Old England Traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

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 dripping

Directions

1. 1

   Combined method for cooking the Roast Beef and the Yorkshire Pudding:.

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

3. 3

   Put the joint of beef into a shallow baking tray or tin.

4. 4

   Season the meat to taste with a little salt and black pepper, and English mustard powder if using.

5. 5

   Melt half of the beef dripping and pour over the meat and seasoning.

6. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 11

    To make the Yorkshire Pudding Mixture (Batter):.

12. 12

    Sift the flour into a large bowl.

13. 13

    and add the beaten eggs into the centre of the heap of flour.

14. 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. 15

    Once all the ingredients have been beaten together leave to stand, covered by a cloth, for 40 minutes or so.

16. 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. 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. 18

    Sprinkling some English mustard powder over the top of the meat gives a great crust and a fabulous taste.