Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding
Roast beef is a classic for Sunday lunch and Agatha regularly makes this for family and friends (when they can visit) including a real gravy or 'jus' from scratch.
It has always been a favourite in my house too and especially the yorkshire puddings which are the traditional accompaniment for beef, but my family always ask for them with any roast meat. Whenever I cook these for French friends, they just love them too!
Prep: 30 mins (during the cooking time)
Cook: 2 hours total depending on size of joint
Serves: 4+
Beef: How to calculate the cooking time: 15 mins per 450g @ 180C
Yorkshire Puddings: The secret to fabulously puffed-up Yorkshire puddings is to make sure the fat is really sizzling hot.
Accompany with Château George 7
INGREDIENTS
Roast Beef & Gravy
45-day aged forerib (2 ribs give enough for 4)
OR Côte de Boeuf
1 bone marrow cut in half
Olive oil
3 Carrots
2 Onions
5 Garlic cloves
2 Celery sticks
1 Leek
1-2 potatoes (to thicken the gravy)
300g cheap beef
500ml Port Wine / cheap red wine
Bay leaf , thyme, rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Yorkshire Puddings
Vegetable oil
2 large free-range eggs
80 g plain flour
100 ml milk
Accompanying vegetables according to taste.
METHOD
Roast Beef & Gravy
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Roast the bone marrow for 30 min, then take out of the oven and put to one side. While it is roasting, peel all the vegetables and roughly chop. Drizzle the beef with olive oil, salt and pepper and ruball over the meat. Make a cavity in the beef between the fat and the bone(s), and prod in a garlic clove then repeat on the other side of the beef and add some rosemary & thyme sprigs.
Drizzle oil on the roasting tray and heat til very hot then seal the beef on both sides (3-5 mins on each side). Put the chopped veg, the stock and a splash of wine and water in the hot roasting tin and place the beef on top – fat side up, bone down – the beef should stand up. Put the tray in the oven and turn the heat down to 200C for the first 5 min then turn further down to 180C. Medium rare = 15 mins per 450g at 180c.
Once cooked, take the beef out of the oven and let it rest in a warm place covered in foil. Put the roasting tin that you used to cook the meat on the hob on a medium heat. Sieve the jus and reserve (I normally squash all the veg to extract more juice out of them and reduce further on high heat, depending how much you have and how thick you like it). Stir and season to taste. While doing this, put the oven heat back up to 225°C if making yorkshire puddings.
Yorkshire Puddings (to make while the beef is resting)
Preheat the oven to 220C. In a cupcake tin, add a tiny splash of vegetable oil into each of the 12 compartments (less than 1tsp per compartment). Pop into the hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes so the oil gets really hot.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs, flour, milk and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a jug until light and smooth. You can do this in advance if you wish. Carefully remove the tray from the oven, then confidently pour in the batter evenly into the compartments. The fat should sizzle. Pop the tray back in the oven to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until risen and golden. Do not open the oven door until cooked!
Serve with a glass (or why not a bottle?) of Château George 7
