Ingredients

Method

Start by making the Yorkshire pudding batter, as this is better left to rest before cooking. Put the ingredients in a liquidiser or processor and blend until smooth. Chill for 30 minutes or so.

Roast Beef & Trimmings

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4.
Peel the potatoes, carrots, sprouts and onions, trim the end of the sprouts and cut the carrots and onions into large pieces.

Put a roasting pan in the oven to heat with a knob of dripping for 5 minutes. Meanwhile dry the beef well with kitchen paper and season well.

Take the roasting tin from the oven and carefully place the beef in the hot fat with a bay leaf or two under it.

Time the roast – it’ll be 35 minutes per kg for rare. Baste well and return to the oven. Repeat basting throughout roasting.

Meanwhile, parboil the potatoes until just done, drain and then give them a good shake in the pan to break them up a bit (this helps to make them crispy).

45 minutes before the beef is cooked, heat a separate pan with a tablespoon or 2 of dripping from the beef and add the potatoes, season with salt, pepper and rosemary and baste well, place pan in the oven (baste occasionally during the 45 minutes).

Fifteen minutes before serving, add the red onions to the beef pan and baste well. This is a good time to remove the excess fat and meat juices from the pan, leaving enough in the pan to baste the beef and onions. The meat juices can then be separated from the fat and reserved to serve with the roast.

Remove the roast beef when done and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before carving. Take out the onions and keep warm. Whilst the meat is resting, steam or boil the carrots and sprouts until cooked. The potatoes should now be cooked.

Rescue any meat juices from the beef roasting pan, then pour off the fat. Splash some red wine into the pan and heat gently on the hob, using a wooden spoon to dissolve the cooked pan juices into the wine. Add these to the meat juices and reheat to serve with the beef.

Yorkshire Puddings

Preheat the Yorkshire pudding tin with about 3mm of dripping in each section, take out of the oven and carefully pour the batter into the hot fat to a depth of about 1cm, return to top of the oven and bake until golden brown and well risen. Small puddings will take around 20-30 minutes and will rise best if you keep the oven door shut whilst they’re cooking.