Beef on the Bone

We went to a beautiful, classic English pub for my birthday. Set on a wooded hillside complete with its own trout ponds (sadly they don't let you fish your own out to be bopped on the head and served up for lunch anymore) we had ordered beef for 4 for lunch. You have to order a few weeks in advance but o.m.g. it's worth doing that. The huge rib - two ribs actually - was served on a chunky carving board accompanied by a pile of excellent roast potatoes and and Yorkshire puddings. The vegetables were a simple but superbly cooked mix of green beans and carrots - al dente; that means they were not too soft and had 'bite' to them. Plus a huge jug of gravy and pots of English mustard and what seemed to be home-made Horseradish sauce. The beef is served up to be carved by the eaters (me in this case) and served on to warmed plates with the above. It was great, tender melting beef which I have to say we thought we couldn't finish but we ate the lot. No pud though, too full. It reminded me of the two ways you can roast beef well, one is the Delia way which is good for beef not on the bone and one is by Heston Blumenthal for beef on the bone. In my my view on the bone is always better but if you can't get it then the Delia is good for a boneless joint.

Boneless:

You will need; a good sized roasting pan big enough to take the joint. That's it.

Beef: a rolled joint of topside is best but pretty much any good (not cheap) joint will do, Ask the butcher or the staff how much you need for the number of people you are feeding, but 2-3 lbs or 1,5 kilos should do for 4 - 6.

What to do: heat the oven to max temp, gas mark 9 or its equivalent in electric oven numbers. Fahrenheit 475 /Centigrade 250.

475

240

Very Hot

Put the beef (having brought it out of the fridge about an hour earlier to allow it to come to room temp) on a bed of crumpled cooking foil in the roasting pan. The foil stops the beef over-heating through conduction from the pan. Put it in the hot oven for 20 minutes. You can dust it with a little flour, mustard powder and pepper if you like. Lower the heat after the 20 mins to gas mark four or five and cook for 15 - 20 minutes per pound/half kilo for rare. Longer for medium, say another 20 to 30 minutes. Well done beef is a food crime. It should be pink and bloody in the middle so carve a bit off the end to check for pinkness.

Take it out and let it rest on a carving board covered in foil for twenty minutes or so - this makes it really tender.

On the Bone:

A two-rib joint on the bone is more pricey but much yummier. Just ask the butcher or meat counter for a two rib joint.

Put the meat in the pan with the foil as above. Switch on the oven to the lowest possible setting - slow cook setting or 1/2, whatever. Put the meat in and let it just cook away. It may need between 4 and six hours so you might have to get up early to put it in the oven if you're having it for lunch but believe me it's worth it. HB suggests testing it with a meat thermometer and says it's ready at around sixty degrees. or you can just carve little bits off and test after four hours or more, you decide. Again, remove from the oven, let it rest as above then serve.

We'll deal with veggies and gravy another time.