Liam’s Caribbean Inspired Beef Roast

“Ladies in Beef challenged me to create a dish traditional beef roast dinner with a twist. A dish from the Caribbean coast of Colombia immediately came to mind from my recent trip. So I created this Caribbean beef roast . What better way to show off the quality of British grass fed beef than treating it with the time and love it deserves, low and slow until meltingly tender. British beef is amongst the most sustainable in the world (GHG equivalent CIEL 2020) and is full of essential nutrients. What’s great about this dish is you can make a big piece and shred up the leftovers for dinner the next day, goes great on tacos.” – Liam Barker, @chef.liam

Ingredients – Serves 4

1.5 kg topside of beef

Half bulb garlic cloves peeled

Small bunch of coriander

200gm shallots peeled

2 tablespoons butter

50 ml Worcestershire sauce

100 gm brown sugar

1 can coca cola

1 beef stock cube

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 small head green cabbage

6 king Edward potatoes

8 fresh small beets (if the green tops are still attached you can roast the stalks and the leaves too for the last 15 mins)

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place the garlic cloves, coriander (including stalks) and one quarter of the shallots along with a generous pinch of salt in a food processor. Puree them with a drizzle of olive oil to make it loose enough to spread easily. Rub this all over the beef topside and leave to marinate. At least 2 hours is best. Overnight is better.
2. Preheat oven to 140. When ready to cook.
3. In a large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat, brown the meat on all sides. No more oil is needed here. It’s just important to caramelise all sides well.
4. To the same pot add butter, and any of the marinade that might be left over, along with Worcestershire sauce, cola, stock cube, sugar and enough boiling water to cover the beef. Put into middle shelf of the oven for 4 hours. As time passes the liquid will evaporate. So after 2 hours turn the meat every half- hour so it cooks evenly as the sauce reduces. (This will also build a nice glaze too). After that 2 hours of cooking cut your potatoes to your desired size, don’t peel them. There’s no need to.
5. Boil a pot of water and add potatoes and beets to boil for 5 mins and drain. Allow to steam dry. At the same cut the cabbage into quarters and caramelise them, by placing them in a frying pan for 3 mins on each cut side down over a medium heat.
6. Now put the cabbage, beets, potatoes, and remaining shallots in a roasting tray give them a light coating of olive oil and sprinkle over cumin seeds. There should be around 1.5 hours of cooking left so place the veggies in the oven at the top to roast at the same time.
7. If after 4 hours the sauce isn’t reduced enough just put on the hob on medium heat until it resembles the thickness of a gravy (not too thick). During this time you can place the meat on a board to let it rest. Slice the meat and serve together with the roasted veggies and sauce. Season with a dash of salt and pepper.