Shortwood Farm’s roast sirloin with rosemary roasties and red cabbage recipe.

Ingredients

For your roast beef:

• 1kg boned and rolled Hereford sirloin, removed from the fridge an hour before cooking
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 head garlic, sliced through the waist

For your rosemary roasties:

• 1.5kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and halved
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1tbsp flaky salt
• 3tbsp rapeseed oil

For your red cabbage:

• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 70g prunes
• 1 orange, juice and zest
• 1 small red cabbage (or half a large cabbage), finely sliced
• 200ml red wine or port
• 250ml chicken stock
• 50g red wine vinegar
• 50g brown sugar

For your gravy:

• 1tbsp butter
• 1tbsp flour
• 1tbsp whole grain mustard
• 300ml beef stock

To serve:

• Roast carrots, boiled sprouts and pigs in blankets

Method

**Top Tip: The red cabbage can be made a couple of days in advance or even longer and frozen, which helps free up hob space and cooking time on the big day!**

Begin by making your red cabbage.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan. Once hot, add the onion with a pinch of salt and the whole spices. Sweat for 5 minutes until softened, before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cover with a lid and simmer for an hour, then remove the lid and simmer for another hour or so. Most of the liquid should have reduced, leaving a nice glazed, saucy cabbage.

For your beautiful roast beef, preheat the oven to 240ºC, fan 220ºC, gas 9. Season the beef all over with plenty of salt and pepper, then place it in a roasting tray with the chopped onion, garlic, rosemary sprigs, and 200ml water, and pop it into the oven. After 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 180ºC, fan 160ºC, gas 4 and cook for a further 40-45 minutes for a medium rare finish.

Moving on to your potatoes, cook them in salted boiling water for 10 minutes, then strain and shake in the colander to rough them up a little – this will give you lovely crispy bits. Once the oven temperature has reduced, pour the oil into a large oven tray and heat for 5 minutes. Finely chop the rosemary needles and grind together with the salt in a pestle and mortar to create a lovely green salt. Gently tumble the potatoes into the hot oil, turning with a spatula to coat. Sprinkle over most of the seasoning and roast for 50 minutes to an hour, turning halfway through.

Once your Hereford sirloin has had its cooking time, remove the joint from the oven onto a plate or board, cover with foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime you can prepare your gravy and other vegetables.

To make your gravy, carefully strain the liquid from the beef tray into a jug and top up with the 300ml beef stock. Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour to form a paste. Whisk in the stock slowly to create a smooth gravy, then stir in the mustard and season with plenty of salt and black pepper.

To serve, carve the beef and accompany with the red cabbage, rosemary roasties and gravy, along with any other festive trimmings.

Recipe & Images: Pollyanna Coupland OBO Legges Farmshop