Ingredients:
1 sirloin of beef on the bone, weighing 5-6 lb (2.25-2.75 kg) - this would be 3 ribs
½ onion, peeled
1 level dessertspoon mustard powder
1 level dessertspoon plain flour
freshly milled black pepper
Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9.
Place the beef, just as it is, upright in a roasting tin, tucking in the
half onion alongside it.
Combine the mustard powder and flour, then dust this all over the surface
of the fat, and finally season with a few twists of freshly milled pepper.
This floury surface will help to make the fat very crusty (for those like
me who want to eat what I call the crispies), while the onion will
caramelise to give the gravy a rich colour and flavour.
Place the joint in the oven - it will have plenty of fat so do not add
extra. After 20 minutes turn the heat down to 190C/375F/Gas 5, and
continue to cook for 15 minutes per lb (450 g) for rare, plus 15 minutes
extra for medium-rare or 30 minutes extra for well-done.
While cooking, baste the meat with the juices at least three times. To see
if the beef is cooked to your liking insert a thin skewer and press out
some juices: the red, pink or clear colour will indicate to what stage the
beef has cooked.
Remove the cooked beef to a board for carving and leave it to rest for at
least 30 minutes before serving (while it is resting you can increase the
heat in the oven to finish the roast potatoes if you are serving them).
This resting period allows most of the juices which have bubbled up to the
surface of the meat to seep back into it, and the meat itself firms up to
make it easier to carve. Some of the juices will escape, though, and these
should be poured into the gravy.
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