Sophie's Sirloin Steak

Many thanks to Sophie Perks for sending us some mouthwatering beef recipes that she used when cooking our beef. 

Braised Exmoor Beef

At the launch of #EatExmoor on 7th February, top chef Ian Jarmarkier cooked some of our Devon shin of beef in a cookery demonstration.
Everyone agreed it was absolutely delicious. Thanks, Ian!
Streamcombe Cookery School, Dulverton, TA22 9SA. Tel: 01398 322873
www.streamcombecookery.co.uk

Exmoor Beast Beef

You can slow cook this recipe, too, if you are going to be out for several hours.

Thai stir-fried minced beef with chilli and basil

Thank you very much to Suzanne Barnes, our new neighbour, for this recipe, which she made for her family using West Ilkerton minced beef. Bizarrely, although Suzanne and her family live only half a mile away at The Homestead we have never met because the Covid-19 'lockdown' happened just after they moved in. However, we're in touch via Facebook and have delivered beef boxes to her door!

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 15 minutes

This recipe is for 2 people

Ann Mold's Beef Rendang

Ann Mold (a long-standing friend of ours who was born and raised in Lynton, where her father was the GP for many years) cooked this a couple of years ago at her partner Andrew's birthday party. She learned how to make it when she was working in Indonesia, and we love it so much that (with her permission!) we're sharing it with you. 

The photo is of a 'socially distanced' meal we had here at West Ilkerton with Ann and Andrew a few nights ago (July 2020). She adapted some of the ingredients (adaptation in brackets) because she had to buy everything from Lynton and some of the more specialised ingredients weren't available.

We have found that a good place to buy herbs and spices online is www.BuyWholefoodsOnline.co.uk

Easy Peasy Roast Silverside or Topside

You'll find lots of complicated recipes for roast beef that involve (for instance) making a trivet of roasted vegetables in the bottom of the roasting pan and then sieving them into the gravy, but if time is short and you want to keep washing up to a minimum, this is how we cook our roasts at West Ilkerton. Why make good meat complicated?

The photos are of a run-of-the-mill quick Sunday roast silverside for the family (it was 1.45 kg uncooked) with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes, gravy and no Yorkshire puddings. You can easily make a more impressive meal by adding one or two more vegetables of a different colour and Yorkshire puddings.

(Some people like topside because it's a bit more tender than silverside and usually has more fat running through it, but we love silverside because it gives a tender, lean, meaty roast if cooked rare to medium rare. If overcooked, however, it can lose its tenderness. If you accidentally overcook the meat, slice it as thinly as you can when carving.)

Sam's BBQ Brisket

This is a simply delicious way of cooking a brisket joint, resulting in gorgeous flaky beef that can goes in a bun perfectly. It's a great alternative to burgers for a BBQ, and works equally well as a winter treat with baked potatoes - or anything, really!

Our friend Sam Boyles from Higher Hall Farm, Brayford, gave me the recipe and supplied the photo. 

I didn't try out this recipe for ages as the ingredients for the hot BBQ sauce seemed extraordinary, but they really work well together! There are no rules, and you can alter the ingredients to to suit your taste. For instance, I don't put vinegar in, and I experiment with different herbs and spices. For parties I do several different sauces, from plain to hot and spicy, so all tastes are catered for. The drained sauce can be frozen for use in the future, and gets better and better each time.

This also works well with slow roast fore-rib or shin.

The meat can be prepared early and is just as delicious cold.