Spiced Crusted Beef with Braised Ruby Red Onions and Shallots
Serves: 8-10
Book: Cooks For The Seasons, Autumn and Winter
Sides of beef have been popular at Christmas since Elizabethan times. Choose a good-sized joint of beef – this will ensure that you have some left over to serve cold with salads and chutney the next day.
Ingredients
- 25g/1oz juniper berries – crushed
- 3-4 cinnamon sticks – finely crushed
- 2-3 dsp peppercorns – finely crushed
- 2-3 sprigs rosemary – stalks removed
- 3.2kg/7lb joint of beef – sirloin, fillet or fore rib
- 1 dsp olive oil
- 25g/1oz butter
- 275ml/½pt red wine or port
- 275ml/½pt stock
- 8-10 small red onions – peeled and halved, depending on size
- 250g/9oz shallots – peeled
- 25g/1oz butter
- 25g/1oz soft brown sugar
- 1 dsp redcurrant jelly
- 150ml/¼pt port
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Spiced crusted beef
Prepare the crust by mixing together the berries, cinnamon, peppercorns and rosemary. Wipe the beef dry with some kitchen roll and brush with a little olive oil. Roll the beef in the crushed spices until it is well covered. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. Brown the meat over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Remove the meat from the heat and place in a well-oiled roasting dish. Cook in the oven @ 200°C/gas mark 6. Allow 12 minutes, 15 minutes or 20 minutes per 450g/1lb, depending on whether you like your meat rare, medium or well done. After 15 minutes cooking, add the wine and stock to the roasting dish. Baste the meat regularly during cooking. When cooked, use the juices in the base of the pan to make a gravy. Serve with braised ruby red onions and shallots.
Braised ruby red onions and shallots
Blanch the onions and shallots by placing them in a large pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain.
Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the sugar, onions and shallots and cook over a high heat until lightly browned.
Add the redcurrant jelly, port and seasoning and leave to cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and the liquid has reduced and thickened.