A rib of beef
Since moving to the UK I have identified two meals that are unmistakably English. The first is a full English breakfast. I have never lived in a town where just about every eatery offers a full English breakfast of various quality.
A full English must have bacon, eggs (poached or fried), a good quality sausage, tomato, baked beans, mushrooms and a hash brown if possible. If you are hungry toast, black pudding, butter and jam will guarantee that you won’t need any more food, most likely that day.
The other meal is Sunday roast. Roast can be beef, lamb, pork or chicken, served with roast potatoes, usually in goose fat and there are various recipes for this, roasted vegetables, at least two kinds, lashings of gravy, mint sauce for lamb, horseradish sauce for beef, lashings of gravy and Yorkshire puddings.
Yorkshire puddings are made from a kind of pancake batter, baked in the oven to rise. I have been told they were served with gravy first to curb the appetite and make sure there was enough meat for everyone.
This weekend M wanted a rib of beef and I set out to find the perfect way of cooking it.
The first thing I did was to order the rib of beef from The Black Pig Butchers, their meat is all local and the beef comes from a farm about twenty minutes drive from here, slaughtered locally and dry aged for three weeks before being butchered on site. This means that you can get some more unusual parts and also pre order. The meat had a lovely flavor.
I wanted to make sure I had a perfectly cooked rib of beef and after quite a lot of research I think I have found the perfect way to cook it. It turns most facts upside down regarding how to cook meat and it starts with the salt and a thermometer.
Perfect cooked rib of beef
preparation time 5 minutes + 12-24 hours
cooking time 3 – 3 1/2 hours + 45 minutes resting time + 10 minutes browning. Approx 25 minutes/450g or 15.8oz
oven 150C or 302F, then 250C or 482F
serves 8-9
Ingredients
- 3 ribs of beef, about 3.5 kg or 7.7 pounds
- about 3 tbsp salt
Start the day before, get the meat out and salt it all around, rub it in and make sure you don’t miss any parts. Don’t trim off any of the fat. Leave it in the fridge over night, uncovered for at least 12 hours, 24 if possible.
The salt will draw out juices from the meat but it will also start to break it down and tenderize it.
Take the meat out from the fridge an hour before cooking to bring the meat to room temperature.
Cook it for about three hours before testing the meat with a thermometer , it should read 140C or 284F for medium, perfectly pink beef.
My joint took 3 hr and 15 minutes and then I rested it for 45 minutes. Before serving it I turned the oven on to the highest and browned the joint of beef for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it.
The beef was perfect, pink in the middle and browned on the outside. The salt had done its magic.
I did roast potatoes with sage and cranberries, to go with the meat along with a selection of vegetables and gravy.
I didn’t have time for the plating so I put a few ingredients on a plate and at least got a photo of the dinner. Everyone tucked in but there was enough meat for another dinner and of course, scraps for the very happy dogs!
Food Eat Love 
Wow, that beef has me drooling! It is cooked exactly like I love it. I don’t know that I could even eat a whole English breakfast and for sure I’d be done for the day!
hi Julie
It is almost impossible not to get a food coma even if you just had half an English breakfast! It is perfect when you are busy all day and won’t eat again until the evening but it is a very rare treat.
Glad you like the rib of beef, it is M’s favorite! 🙂
Looks nice and tasty 🙂
Yum a Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings – perhaps the biggest thing I miss food wise from the UK – looks amazing Petra 😄
Hi Laura
It is a classic! It isn’t often I make a rib of beef but it is always appreciated. I have to admit I am still getting used to Yorkshire puddings but am getting there! 🙂