This tender beef dish will take you back to another era
A testament to the ingenuity of home cooks, this recipe makes for a simple, comforting dish of wonder.
In times of financial difficulty, when the high cost of living pinches our pockets tighter than ever, it is important to find ways to make beautiful meals without breaking the bank. Frugal cooking, in its essence, is not about deprivation but about finding joy in simplicity, and making the most of what we have. It takes us back to a period when meat was precious and stretching it with a savoury stuffing was both an art and a necessity.
One favourite from my childhood was “beef olive”. I was intrigued as much by the name as by the makeup of the delicious stuffing. A testament to the ingenuity of home cooks, some believe that they are called “olives” because they look like a stuffed olive, while many consider the name is a result of simple mispronunciation of “alloes” that has stuck.
Alloes of beef date from the late 15th century and were described as beef rolls stuffed with herbs and onions. Alouette is the French word for lark. They were named this because the small beef parcels looked like small birds, such as larks.
Regardless, they are a simple dish of wonder – while cheaper slices of beef can be used from the brisket or the chuck tail, the stuffing can be adjusted to suit whatever you might have to use up, whether it be mushrooms, peppers, carrots, celery or nuts, and any herbs you happen to have to hand. This is the food of another era, a dish that takes you back to a time when the world moved more slowly, and meals were crafted with care.
I like to follow up this dish with junket for dessert, a delicate, custard-like sweet.
Beef olives (rolled beef)
Ingredients:
- 700-800g rump or topside steak (8 thin slices)
- 400ml beef stock
- 300ml of red wine, reduced by half to 150ml
- 100g streaky bacon, diced
- 300g minced pork
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
- 25g breadcrumbs
- 50g shredded suet (if you can’t find it try Copha)
- 100g oatmeal
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 1 egg, beaten
- Handful sage, finely chopped
- Handful parsley, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 30g plain flour
- 100ml olive oil
- 2 onions, peeled and sliced
- 2 bunches Dutch carrots
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 165C. Using a mallet or rolling pin, flatten the slices of beef to approximately 3-5mm, halving, if required, into pieces roughly 12cm x 15cm.
- Heat 20ml of olive oil in a small pan over a medium heat, add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until tender and slightly translucent. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- In a large bowl combine the mince with the diced bacon, add the suet (or Copha), breadcrumbs, oatmeal, lemon zest, sage, parsley, and the cooked onion and garlic with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix until well combined, binding with the egg.
- Shape the mixture into “sausages”, and place onto each slice of beef. Roll up each slice of beef around the stuffing, tying with string to secure. Roll each beef olive in flour, patting off the excess.
- To cook, heat 50ml olive oil in a heavy based casserole dish and, when smoking, carefully add the beef olives. Allow to caramelise to a rich mahogany, rolling so that each side is evenly coloured. Remove the beef olives and reserve.
- Add the sliced onions to the casserole and cook for 6-8 minutes, allowing them to caramelise. Deglaze with the reduced red wine, before adding the stock and bringing to the boil. Return the beef olives to the pan, cover with a lid and place on the oven to cook gently for approximately 90 minutes until tender. Allow to cool slightly before carefully removing the beef olives to a clean plate.
- Heat 30ml of olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a high heat and fry the carrots for 10-12 minutes. Return the casserole to the heat to reduce the sauce to a rich coating consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly, before returning the beef olives and adding the roasted carrots.
- Cook on the stove for a further 18-20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld.
- Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes and some charred or steamed greens.
Serves 4
