A national hero for defeating Napoelon at Waterloo in 1815 , Arthur Wellesley was named Duke of Wellington. Apparently he loved this dish of beef cooked in pastry, which has been named in his honor.

Preheat the over to 450 degrees

Trim and tie the tenderloin with a kitchen string into a roll. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oil to a roasting pan and heat in the oven. When hot, sear the meat in the oven on all sides until the tenderloin is sealed and browned on all sides. About 5 minutes on each side.

Reduce the heat to 350 and roast the filet for 20 minutes. While roasting, turn the meat several times and baste with the natural juices. Remove from oven and let the tenderloin cool in the refrigerator. When cold, remove the string.

DUXELLES: Heat butter in casserole and saute the onion until translucent and add the mushrooms. Saute the mushrooms until all the liquid is cooked out. Add parsley, pate and cognac. Continue stirring for another two minutes until the mixture forms a paste. Season with salt, pepper and tarragon. Refrigerate for one hour or more before using.

Roll out the puff pastry in a square 1/8 of an inch thick. Cover the puff pastry with the duxelle (1/4 inch thick) and set the filet on top. Leave the ends of the dough free of duxelle and brush the ends with egg wash. Roll the dough around the filet and press seam to seal. Fold the shorter ends over and press firmly to seal so the juice stays inside while baking. Set a large baking sheet on top of the wellington and invert the wellington onto the baking sheet so the pastry seam is face down on the baking sheet.

Decorate the dough with thin cut outs of extra dough. Make small steam vents every 3 inches in the top of the dough with a small knife. Brush the whole piece with egg-wash. Refrigerate the beef for one hour before roasting.

Bake the wellington in the over at 450 for one hour (medium rare). If the wellington browns too much on top cover with foil to bake evenly. Remove from the oven and let rest uncovered for 15 minutes before slicing into 8 slices. It will continue to cook.

Set up on hot plate with mushroom cream sauce and fresh vegetables.