Ben's beef

Beef time came around again ten days ago.

Ordered a few days prior to that, being careful to specify that I wanted all the bones left in the fore-rib and that I did not want it chined, which can result in the finished joint sagging in an unsightly way. In the event, I got three bones weighing in at 4.244kg plus around a kilo of someone else's rib bones to make gravy with.

From there proceeded into the Co-op at the bottom of the High Street, which turned out to be very trolley friendly, with a quality ramp over the threshold and space to move inside. Where I found a very grumpy middle aged lady holding forth about the absence of attendance. I think she was having trouble with the self-checkout.

Followed by a very tame wagtail outside the butcher in Manor Green Road. 

First action was to boil up the bones with some carrots and onions, straining off the liquor after about four hours. There had been good smells upstairs while this was going on.

Nibbled at the bones later: not for the squeamish, let alone veggies. The sort of thing that FIL would have enjoyed, livening up the proceedings by naming all the parts.

The liquor set overnight, underneath maybe an eighth of an inch of fat, lifted off to roux up in due course.

Too big a joint for our scales, so settled for the online convertor which said 9lbs 7oz. I consulted the various precedents and settled for three hours at 190°C, not far of Radiation Cookbook slow roast at 20 minutes to the pound. 10:00 for 13:00, but allowing a bit of flexibility at the far end. No need for the tie of ownership on this occasion: Ben (or one of his colleagues) had done enough.

In the event, oiled and into the pre-heated oven at 10:05.

At which point, BH moved into gear, knocking up something called an Apple Charlotte, which turned out rather well. She did not attempt to remove it from its tin. Something one might possibly attempt with a loose bottomed tin, perhaps just before the off, but not with this one.

A confection assembled from slices of bread and cooking apples, I thought from a Mary Berry recipe, but the dessert we had did not look much like that at reference 1. Nor did we bother with cream, which was not necessary. Not to my taste, anyway. But we did bother with custard for some.

I attended to the brick compost heap, dominated by ancient pineapple heads and banana skins. The various pineapple heads are still there, but not, for some reason, visible.

Back in the kitchen, preparations continue. This being about the point that my assistant turned up to help me with the gravy. Very well she did too, earning a modest amount of gravy dipping, with brown bread on this occasion, rather than the usual white. It was fine.

Plus mash, swede and greens.

Shortly after start of carving operations (on the blind side).

And the blind side.

On the plate. Plus the odd bottle of the red wine previously noticed at reference 2.

In due course, the Charlotte did us very well, even if I should have snapped it before getting stuck in.

Time to crack out the sealing gadget promoted by the Half Way House, as noticed at reference 3. It did very well. Not drinking in multiples of bottles sounds like a very good plan - but we have yet to see if the idea catches on in a regular way.

Proceedings livened up at this point by a lost fingernail drama. It did not turn up then, despite our best efforts on the floor, and has not turned up since. Hopefully forgotten about, rather than held against us for years and years.

As it was, the plan for non-lethal Cluedo had to be suspended.

I may have taken a little meat with my supper that same day, but otherwise there was a pause for a couple of days. The scene after the second outing being snapped above.

The cold meat was taken with potato & parsnip mash, beans and gravy. I did not notice the parsnips at the time, but they did make for an improved mash. Just the thing for the gravy. The remains being polished off on bread a few hours later.

The beef finally expired a couple of days after that.

Or at least, down to a bit of poking around with small sharp knives and gnawing. More FIL action. So all in all, eight adult portions, two children's portions and some snacking - out of the 9kg or so we started with.

Ben had, once again, done us proud.

PS 1: It helps that we actually rather like cold roast meat with boiled vegetables.

PS 2: signs of spring in the verge after the second outing. Last noticed, rather less than a year ago, at reference 5. I think it has been in flower, more or less continuously, ever since. So maybe not a sign of spring at all!

PS 3: further to the tail end of reference 6, a snap of the real thing, from a correspondent.

References

Reference 1: https://britishbakingrecipes.co.uk/mary-berry-apple-charlotte/.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/02/shoulder.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/02/sonatas.html.

Reference 4: https://bensbutchery.co.uk/.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/04/candytuft.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/02/a-good-programme.html.

Group search keys: Delft, Mauritshuis. 

Some precedents

Beef without backbone: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/04/beef-without-backbone.html. Two ribs. Half the bone had been removed. Part of the celebrations around trolley No.500.

Sirloin: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/08/sirloin.html. Two ribs. Just managed to stop the butcher taking the bones out.

New beef: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/new-beef.html. Two ribs. A first visit to Ben the Butcher. Some ties of ownership on this occasion.

Festal beef: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/09/festal-beef.html. Three ribs, much trimmed, from Waitrose. Despite which, it turned out rather well.

Beef: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/02/beef.html. Three ribs from Ben, somewhat trimmed. Also chined, despite instruction. But a good looking piece of meat with a good blanket of fat.

Trimmed beef: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/06/trimmed-beef.html. Three ribs, much trimmed, from Ginger Pig, Borough Market. Turned out pretty well.

Beef: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/08/beef.html. Three ribs, pretty much bone free. Ginger Pig, staffed for the occasion by ladies. Taken with curly kale.

On the bone: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/on-bone.html. Two ribs from Ben. Lots of bone, almost up to Florentine standards. But with all the bone, not as much meat as I was expecting. Point to watch.