 😂.
I've seen some chefs do lamination using sheets of butter to make rough puff - very similar to real puff pastry.
he definitely cut corners with the rough puff, but the idea is basically the same, Adam is known to simplify things for the lazy person who wants to do something time consuming
@@prodigypenn im not sure if thawing and rolling out store-bought pastry is more time consuming or difficult than spending hours making from scratch something inferior.
@@prodigypenn i mean if the chef himself had recommended us to just use store bought pastry just to save time, it should tell you bit of Adam weird niche? He claimed he likes cutting corner but at the same time does not want anyone to be labeled as lazy by doing unnecessary step for home cooks.
However on other vids he claimed that boxed cake mix is superior and tried to use science to justify it when plenty of others had chimed it that it's not always the case.
You have to pick a side in your stance, if you like cutting corners just do so and use as many store bought as possible, but it's weird seeing him to also show you how to make bullion / stock from scratch to be used later when store bought alternatives exist.
Rough puff isn't the same as puff sure, but I saw a video of Michel Roux making beef wellington and he recommended using rough puff, and he was a Michelin starred chef, so a proper rough puff can't be too bad for the dish.
If you don't like this recipe, I recommend you check out Erin Patterson's Beef Wellington with Death Cap mushrooms. You should try it at least once. There won't be a second time anyway.
Adam: "Now, lets make puff pastry from scratch...." /facepalm
Adam: "I'm going to spill this" ... Like, get a funnel.
Adam: "Here's how you make a sauce the wrong way"
Adam: "This recipe takes a lot of effort and is super error prone, don't make it."
Yes. It has a bunch of steps. It can be challenging. That's what makes it worth doing. It's easier if you make it more than once for a video. =P
James: "If there's one thing you can do to make your wellington look nicer."
Me: "Don't follow Adam's video. Got it."
I've been a fan of Adam's for years and years, and I really appreciated your critique! I learned a few things. In no way did I feel you were attacking Adam. Just stumbled on your channel because of you watching his Spanish Omelette episode, which was great. Subscribed. Thank you!
Thank you I try not to!
@@ChefJamesMakinson to this observer, you're commenting on things as they come. whether you're trying or not, i couldn't tell, just seemed like you being honest in the moment.
I love myself a great BW, but this one, honestly, didn't look that great. 😅 Sure it did taste fine, but the puff pastry and lack of a consistent shape, it would be almost well done at both edges and even for my liking, a bit overdone in the middle. Not to comment on the sauce, not saying it was a bad BW or sauce, but it didn't look right in my humble opinion. Great reaction video, James, keep up the great work and have yourself an absolute fabulous rest of your Sunday. 😊
Agree!
For an easy puff pastry use frozen butter and grate it on a box grater instead of chopping cubes. One small thing to note puff pastry does require you to rest it after about 5 mins of work in the fridge to prevent the butter from melting ideally you can get about 4 to 6 rolls and folds in that 5 minutes. A good puff pastry will usually have about 20+ sets of rolls and folds done.
I know nothing about cooking and I know to not make your own puff pastry.
Felt like watching this again.
I like how you say courgette and aubergine, instead of zucchini and eggplant. I can't really get away with that, with my Canadian accent. lol
hahaha I say both but its easier over here as no one understands eggplant, it's albergínia in Catalan
@@ChefJamesMakinson I have a weird relationship with aubergines. In principle, I quite dislike them, but in certain dishes -- like mousaka -- I find them delicious. Courgettes, too, when I was a kid, I thought they were heavenly, and now as an adult, I haven't been able to enjoy them as much as I did back then.
@@Maplecook hahaha I used to eat aubergine a lot more when I lived in France here in Spain it's mostly bell peppers
The thing about Adam is the following:
He does not care what is traditional and "supposed to be", but he cares about that it is doable for normal people and still will have a result that will be at maximum 10 % of the "traditional" thing.
Like with the thinnes of the sauce: you say "if it is thinn like this, it is not finished", which technically is correct for a very specific recipe, but is completly wrong here because: the sauce is finished, when it tastes good and is to the taste of the people eating. what you would consider "finished" would probably be "way to thick" for adams family (and also many people).
