Slow cooked beef

Prep Time: 0:15

Cook Time: 2:00

Serves: 4

Ingredients / Shopping List

1.5kg silverside or topside of beef

Vegetables:

1 -2 onions

4 carrots

4 Bay leaves

Bunch Parsley

1 Beef stock cube

300ml water

100ml wine (if you have any leftover)

Black peppercorns

(You may need beef gravy granules to make the juices into gravy)

Prep to Cook: Roasting tin and foil or an oval roaster with lid

Either way you need to capture all the steam to braise the meat

Dissolve the stock cube into 300ml boiling water

Pre-heated oven at 210ºC or Gas mark 7 (HOT)

Prep: Peel and slice each onion across the rings to 4 thick pieces

Place in the bottom of a roasting tin to make a bed for the beef

Peel and remove tops from the carrots – leave them whole

3. Prep the meat:

In a frying pan heat up 8 tablespoons of cooking oil until very hot! Use oven gloves

Carefully put the meat joint top down into the fat – take care it will spit!

Brown one side and using a carving fork turn the joint and brown the other side

This stage is important as no further browning will take place in the cooking

Cook the meat:

Place the beef joint over the vegetables ( the onions and the carrots)

Pop in the bay leaves and 6 peppercorns

Put in parsley stalks and some of the tops over the meat

Pour over the stock and the wine (or water)

Cover the dish either with a close fitting lid OR with foil wrap

Now place this in a pre-heated oven at 210ºC or Gas mark 7

Leave for 10 minutes!

Turn down the oven to 170ºC or Gas Mark 3

Cook for 1 hour 30 minutes - 2 hours

Take out of the oven and leave to stand wrapped up to retain warmth – up to 1 hour is no problem

When you have cooked the other parts of the meal remove the meat and slice

Use the juices for gravy (just blitz with a blender and add tsp gravy granules and water)

Check it out!

Slow cooked beef is a cert for the special dinner when you want to impress. Forget the anxiety of a roast just pop this meat in the oven and after it has cooked leave it to stand (rest).

Leaving the meat wrapped allowing it to rest makes it tender. It also means you can turn up the oven and roast off some parsnips and potatoes together. Drain off the meat juices and make into gravy using beef gravy granules. Don’t worry about the meat having cooled just carve it thinly and serve it with piping hot gravy – easy. (Remember to warm the plates – it does make all the difference)

Use the carrots in the gravy or just serve them with the meat.

Recipe Science

Cooks Know How: After cooking this recipe you will know how to handle a joint of meat – probably topside! You will be a savvy shopper. Look out for joints of meat on the reduced counter when the bright red colour may be going browner in patches. It will be cheaper and yet cook just as nicely. You will know this is a foolproof way to serve beef when you are not sure how tender the meat may be. The proper name for this method of cooking is braising – but not many people know what that is – except you of course. You will understand the benefits of cooking the meat and letting it stand whilst you do everything else for that impressive beef dinner. You will benefit from your ability to plan ahead and get cooking well in advance of the meal.

Red meat supplies protein, iron and fat in the diet.