Here at Ben’s Canteen we serve British food, done well. With this in mind we’re delighted to add the British Beef Board to our Winter Dinner Menu: 35 day aged Rump Steak, Braised Oxtail and Roasted Bone Marrow with Baked Potato and Onion Cake and Sauce.
We asked our Head Chef @corkgourmetguy to tell us all about it…
The dish is a celebration of British beef and it showcases what Ben’s Canteen is all about; great ingredients treated with skill and allowed to shine.
All the beef on the board comes from Orkney, where it has been raised by generations of the same families. It is born and reared there, grass fed, outdoor all year and also finished on the island.
The animal is hung for 21 days before being shipped to our butchers in Streathham, where the rump is dry aged for a further 14 days before being cut into 8-10oz steaks for us. The dry aging process means that the fibres of the meat start to break down and it takes on a deep chocolate colour from the process.
The bone marrow is taken from the shin bones, we simply have our butcher cut them to the length we wish, then we clean the bone and roast them gently to get the best flavour from the marrow.
The oxtail is first sealed in a pan before it is deglazed with red wine and stock veg and water are added, it is allowed to cook for 6 hours before we shred the meat from the bones. We then pass the stock through muslin cloth before returning it and the shredded meat to the pan and cook very gently for a further 6 hours to really intensify the beef flavour.
The sauce is made by using the bones from the oxtail along with additional bone marrow which are first roasted in the oven and the used to make the stock. This stock is passed twice to make sure it is clear and then reduced by two thirds. We then take red wine and reduce it from 5ltrs to 500ml, this is then added to the beef stock and reduced once more by half.
The steak is cooked to order but we recommend people have it medium rare, any more than that and you lose some of the benefit of the aging process.
We serve it with a potato and roasted onion cake which is made from thinly sliced potatoes and layers of puree roasted onions, which are baked and pressed, then served on the board.
It is essential eating for any meat lover and represents the very best of British Beef on a board.
There is a great deal of work that goes into preparing this dish from a chef’s point of view but all of that work is designed to highlight the quality of the beef, because once it’s served it is done so very simply and the meat is given the chance to shine.
