Beef Redux

So, what did I do with the rest of that beef?

Given that it was a bit rare I didn't want to leave it to slice cold onto sandwiches etc as originally planned. So, it as actually a simple casserole affair the next day.

One large saucepan. Potatoes, carrots, onions, sprouts, peas (i.e. the veg I happened to have left over) and the rest of the beef cut up into small pieces. Stock cube, water, seasoning and bring to the boil. Left it boiling for a good 10 minutes and then reduced the heat so it was simmering.

An hour and a half later it was given a good stir to break up the potatoes a bit and thicken it up. Just make sure to keep an eye on it while it simmers as you don't want it going dry and burning.

Exciting and innovative cooking - No. Simple, tasty and comforting - Yes.

Another Beef

No, not a moan, just an off the cuff beef recipe. I mentioned I had done this on FB and one of my friends asked me if I'd followed a recipe or invented it. I said invented but that probably makes the process sound rather more erudite and conceived than it actually was. Made up as I went along might have been slightly closer to the mark...my apologies if this post rambles a bit as well!

Anyways, what did I do?

I had bought a piece of topside with the intention of roasting it. Some hot for dinner and leave the rest to go cold and eat it over the next day or two. Oven heated up I put the beef into the roasting tray along with some black pepper and then thought to roast some onions as well.

This quickly turned into an idea for a "gravy". The use of quotation marks should indicate that some people may not consider this to be a proper gravy but what the heck...

So, roasting tray, beef, black pepper. Now add 2 large onions chopped into quarters, one vegetable stock cube and half a bottle of Chocolate porter (or chocolate stout) and cover with foil / lid of your roasting pan.

Place in the oven at 190C. I left it for 30mins/lb plus 30 (uncovering it half way through). This should have left me with well done beef - as I was intending to let some go cold. However, presumably due to the liquid it wasn't that well done. Actually medium-rare / bit pink still in the middle. Perfect for eating hot in my book, but, not what I was aiming for. Didn't discover this until I went to slice it though...

While the beef was resting I tipped the remains of the cooking liquid and onions into a saucepan and brought it to the boil reducing the volume down to make the "gravy" / sauce. Simple as it gets!

The final plate was mashed potato, some generous slices of beef and spooned over the top was some of the onion and "gravy". Delicious, especially with the remains of the porter to drink.

In a few days I shall say what I actually did with the the other half of the beef...

Feather Steak

Back to food this time and a quick recommendation for a less well known cut of beef.

Feather Steak comes from the outside of the shoulder blade and the marbling of fat within it gives a feathery appearance, especially when thinly sliced.


Personally I recommend taking thin slices (~½cm) and cooking this quickly. BBQ or frying/griddle pan over a high heat, 2-3 minutes each side. Serve with potatoes or a salad. Add an egg if you are feeling decadent.


Warning: overcook it and will become very tough...

Slow Roast Beef

The idea for slow roasting a piece of beef came from a Mary Berry cookbook I'd been reading: Mary-Berrys-Family-Sunday-Lunches


The suggestion is that slow cooking is better for less tender cuts of beef. Now, I had a 2lb piece of topside which should have been pretty tender to start with. However, I fancied trying to cook the beef this way as it had the advantage that a precise cooking time wasn't quite so essential. So what if it spent an extra half hour in the oven whilst I faffed about getting the mash sorted...it shouldn't matter as it is at a lower temperature.


Suffice to say this was the most tender and flavoursome piece of beef I have ever tasted and it was very easy to do. If you've not tried it then do. Sorry there are no photos but I had been faffing (generally, not just the mash!) and was trying to get it served before Great British Menu started!








Start by sweating off chopped onion and garlic in a frying pan along with some mixed herbs and black pepper. Use this mix to cover the bottom of the roasting pan. Then quickly sear the beef in the frying pan before placing it in the roasting pan on top of the onion mix.


Next add some liquid to the roasting pan. About 400mls of beef and vegetable stock along with a generous slug of port. Cover with a well fitting lid and put in the oven. My piece of beef staying in for ~3½ hours at 160C.


While the beef rests on a plate pour the roasting liquid through a sieve and slowly add to a roux to make the gravy.