This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's website, www.jamieoliver.com. I changed it up just a bit, but pretty much followed the recipe to a tee. Jamie's my favorite, so I don't mess around too much with his recipes. Anyway, I made this meal last night from ingredients that I bought at Kirkgate Market Leeds.
Perfect Roast Beef
- 1 kg quality topside of beef
- 1 medium onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 red chilli
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme
- olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 pint cream sherry
To prepare your beef:
Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.
Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper and fresh thyme leaves, rubbing it all over the meat. Place the beef on top of the vegetables and add the sherry to pan.
To cook your beef:
Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef. If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier. For well done, leave it in for another 10 to 15 minutes.
When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and put aside while you make your gravy. Slice the beef thinly for best results.
Tomato Gravy
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup cream sherry
2 Tbsp. English mustard (I used Colemans)
Juices from beef dish
Add all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce and simmer 10 minutes. Pour over sliced beef.
