Grey meat... brown peas... black yorkshire pudding... come to think of it there wasn't anything on the plate was actually the colour that it was suppost to be!!!

love ya though mum!!!

Dave

Like Dave I think that topside, and its neighbour silverside, lend themselves best to pot roasting, as they just end up dry, tough and shrunken if roasted in the conventional manner.

I particularly like this recipe for Pot-roasted Beef in Red Wine with Red Onion Marmalade from Delia - it's in her Winter Collection, but if you Google "Delia pot roasted beef" the link to the recipe on her website should come out at the top of the list.

This is a really hearty autumn/winter dish, and goes beautifully with potato and celeriac mash and sautéed greens.

Tip: I think you can get away with omitting the red onion marmalade, and the dish won't suffer for it, but if you decide to try it, fry the red onions really slowly with a lid on the pan for super sweetness, or add a little brown sugar to the onions.

Last edited by john_lee (Thu 06 Nov 08 3:00am)

Nice one Dave, top advice.

You could of saved me from disaster 

I also like Shamrocks idea of the wine bath 

I might combine a couple of your ideas and see what happens 

Thanks guys for some great help 

Hi guys...

It may or may not interest you, but I thought that it was relevent for this thread!

I have just gone through my notes and compliled a roasted meat cooking times chart for beef, pork,chicken and lamb... and posted it on foodwise!!! in the cooks tips section...

Thought it may be useful!

All the best

Keep Cookin'

Dave B

Just a word of warning for anyone thinking of making the Slow Roasted Topside of Beef with Porcini Mushrooms Red Wine Sauce and Polenta in post 20 of this thread. That recipe seems to be identical to the one I found on the Waitrose website for Slow Roasted Topside of Beef with Porcini Mushrooms, except that the Waitrose one says to use 15g porcini, and the one typed out here says 150g. I think this must be a scribal error when the recipe was copied over; 150g would be masses! and very expensive.

Anyway, here's the original recipe from Waitrose site (I'm getting a message saying I can't post a link in this forum). It was delicious, and only needs the smaller amount (just 15g) of porcini:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
800g Aberdeen Angus topside of beef
2 red onions, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tbsp Waitrose tomato purée
1 Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Bouquet Garni For Meat
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
500ml red wine
15g Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients Porcini Mushrooms
2 tbsp cornflour
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, gas mark 3. Heat half the oil in a flameproof casserole dish and brown the topside quickly in the hot oil, turning regularly. Remove from the dish.

2. Heat the remaining oil in the casserole dish and lightly sauté the onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes until softened. Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

3. Add 500ml cold water and all the remaining ingredients except the cornflour and bring to the boil. Return the beef to the pan, cover and place in the oven for 3-3½ hours.

4. When ready to serve, remove the beef from the pan and place onto a serving dish. Cover with kitchen foil and keep warm.

5. Mix the cornflour to a paste with a little cold water and stir into the red wine sauce. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute on the hob until thickened. Season, and serve the sauce spooned over slices of the beef, with creamy polenta and green beans.