Slow-Roast Topside of Beef

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy roasting tin or Dutch oven with a lid
• •Kitchen tongs for turning the beef
• •Sharp carving knife
• •Meat thermometer (helpful but not essential)

Instructions

1. 1

   Season and sear the beef

   Take the beef out of the fridge a good hour before you plan to cook it. Cold meat in a hot pan doesn't brown, it steams, and you want a proper crust. Pat it dry with kitchen paper. Season it generously with salt and pepper, more than you think, rubbing it into every surface. Set the oven to 140C/120C fan. Heat the dripping or oil in a heavy roasting tin or Dutch oven on the hob until it's properly hot, almost smoking. Lay the beef in and leave it alone. Two to three minutes per side until you have a deep, even brown all over. It should smell rich and savoury, like the beginning of something good. Lift the beef out and set it aside.

   Ask the butcher to tie the joint for you. Topside is an irregular shape and a few turns of string keep it compact, which means it cooks evenly and carves neatly. If you're doing it yourself, tie it at two-inch intervals. Snug, not strangled.
2. 2

   Build the vegetable bed

   In the same tin, with all those brown, sticky bits still on the base, scatter the onions, carrots, celery, garlic halves, thyme, and bay leaves. Stir them around for a few minutes until they pick up a little colour and start to soften at the edges. Sprinkle over the flour and stir it through. This is your trivet. The vegetables lift the meat off the base of the tin, and they'll cook down into the gravy later.

   Don't cut the vegetables too small. They're in the oven for hours and will dissolve to nothing if you dice them. Big, rough chunks. They need to hold their shape long enough to support the joint.
3. 3

   Add liquid and settle the joint

   Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for a minute, scraping up any caramelised bits from the base of the tin. Add the stock. The liquid should come about a third of the way up the vegetables, not covering them. Nestle the seared beef on top of the vegetable bed. Put the lid on, or cover the tin tightly with a double layer of foil. You want it sealed. The steam trapped inside is what keeps this lean cut from drying out.

4. 4

   Slow-roast with patience

   Slide the tin into the oven and leave it alone. Three hours, perhaps a little longer for a bigger joint. Don't keep opening the door. After two hours, check that there's still liquid in the base. If it looks dry, add a splash of stock or water. The beef is done when it yields easily to a fork pressed into the thickest part, and the kitchen smells the way a Sunday kitchen should: deep, beefy, slightly winey, warm. If you have a thermometer, you're looking for about 60-65C in the centre for pink, or 70C if you prefer it well done.

   A thermometer is useful here if you're uncertain, but your hands will tell you plenty. Press the thickest part of the joint. If it gives easily and feels soft, it's ready. Topside cooked past medium loses its tenderness. Pull it a touch early. It will carry on cooking as it rests.
5. 5

   Rest the beef properly

   Lift the beef out of the tin and set it on a warm plate. Cover it loosely with foil and a tea towel. Let it rest for at least twenty minutes, thirty is better. Resting isn't optional with this cut. It's what lets the fibres relax and the juices redistribute. A rested topside carved thinly is a different thing entirely from one hacked at straight from the oven. Be patient. You've waited three hours. Twenty more minutes won't hurt.

6. 6

   Make the gravy

   While the beef rests, set the roasting tin over a medium heat on the hob. Fish out the thyme sprigs and bay leaves. If you like a smooth gravy, strain the liquid and press the soft vegetables through a sieve, then pour it back into the tin. If you prefer it rustic, leave everything as it is and just mash the vegetables roughly with a fork. Let it bubble and reduce until it coats the back of a spoon. Taste it. Season it. Add any juices that have collected under the resting beef. This is your gravy, and it needs nothing from a packet.

7. 7

   Carve and serve

   Carve the beef thinly, against the grain. This matters with topside. Cut with the grain and you'll be chewing all evening. Against it, the slices are tender and yielding. Lay them on a warm plate, spoon the gravy over and alongside, and serve with whatever feels right: roast potatoes, something green, a dab of mustard on the side. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate of this in front of someone on a cold Sunday.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the best beef you can afford and talk to your butcher about it. A well-reared, properly hung topside from a good butcher will have more flavour and better texture than a supermarket joint at twice the size. This is not the moment to economize on the thing that matters most.
• •Topside is lean, which is its virtue and its vulnerability. The low oven and the covered tin protect it, but carving makes the difference. A sharp knife and thin slices against the grain turn a humble joint into something people remember. A thick slice cut the wrong way will be tough no matter what you've done in the oven.
• •The cold beef, sliced thinly the next day, is arguably the point. Good bread, English mustard, a few leaves of watercress. Monday lunch sorted. I sometimes think I roast this on Sunday just to eat it cold on Monday.
• •If you don't drink wine or don't have any open, leave it out and add a splash more stock. The gravy won't have quite the same depth, but it will be good. Don't buy wine you wouldn't drink just to pour it into a tin.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef can be seared and the vegetables prepared the evening before. Assemble everything in the tin, cover, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature for an hour before it goes into the oven.
• •Leftover beef keeps well in the fridge for up to three days, wrapped in foil or beeswax cloth. Slice it cold and thinly for sandwiches, or warm slices gently in leftover gravy.
• •The gravy can be made entirely ahead and reheated. It thickens as it cools, so loosen it with a splash of stock when warming through.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 300g)