My recipe has been inspired by a bit of Jamie Oliver, a bit of Heston Blumenthal and a bit of the people at work who I was talking about roasts with. Thanks guys. It doesn't require a huge amount of skill but it does require a lot of patience- it's a lazy Sunday kind of dish.
Ingredients:
- Rib of beef (I used a 3 rib roast and it served 5 people easily)
- 1 Bulb garlic
- Handful fresh rosemary
- Handful fresh thyme sprigs
- 6 Anchovy fillets (don't worry, you can't taste the fishyness)
- Zest of two lemons
- Juice of 1 lemon
- About 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 Brown onions, cut in half with the skin on
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 Cups of beef stock
Peel six of the garlic cloves and throw them in a mortar and pestle with the anchovies, half the rosemary, a few sprigs of thyme, the lemon zest and some salt and pepper. Give it a good bash and make lots of noise (this is where my flatmate Paddy started giving me the evils).
Once the mixture is all crushed up add the lemon juice and olive oil until it turns into a nice oily paste.
Rub the beef with the marinade and let it rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Uhh I probably should mention that you'll want to start this in the morning.
When it's ready, heat your oven to 100C. Yes you heard right, 100C. We're going to slow cook it until the meat is like velvet.
Now sear the meat in a hot pan until it's nicely brown and crispy and add it to the roasting dish with the onions, the rest of the herbs and the remaining garlic cloves (skin on).
Unless you have beef telepathy you're going to need a meat thermometer, they aren't expensive and you'll thank me later. Shove the thermometer right in and cook for 4-5 hours until it reaches 60C. If what I've done looks too rare for your liking then keep it in until about 65/70C (keeping in mind chefs around the world will be shaking their heads in disappointment).
If you've made it this far well done, I promise it's worth the wait. Now take the meat out, chuck it on a plate, cover in tin foil and let it rest for 45 minutes.
Now you have a bit of time up your sleeve you can sort out whatever you're serving with it. I did a parsnip horseradish mash and some roast beetroot, and it was pretty damn good.
When you're about 5 minutes away from serving it's gravy time (Woohoo! You're on the home straight). Put the pan with the garlic, onion and herbs on the stovetop over a low heat and stir in the two tablespoons of flour to soak up the juices. Now add the stock, give it a good whisk and let it simmer for a few minutes until thickened. Have a sneaky taste now and add some salt and pepper to the gravy.
Dont worry I'm not going to let you serve up lumpy gravy with bits of garlic skin, because once the gravy is thick enough just pour it through a sieve into a bowl. Push as much as you can through the sieve to get all the garlicy herby goodness out.
If everything's ready to go then uncover your beef and get everyone to come and admire it. Not bad eh?
Enough waiting, before you pass out from hunger and boredom load up your plate and dig in!
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