Gourmet RecipesRib Of Beef With Celeriac Purée & Red Wine Sauce

“Just for a change at Christmas time, what could be finer than the finest roast rib of Aberdeen Angus beef?”

Difficulty rating: Easy

Serves (Yield): 6

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 2.5 hrs

Special equipment: Large roasting tray

Ingredients

For the beef

• 3kg 1 x 3bone rib of Aberdeen Angus beef
• Carrot, roughly chopped
• Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 800ml water

For the celeriac purée

• 2 medium celeriac heads, washed, peeled and roughly chopped
• 150ml whipping cream
• 50g unsalted butter

For the red wine sauce

• 2 tbsp butter, unsalted
• 2 small shallots, finely sliced
• 100g button mushrooms, finely sliced
• 250ml red wine (*1)
• 350ml brown chicken stock
• 1 tarragon leaf

Method

For the beef

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Scatter the chopped carrot and onion over the bottom of the roasting tray with any beef trimmings.
3. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Rub this in well.
4. Place the beef on top of the vegetables and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
5. Pour in 600ml of the water and continue to cook for 1.5 hours.
6. Remove from the oven, leave to stand for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
7. Add the remaining water and scrape off the caramelised juices from the bottom of the pan and pass through a fine chinoise, into a saucepan and reduce by half.

For the celeriac purée

1. Cover the celeriac with water and add 1 tsp of salt. Boil until very soft, then strain through a fine sieve.
2. Press with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Heat the cream and melt the butter.
3. The ingredients are best combined whilst they are still warm.
4. Put the cream, butter and celeriac into a blender and purée until completely smooth. Season to taste. Reserve.

For the sauce

1. On a medium heat, soften the shallots in the butter for 2-3 minutes, add the mushrooms and soften for a further 2 minutes.
2. Pour in the red wine and reduce by 1⁄2. Add the stock, reserved pan juices, and continue to reduce by 1⁄2.
3. Taste, correct the seasoning and infuse the tarragon for five minutes (*2).

To serve

1. Carve the beef on the table in front of your guests and serve with the red wine sauce and the warm celeriac puree.

Chef’s notes (*)

*1 These cooking times will cook your beef to rare in the middle. By adding 30 minutes more to the cooking time and covering the beef tightly in tinfoil during the resting time you will reach medium in the middle and more well done on the end pieces.

*2 Choose a rich full-bodied wine but don’t spend more than £5. A pinch of sugar may be required depending upon the wine.