Same with adams puff pastry: it is a pastry and it puffs up. so it is a puff pastry. it is not the traditional way of doing it and how you are "supposed" to do it, but adam said in the beginning, that the traditional pastry puffs too much for his liking hence why he makes it himself (also, there is different styles of puff pastry, the french style is only one way of doing it and there is no best way).
you need to remember one massivly important thing:
The professional way of doing things is NOT the correct way of doing it. Cooking is more art than science and yes, like in art there are some base techniques (cooking, broiling, frying, etc.), but in the end, there is no single one correct way of doing things. arguing so is just unnecesarry gatekeeping - which is also what adam build his whole channel around: "yes, there is the professional way of doing it, but most of the time the professional way is unecesarrily complicated and only done this way because it is done like that forever, but here is a way how you can make something, that is close enough that most people can't tell the difference but done in a much easier way." One example is the zick-zack-cut you critize in adams video: yes, with an different knife it would look nicer - but that would change absolutly nothing in how it tastes and is eaten, let's be completly honest here.
Thank you, James for your wonderful videos. I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Your Aussie fan
Happy Holiday!
Beef Wellington is the Lebron James of the culinary world. Everybody pretends it's some kind of incredible dish, when it comes nowhere near being Michael Jordan.
What I really like about your videos, James, is that you are always seeking to improve people's understanding and knowledge. Your criticisms are fact-based and never nasty; at the end of the video, we know a few more things to do and not to do, to make a good beef Wellington.
Thank you so much not everyone see it like that
Adam Ragusea is the absolute TH-cam king of self-actualized mediocrity and negative mindset behavior. He needs a therapist, not a cooking channel influencing young men to aim for passability and half-hearted effort. Why put out a video on something he doesn't like, proceeding to change key elements, only to (surprise!) not like the final result? I had to unsubscribe from the guy's channel years ago after recognizing this pattern. It's a paycheck to him, not a passion. His video on Jani Lane of Warrant explains exactly this.
😂
Exactly! I made the same observations.
This was good! I was a little skeptical when I started but it wasn't a 'bashing' fest - it was just solid critique from more experience. Solid video, thank you !
Why hasn't Adam written a 5000 word essay on why James is wrong?
he doesn't know what he is doing
@@ChefJamesMakinson
I'm just joking about how he normally can't take criticism, he always leaves comments and starts arguments.
Love all the hate for Adam's puff pastry when he not only said it's a "rough puff pastry" but took the time to explain that he prefers that over a proper puff pastry for this particular dish.
Definitely not a fan of the green paste subbing in for the duxelle, though. Very different flavor and almost none of the umami you'd get from the mushrooms. I like your suggestion of using eggplant/aubergine; treat it like the mushrooms in the duxelle and it'll still have a different flavor for people who hate mushrooms, but almost as much umami flavor and a similar texture as well.
And, honestly, I agree wholeheartedly that beef Wellington isn't worth it. I mean, it's _good_ , yeah, but nowhere near worth the cost and effort. If you're putting that much into a dish, it should either be the perfect showcase of the flavors of the individual ingredients - like, say, the best sushi or wagyu restaurants in Japan - or be a sublime blend of flavors like osso bucco, or be the fanciest pastry you've ever even seen. Wellington is more like an okay tenderloin with, yeah that goes well with mushrooms I guess, and then a pastry you can make look fancy if you really want on top that doesn't add anything to the flavor. I'd pay $50 for the best plate of beef Wellington ever, but I'd be happier paying $50 for a decent osso bucco. (And, yes, I'm perfectly aware the best Wellington ever would be significantly more than $50 a plate. Which is why I'd never bother buying it, not even if I won a billion dollar lottery tomorrow.)
Great video and I totally agree with you. That pastry looked truly dreadful. If you marry someone who doesn't like mushrooms, don't cook wellington. Well I guess there are other suggestions, but they involve expensive divorces. Like sorted food, I have a love hate relationship with this guy. He talks so confidently even when producing substandard fare. I might enjoy the beef in that Wellington, but little else.
Hey Simon! yeah I know what you mean! Happy Christmas!
@@ChefJamesMakinson Have a Merry Christmas and New Year James
I like Adam but when you substitute the mushrooms for spinach and then remove the crepes as well as the ham, it's just not a wellington anymore. Still looks like it tastes great but it also won't taste like a wellington.
To me, if you adjust an existing recipe, especially one as established as a wellington, the idea is to use workarounds to achieve the same, or at least a very similar, result. This wasn't that.
i love how he says he doesnt like wellington then shows us that he changes the recipe, makes butter water for the sauce, skips entire steps, and doesnt think it is worth it. well i wonder why he doesnt like it
Yep