Traditional roast beef with gravy

Ingredients

• Large rolled beef roast You can buy these pre-rolled from most butchers
• 2 tbsps Olive oil
• 2 tbsps Flour
• 2 tsps Mustard powder
• 1 tsp Cracked black pepper
• 1-2 Sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tsp Thyme, dried or fresh
• 1 pinch Sea salt
• 1/4 cup Red wine
• 1/2 cup Stock
• 1 tsp Cornflour, if necessary

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200*.
2. Mix the flour, mustard powder and cracked black pepper together in a small bowl.
3. Pat all over the rolled roast until well covered.
4. Push springs of rosemary into the roast (use a knife to help push them in if they aren’t very woody).
5. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
6. Add the roast to the pan and sear well on all sides.  You want the meat to caramelize and brown well all over.
7. Remove roast from flying pan.
8. Pour remaining oil into baking tray, or if you’re concerned about splashes, spray a bit of oil into an oven bag.
9. Sit the roast with the fatty side up in the baking tray, or inside the oven bag then sitting in the tray.
10. Sprinkle the roast with thyme and sea salt.
11. Bake in the oven until cooked to your preference.
12. About an hour before finishing, add chopped vegetables of your choice to the pan.  Toss slightly in the pan juices.  Return the pan to the oven.
13. Once the meat is cooked, remove from the oven and the pan.  Cover with alfoil and allow to rest for about 30 minutes.  Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl and cover with alfoil to keep warm.
14. You should have a reasonable amount of fat and pan juices left in the baking tray.  Scrape them up off the bottom and pour into a small saucepan.
15. Add the red wine and bring the saucepan up to a boil, reducing the liquid to about half.
16. Add the stock (and any herbs if you desire).  Boil off until gravy starts to thicken.  If you’re impatient like me, mix the cornflour with a little water and add to the saucepan.  This will aid the thickening process.
17. Serve thick slices of the roast with vegetables and drizzle with gravy.  If there’s gravy left over, I love to use it on roast beef sandwiches the next day…but that could just be me!