Celebrating Great British beef

Beef, leek & swede Cumberland pie

NEW this month on our ‘foodie calendar’ is a Great British Beef Week, which runs from April 23-30. The aim is to celebrate the “iconic” flavours and versatility of British beef and the sustainable practices of beef farmers. 

Thankfully, the National Beef Association website – nationalbeefassociation.com –
has some interesting recipes using every cut of beef imaginable…
so we offer you two of them. 

Oxtail-stuffed Doughnuts and Blue Cheese Sauce
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Oxtail-stuffed Doughnuts and Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

  • Oxtail

  • 1kg oxtail

  • 2 carrots, finely diced

  • 1 onion, finely diced

  • Thyme, 8 sprigs

  • Garlic, 5 cloves

  • Celery: one stick, finely diced

  • Bay leaf x 3

  • Red wine x 250ml

  • Beef stock 

  • 1 litre Henderson’s Relish 50ml

  • Oil 50ml 

  • Doughnuts

  • 250g bread flour 

  • 30g caster sugar 

  • 7.5g yeast

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 70g butter

  • 75g milk


  • Blue Cheese Sauce

  • 100g stilton; 200ml white wine

  • 400ml cream

  • 1 shallot finely chopped

  • 1 thyme

  • 1 garlic clove

  • 20g butter 

Method


  • Oxtail
  • In a heavy base pan, heat oil. Season oxtail and brown off.
  • Add chopped vegetables, herbs and garlic, brown off. 
  • Deglaze with wine.
  • Add Hendersons and stock.
  • Place in preheated oven @ 160 degrees, cook for 2-3 hours until meat falls off the bone.
  • Remove meat from bones and reduce on stove until reduced and chill. 
  • Doughnuts
  • Weigh out all dry ingredients and mix in a mixer with dough hook. 
  • If using instant yeast, do not activate it. Add warm milk and eggs for eight minutes.
  • Slowly add room-temperature butter, and mix on high speed for four minutes.
  • Cover and proof until doubled in size. Knock back and stuff with a large spoon of oxtail mix, proof on a floured tray, leave to double in size.
  • Cook on 180 degrees oil for two to three mins each side.
  • Place in oven on 160 degrees for 10 min or until inside reaches 75 degrees.
  • Blue Cheese Sauce
  • Melt butter and cook shallot until soft, add the garlic. 
  • Deglaze with wine.
  • Add cream and reduce by half.
  • In blender blend with stilton.
  • To Plate
  • Remove dough from oven. On a cooling rack, pour over blue cheese sauce.
  • Place on plate and you’re ready to go.
Salad of beef tongue, green vegetables, wild garlic vinaigrette
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Salad of beef tongue, green vegetables, wild garlic vinaigrette

Servings

4

servings

Ingredients

  • 320g of finely sliced cooked beef tongue

  • 100g of wild garlic leaves

  • 100g of olive oil

  • 1 bunch of watercress

  • 1 bunch of green asparagus

  • 1 small head of broccoli

  • Juice of 1 lemon 

  • 4 small spring radish

  • 40g parmesan shavings

Directions

  • Prepare the wild garlic puree: Blanche the wild garlic leaves in boiling water and refresh by dipping in cold water. Remove excess water. Mix the olive oil with the wild garlic and pass through a fine sieve. Put aside.
  • Prepare a vinaigrette with the lemon juice, the wild garlic puree and the wild garlic oil.
  • Prepare the vegetables: Using a mandolin or a grater, finely grate the raw broccoli florets into rice-sized pieces. Wash the watercress and remove the excess water. Blanche the green asparagus in salted boiling water for 10 minutes and refresh in iced cold water. Slice each asparagus long ways in four.
  • To finish: Use a plate for each person and spoon some of the wild garlic vinaigrette onto the centre of each plate. Arrange slices of beef tongue on each plate.  Sprinkle the broccoli over the beef. Place the green asparagus in a bowl and toss in a little of the vinaigrette until coated. Arrange nicely on the top of the meat.
    Decorate with some of the watercress and parmesan shavings. Finish by spooning a little more of the vinaigrette.
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