Rare Roast Beef Joint with Mustard

For the carnivores amongst us :)

Roast beef is one of my father's favourite foods ever; I sent him this picture and he promptly replied asking whether I could hurry up and go back to KL to cook it for him! I've explained many times how he could easily do it himself- take a hulk of meat, rub it with salt, pepper and mustard, shove it in to cook- but I guess what he really wants is for someone else to watch the oven, carve the joint, pour the gravy, roast the vegetables, bake the Yorkshire puddings and just present it all ready on a plate to feast on.

He is right though in wanting the whole package; when it comes to roast, the trimmings and sides are just as important as the meat itself. So be sure to serve this with lots of rich gravy, roast potatoes/parsnips/carrots (or buttered/mashed/baked if you prefer), something green like broccoli or beans or cabbage and most importantly, Yorkshire puddings to soak it all up.

*Recipe based on a 2kg beef roasting joint (enough to feed 6-8 people). Vary your cooking times accordingly*

Slice 2 large onions into rings and spread into a roasting tin lined with foil.

Place beef joint on the bed of onions and rub meat all over with 2 tbsp mustard, salt and lots of black pepper.

Cover with foil and roast for 15 mins in a very hot oven preheated to 240 C (220 fan assisted). Then lower heat to 180 C (160 fan assisted) and leave to roast 20 minutes for every 500g of meat (so my 2kg joint took 1 hour 35 mins in total). Cook for an extra 15-20 mins or longer if you prefer it less rare.

Remove the meat, wrap it in foil and let it rest at room temperature for 30 mins. This is MUST so the meat gets very moist and tender. (A lot more juice/blood may come out, don't worry it's all good and can go into the gravy!)

Onion Gravy:

Pour all the onions and juices from the roasting tin into a pot. Add some gravy granules and a dollop of cream to thicken and bring to boil.