Roast Silverside Beef, with a Parsnip and Onion Gravy

 The joint was sealed on all sides in a flat-lidded pan in some sunflower oil. Once browned, the joint was put into a lidded casserole dish with about 300 mls of water, and the dish was put into an oven preheated to 190 deg C, on the middle shelf.

The joint was  900g in weight, so the cooking time was about 80 minutes (25 minutes per 500g, plus another 25 minutes is the basic formula). You can judge by eye how the joint is progressing. The final twenty minutes were spent unlidded, in order to further brown the joint.

The joint can be cut manually into slices with a large sharp knife once it has cooled.

The gravy was made with parsnips, turnip, celery and onion, all diced, and cooked in boiling water for about half an hour, after which the ingredients were mashed. They continued to cook for a further half an hour. Then I added a pinch of paprika, a pinch of both Rosemary and Thyme, and some beef stock.

I blended the whole mixture with a hand electric mixer. Once the roast was complete, I added the juices from the casserole dish to the pan with the gravy, and simmered the mixture for fifteen minutes under glass. Mmm! A beautiful gravy.

Served with boiled potatoes and carrots.