Old England Traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

French Tart's Note:

Possibly the most famous of all English dishes, traditionally served for the "big" family meal of the week, Sunday Lunch. First a little about the Yorkshire Pudding. Different areas of England cook, serve and eat this in totally different ways. No single way is 'right' nor 'wrong'. It depends upon your family tradition and where you live. Originally the Yorkshire Pudding was eaten on its own as a first course with thick gravy. This was to fill your stomach with the cheap Yorkshire Pudding so that you would not eat so much of the more expensive meat in the next course. Now Yorkshire Puddings tend to be lighter and crispier and they are served and eaten with the meat course, with lashings of beef gravy with them! How to serve the roast beef: Some families carve the meat in the kitchen and bring it to the table on pre-warmed plates. Others carve the meat at the table so every one can see, that is how my Dad used to do it! Roast Beef is best served with roast potatoes, and a selection of freshly steamed seasonal vegetables, such as carrots, cabbage and broccoli. Have a gravy boat brimming full of gravy for diners to help themselves to. For special occasions consider making the gravy with a glass or two of wine! I have posted this recipe for 8 to 10 people; I always feel it's worth cooking more than you need, as you can have cold roast beef sandwiches for tea and of course make cottage pie the next day! The Yorkshire pudding listed below is already posted on Zaar - My Mum's Easy and Traditional English Yorkshire Pudding, but I have added it here again, so you can cook them with the beef, following only one recipe for ease. My Mum's Yorkshire pudding recipe is simple, as long as all the ratio of measurements are equal, you can increase or decrease the amount of puddings you make!

• Total Time: 3 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

Roast Beef

• 10 lbs rib sirloin beef
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces beef drippings
• English mustard powder (optional)

Yorkshire Puddings

• 1 cup beaten egg
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• salt
• pepper
• 1 -2 tablespoon cooking oil or 1 -2 tablespoon dripping

Directions:

1. Combined method for cooking the Roast Beef and the Yorkshire Pudding:.
2. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
3. Put the joint of beef into a shallow baking tray or tin.
4. Season the meat to taste with a little salt and black pepper, and English mustard powder if using.
5. Melt half of the beef dripping and pour over the meat and seasoning.
6. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes and then reduce the heat to 190C/375F/Gas 5 for a further 1 1/2 hours. This will give you rare roast beef in the middle.
7. When cooked, put the meat in a warm place to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving and serving, and then turn up the heat to 240C,475F or gas mark 9.
8. Pour the remainder of the beef dripping into a cake baking tray (The type of baking tray used to make small cakes / muffins). Put the tray, with a little bit of dripping in each of the depressions in the tray, into the oven for 3 minutes or until you see the dripping smoke.
9. Remove from the oven and pour 2 tablespoons of the Yorkshire Pudding batter (see below for batter recipe) into each cake depression and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until well puffed up and golden brown. DO NOT Open the door for the first 10 minutes!
10. Meanwhile carve and portion the beef on to hot plates, and make a gravy using the juices left in the roasting. As soon as the Yorkshire pudding is ready, serve, with mustard and horseradish sauce, roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
11. To make the Yorkshire Pudding Mixture (Batter):.
12. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
13. and add the beaten eggs into the centre of the heap of flour.
14. Mix the water and the milk together in a jug. Pour the mixture slowly onto the flour and egg. As you start to pour the water/milk slowly beat the mixture together with a whisk. Add the salt and continue to beat. The puddings will be lighter if the batter includes a little air.
15. Once all the ingredients have been beaten together leave to stand, covered by a cloth, for 40 minutes or so.
16. Now you are at 'step 8' in the main cooking method. Your oven should be very hot and your tray for the puddings very hot.
17. Tip: The bigger the joint, the better the meat, and it should always be cooked on the bone. The meat should have a good covering of fat, be dark red in colour (which shows it has been hung properly), and have a good marbling of fat throughout.
18. Sprinkling some English mustard powder over the top of the meat gives a great crust and a fabulous taste.

Reviews

[KBretzke]

This is the second time around for my family! They LOVE IT!

[Salvador Vilchis]

Excellent recipe - the roast and the Yorkshire Puddings came out delicious! Make sure that you roast a larger piece than you need and then use the left overs for sandwiches.

[Chef #485996]

youve done it again french tart. i made this today for a family sunday lunch and was outstanding. lovely tender beef and massive yorkies. my kids ate the lot and i served with roasties, carrots and sprouts and it was delicious. mmmm. cant wait till next sunday when i do it again for company. thanks.