Winter Comfort Food......

Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate winter! I am very much an outdoorsy, sun on the face, wind in the hair, type of girl. But there is one thing that I really like about winter, and that is COMFORT FOOD. Yes that's right, I also love my food!

I thought it was time that I shared one of my more recent favourite 'Comfort Food' recipes with you, "Slow-roasted beef with beets & horseradish cream"....after my sister cooked it for me last week. This recipe at first glance seems a little involved, but I promise you that it's not as bad as it seems and that it is absolutely beautiful and well worth the effort. It is also a must for someone who grows their own beetroot such as Stacey.

SLOW ROASTED BEEF WITH BEETS & HORSERADISH CREAM

2 Large Onions

3kg piece of beef on the bone (standing rib roast)

100g butter softened

3 Tbspn Dijon Mustard

10 Sprigs Thyme

1 Tbspn Plain Flour

8 Medium Beetroot

Horse radish Cream

50g Horseradish

1 Tspn Castor Sugar

1/2 Tspn Dry Mustard

2 Tspn White Wine Vinegar

150ml Cream

Preheat oven to 230 degrees. Peel & cut onions into 6 slices each, set aside 8 of the smaller slices and put rest in centre of large baking pan.

Blend the butter, mustard & 2 sprigs of thyme until smooth. Season with salt & pepper. Wipe the meat well with paper towel, and then rub it all over with half of the mustard butter. and put fatty side up on the onions. Sprinkle the flour over the top.

Clean the beetroot but don't peel. Cut a shallow cross in the top of each beetroot and place on a resered onion ring, around the beef. Spoon 1/4 tspn of remaining mustrad butter on top of each. Reserve the unused butter. Put pan in oven and roast uncovered for 20 min. Reduce temp to 160 degrees and roast for further 30 mins per kg. Baste the beef & beets every 30 mins.

Turn oven off, put another dob of mustard butter on each beetroot, and top with sprig of thyme. Put rest of mustard butter over top of the roast. Return to oven, leave door open and rest for 15min.

To make horseradish cream, mix the horseradish, sugar, mustard and vineger. Whip the cream until you have stiff peaks, fold in other ingredients & season to taste. Serve the cream separately. Serves 7-8, so you may want to cut down on the recipe, particularly the amount of meat.

Are you also a lover of comfort food? Let me know if you love it just as much as I do, and just a quick warning....don't be shocked if you do some purple poo's the next day. It's 100% normal!