Meat mains
Warm roast beef with a salad of new potatoes, watercress and wasabi
This is an elegant and refreshingly different way to serve beef, setting the juicy succulence of the meat against a fresh, peppery potato salad. Made from a relative of watercress, wasabi is a fiery, spicy paste which is beautifully balanced here by the coolness of crème fraîche. If it's your first time using it, go easy to start with and check the taste before adding more.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg beef roasting joint
- olive oil
- 2 bunches watercress
- 125g crème fraîche, mixed with a little wasabi paste, to taste
- 600g new potatoes, halved
- 250g flat beans, sliced
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 240°C/Gas 9. Brush the beef with olive oil and generously season.
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Step 2
Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 190°C/Gas 5 for 15 minutes per 450g for rare. Add an extra 15 minutes to the total cooking time for medium-rare. Leave the meat to rest.
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Step 3
Finely chop half a bunch of watercress and add it to the wasabi/crème fraiche mixture to make a thick green sauce for the salad. Chill.
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Step 4
Bring salted water to the boil and add the cleaned new potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes and test, then add the beans to the same pan for the final 5 minutes of boiling time. Drain and allow to cool a little.
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Step 5
Divide the remaining watercress between the plates, spoon the wasabi cream over, top with mixed potatoes and beans, and lastly thin slices of the warm beef.
