For rare beef, it should be above blood temperature (about 50°C/125°F if you use a meat thermometer) – this is not a dish to eat well done. If the meat is cooked, remove from the oven and leave for a good 20 minutes to rest. If not, return it to the oven for 10 minutes and then test again.
Meanwhile put the watercress, mustard, vinegar, stock, shallot, garlic and oil in a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt if necessary. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and stir well.
Carve the beef in thick slices and serve with the sauce in a bowl on the table so everyone can help themselves. Serve mustard, too – and have a big leafy salad afterwards.
| Kitchen note | |
| The same sauce can be eaten with roast whole fillet or a rolled forerib roast. |
Raw Beef with Horseradish, Sorrel and Rye Bread
Two years ago I travelled to Copenhagen on an assignment. The story was a young chef whose restaurant, Noma, was attracting much attention. Rene Redzepi has since won awards for his curious cooking, which uses only Nordic raw materials on a strictly seasonal basis. He made a ‘tartare’ similar to this one, and advised that we should eat it with our fingers. I recommend it (if occasion allows); somehow the absence of a cold fork is just right. It is a nice primitive way to eat a dish that feels northern European down to its boots, yet would not be out of place in Venice.
Redzepi made this with the fillet of a Musk Ox, a native Greenland breed. With none to hand, seek out any of the pure native British breeds: Angus, Hereford, Red Poll, Galloway, Devon, Highland, Welsh Black, White Park, Dexter and so on. Use only beef that has been hung for a minimum of three weeks, preferably four.
Serves 4
450g/1lb prime fillet beef
4 small pinches of sea salt
4 thin slices of rye bread, each slice trimmed of the crust and cut into 4 squares (pumpernickel is the closest alternative to Danish rye bread)
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh horseradish
a handful of sorrel leaves – or sorrel sprouts (see Kitchen Note below)
2 shallots, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
For the tarragon sauce:
6 sprigs of tarragon
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chicken stock or water
½ shallot
½ garlic clove
150ml/¼ pint olive oil
lemon juice
sea salt
Begin with the tarragon sauce. Put the tarragon, vinegar, stock or water, shallot, garlic and oil in a liquidiser and blend to a smooth cream. Season to taste with salt and a few drops of lemon juice, then refrigerate.
Using a very sharp knife, ‘scrape’ the meat into fine strips along the grain, parting the grain. Divide it between 4 serving plates. Sprinkle each portion with a small pinch of salt. Fry the rye bread lightly in the oil, then scatter it randomly over the beef, followed by the horseradish. Finish off with the sorrel and sliced shallots.
Heat the spices in a deep frying pan until they begin to brown, then grind to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle or a redundant coffee bean grinder. Put a large pinch of the spice mixture on the side of each plate. Serve with little bowls of the sauce to one side of each plate, eating the tartare with your fingers by taking a pinch of the raw meat and dipping it first in the sauce, then in the spice.
| Kitchen note | |
| Sorrel takes just 2 or 3 weeks to grow in a bed or pot but is sometimes available from specialist greengrocers. Alternatively, try a peppery leaf such as rocket or even cress, instead of the lemon-flavoured sorrel. |
Beef leftovers
In 2006 a stunning statistic revealed that the average person throws over £400 worth of food away each year, and I’ll bet a proportion of that will be leftover meat, carcass bones and fat. If, after reading the introduction to the beef section, you are convinced that spending more on naturally reared beef is essential, then absorb the extra spend by making use of the leftovers. This food is a bonus, and a strong point in favour of the argument that good eating is more a question of knowing what to do with food than one related to money.
Cold meat
Beef with Horseradish Sauce on Crisp Bread
Making sandwiches with cold beef seems dull when you could brush a piece of bread on both sides with olive oil, then toast it in a pan, turning once. Meanwhile, make a sauce for 2 people by mixing together 2 teaspoons of mustard (English, French, whichever is your favourite), 1 tablespoon of grated horseradish or a teaspoon of ‘Gentleman’s Relish’, a chopped shallot, about 3 tablespoons of double cream or crème frâiche, ½ teaspoon of cider vinegar and some salt. Place a slice of cold roast beef rolled up with 1 tablespoon of the sauce on the crisp bread, and throw over some chopped herbs or cress – or other salad leaves.
Beef with Pumpkin Seeds and Carrot
I have become as fond of green pumpkin seeds as pine nuts, and have a weakness for the sweet sourness of grated carrot, mixed with lemon and oil, then seasoned with salt. For 2 people, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and toast 2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds in it until they are tinged with gold. The oil will turn a beautiful green. Grate 2 carrots, dress them with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of ½ lemon, then add a pinch of salt. Stir well. Divide between 2 dishes. Place slices of beef on top, then spoon over the seeds, with their lovely oil. Black pepper is essential.
Minced cold meat
Mince the cold beef using an old-fashioned mincer (available in hardware shops) or chop it into small pieces. For 4 people, fry approximately 450g/1lb mince with 1 finely chopped onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves and 2 chopped chicken livers. Add 2 pinches of dried thyme, a wineglass of white wine and a tin of tomatoes and cover with beef stock. Simmer for about 1 hour, then taste and add salt. Serve with spaghetti, noodles or penne – and have a bowl of grated Parmesan cheese ready.
Make as for the sauce above, but omit the chicken livers and tomatoes, adding a handful of dried porcini that have been steeped in a mug of boiling-hot water until soft (add the soaking water, too). Simmer for an hour and serve with rice, or the cooked barley, or the farro. Use fresh mushrooms instead of dried, if you wish, and add a mugful