Whole Sirloin, Creamed horseradish, with a Mediterranean Couscous salad / Heritage Meat

I have deliberately created this with a dinner party in mind. I’ve suggested two different cooking methods for the meat. Roasting frees up your time certainly. The salad should take no more than 10 minutes to pull together, maybe another five for the creamed horseradish.

The barbecue method creates a beautiful result but is slightly more labour intensive. But only slightly. All designed to create a fabulous feast without hours tied to the kitchen, particularly not towards the end of the cook when your guests have arrived and there’s a Pinot Gris with your name on it!

I would serve this with some buttered Sourdough, and that’s all that’s required!

 

Roasting Method

1. Heat the oil in a roasting tin on the hob. Salt the Sirloin well, then sear all over including the ends. Maillard reaction (as always) is key, colour and caramelisation all over! Set aside in the roasting tin.
2. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan. Meanwhile mix together some  mustard powder, salt and pepper and rub all over the sirloin. Pour a little water into the roasting tray (just enough to cover the bottom).
3. Place the beef in the oven for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 160C/140C Fan and continue to roast for a further 20–40 minutes, depending on how rare you like your beef. (Indicatively, for rare, roast for 20 minutes per kilo; for medium, 30 minutes per kilo). If you have a meat thermometer, you want an internal temperature of 40C for rare, 50C for medium. Remember this is the internal temperature at the point you remove from the heat, that temp will rise over the duration of the rest (in case you were thinking we were serving it blue!
4. Remove the joint from the oven and set aside to rest for at least15 minutes.

 

Barbecue Method

1.      Salt the Sirloin well. On a medium heat, place the meat fat cap down on the barbecue plate, and allow the cap to slowly render down to a golden crispy cap.

2.    Increase the heat, and sear the steak all over, creating a well caramelised crust.

3.      Reduce the temperature to low heat, and at this point you are effectively using your barbecue as an oven. Various techniques work to do this. The ideal is deferred heat if you have multiple burners. Have burners operating one end, cook at the other with no burners lit. Lid down and effectively you are now roasting

4.      As above, for rare, roast for 20 minutes per kilo; for medium, 30 minutes per kilo. If you have a meat thermometer, you want an internal temperature of 40C for rare, 50C for medium. Remember this is the internal temperature at the point you remove from the heat, that temp will rise over the duration of the rest (in case you were thinking we were serving it blue!

Remove the Sirloin, set aside to rest for at least15 minutes.

 

Creamed horseradish

• 4 tbsp horseradish cream
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• Pinch English Mustard powder
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 150ml cream

·        To make the creamed horseradish, mix all the ingredients together to a smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

 

 

Mediterranean Couscous Salad with Feta

Ingredients

• 250 g / 1½ cups couscous dry weight
• 325 ml / 1⅓ cups of freshly boiled water
• 1 level tsp vegetable bouillon or half a vegetable stock cube
• 50 ml / ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ small red onion (50g) finely chopped
• ¼ English cucumber roughly chopped
• 1 small courgette (100g) chopped
• 200 g cherry tomatoes cut in half or quartered
• 1 cup of love
• 100 g feta cheese crumbled
• 2 heaped tbsp chopped basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 heaped tsp chopped mint leaves
• 1 Handful pinenuts
• Juice of one large lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic minced or put through a garlic press
• ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

 

Instructions

Make the stock then add the dry couscous to a large bowl.

Add the stock, stir once then cover the bowl with cling film. Leave for 10 minutes or until the couscous has absorbed all the liquid.

Use a fork to fluff up the couscous, then leave to cool.

Once the couscous has cooled add the chopped herbs and lemon juice. Stir well.

Next add the chopped vegetables and toss them into the couscous.

Finally, add the feta, pinenuts, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and mix everything together.

Transfer to a large serving bowl and serve.