Fragrant feather blade beef with carrots and parsnips
Here, beef is slow cooked in a savoury, spicy sauce in the oven before being served with chargrilled, marinated carrots and parsnips.
Ingredients
For the beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg/2lb 4oz feather blade beef
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 garlic bulbs, cut in half
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 star anise
- 1 litre/1¾ pint beef stock
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the carrots and parsnips
- 3 young heritage carrots, peeled and left whole
- 3 young parsnips, peeled and left whole
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp minced fresh root ginger
- ¼ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- salt
- 1 tbsp snipped fresh chives, to serve
Method
To make the beef, preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Heat the oil in a casserole, season the beef well and cook in the pan until coloured all over. Remove from the pan.
Sweat the onion, garlic bulbs and spices in the casserole for 10 minutes. Add the stock, soy sauce and honey and add the beef back in. Cook in the oven for around 3½ hours until the beef is tender.
To make the carrots and parsnips, cook them in a saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, ginger and five-spice powder in a large bowl and add the cooked carrots and parsnips. Mix and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
Heat a griddle pan on high heat, and char the vegetables for 2 minutes all over.
To serve, toss the carrots and parsnips in the chives and serve with the beef and some of the cooking liquor.
