Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, Mashed Potatoes and Red Wine Gravy

This meal is a childhood favourite of mine. We had this at my Grandma's house for family dinners and I remember it very fondly. Unfortunately I had not had it in a very long time since my Grandma usually makes ham or turkey instead nowadays.

The reason why I remebered this dish and wanted to make it was because I had rented Gordon Ramsay's book 'Sunday Lunch' from the library and he has a recipe for this very meal in the book. Most of the recipe is pretty basic, so I didn't need to modify it too much. I used Anthony Bourdain's 'Les Halles Cookbook' for inspiration for the mashed potatoes.

It turned out better then I could ever have hoped. I had some help from Martin and Dan for the Gravy and Mashed Potatoes...because let's face it, I'm terrible at multitasking when I cook! haha
The roast beef was so tender and perfectly cooked that you hardly even needed a knife! The yorkshires were exactly as I remembered them and I ate far too many. And for once in my life the homemade gravy actually tasted good! It might need a bit more tweaking to be perfect though ;)

Make sure you read all the directions before you begin cooking, as you need to do a lot of multitasking for this meal.

Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, Mashed Potatoes and Red Wine Gravy
Serves 4-6, Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's 'Sunday Lunch' and Anthony Bourdain's 'Les Halles'
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
1kg rib of beef, with bone
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 tsp of flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
300ml milk (I used 1%)
12 tsp canola oil
4 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and slighly crushed
1 large red onion, sliced
3 plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 bottle of red wine
1 litre of beef stock
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
6 potatoes, rinsed and cut into small pieces with skin on
120ml of cream (I used 18%)
5 tbsp of butter (I used salted)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 395F. Season the beef and sear it in a hot oven safe pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil to brown the beef. Transfer the beef to the oven and cook for 45 minutes for medium or 35 minutes for rare.
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl and add eggs and half of the milk and mix until smooth. Add remaining milk and mix and leave to rest.
3. Once the beef is cooked transfer to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to rest for 15-20 minutes.
4. Increase the oven temperature to 450F. Put 1 tsp of canola oil into each section of the muffin trays and put into oven to heat the oil.
5. When the oil is hot take the trays out of the oven and fill each section three-quarters full (It should sizzle a bit). Put trays back into oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Do not open the oven until the time is up!!!
6. While the yorkshires are cooking take the fat and brown bits from the roast pan and put in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add thyme, garlic, onions,and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in wine and bring to a simmer. Crush tomatoes with a potato masher to get the flavours out. Pour in stock and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced by half. Put the gravy through a seive and press the vegetables to get all the flavours out. Bring gravy back to a boil. In another pan heat up the butter and add flour to make a roux. Add roux to gravy to help thicken.
7. Also while the yorkshires and gravy are cooking bring a pot of water with the potatoes to boil. When potatoes are cooked drain them and put them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes (skin on!!) and add the cream and butter. Season to taste.