Ingredients
1. About 1.5kg of Your preferred cut of beef for roasting I used tenderloin (because target audience don't like fats) but I usually prefer fatter cuts )2. A handful of Button mushrooms
3. One white onion
4. Butter
5. Fresh cream
6. Springs of Rosemary
7. Springs of Thyme
8. Salt and pepper
9. White wine vinegar / white wine
10. Chicken/beef stock
For the meat
1. Rub the surface of the roast generously with freshly crushed black pepper and salt.
2. With a butchers twine ( 100% cotton strings works too, make sure there is no polyester in it) tie the meat with a few springs of Rosemary and thyme tightly into a compact roll.
3. Leave the steak to stand for 30mins till it reaches about room temperature ( if you are using frozen meat, make sure you plan ahead to ensure the meat is fully thawed out at the core before you start cooking!)
4. (it helps to make sure that the steak is as dry as it can be on the surface before searing! Else u will end up steaming it) I used a paper towel to pad dry the surface)
5. Preheat a pan and keep heat on high to medium high, drizzle a little olive oil and bring it up to just before smoking, sear the beef on all sides to start off the crust formation and sealing. The juice in. ( you want that loud sizzling sound when your beef touches the pan. If not. The pan is not hot enough for searing!)
6. Remove the beef and leave it aside . Preheat oven to 180'C
7.Do not discard the caramelized meat juices ( brown bits) left after the searing you will need them for the sauce)
For The Sauce
1. In the same pan used for searing the beef, melt a little butter. Add finely diced onions and sauté until soft.
2. Add in a little white wine vinegar/ white wine and bring it to a boil, scraping all the nice brown bits from the searing into the mix
3. Add into the sliced mushrooms and continue cooking until soft.
4. Add in a little fresh cream followed by chicken/ beef stock and cook until slightly ticken. Salt and pepper to taste.
For The Roasting
1. Pour the mushroom sauce into a deep baking/ roasting pan
2. Place the beef right ontop of the sauce and send it into the oven.
3. Reduce heat to 160'C. Cooking time depends on weight of your roast. For a 1.5kg chunk I used 45 mins.
4. 5 mins before the planned time is up. Check the core temperature with a meat thermometer. Around 55'C for medium rare and 60'C for medium. ( remember the meat continues cooking and core temperature rises by 3 to 5'c even after you pull it out of the oven . So for medium rare it's safe to pull it out around 52'C and medium around 57'C.)
5. Wrap the beef tightly in a aluminum foil and allow it to rest for at least 15 mins before cutting ( if you cut into it now, you loose all the yummy juices)
6. Pour the sauce back into a sauce pan from the baking pan, bring it to a slow boil and add a lobe of cold butter to the sauce and allow it to melt stirring continuously. At this point you might opt to add a little more stock / cream to the mix of the sauce is too thick.
To serve
1. Slice the beef to desired thickness
2. Scoop a generous amount of sauce on a plate and place roast beef ontop.
3. Sides to serve with ( I used sautéed boiled potatoes and green peas) you can use anything from mashed potatoes to string means or salads.