Paupiette of Beef cooked in a Sauce of Ale

Serves 4 in 1.0 Hour, 30 Minutes

This is a dish warming and rich with it's roots in the last century commonly called Beef Olives but I don't see or taste olives.

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Method

First of all make up the stuffing, to do this finely chop the bacon, onion, celery, leek and onion. Mix together with the breadcrumbs, pork and thyme. Mix these ingredients thoroughly and add a little water if the mixture is too dry. Don't forget to season with a salt and pepper.

Next lay out the first rump steak between two sheets of cling film and beat with a steak hammer or if you don't have one use a rolling pin. Beat the meat to a thickness of about 5mm and a rectangular shape of approximately 11cm x 18cm.

Do this to all four steaks then season with salt and pepper.

Take the stuffing and roll out to a sausage shape. Cut the roll into widths that will fit across the steak. Roll up the steak s around the stuffing and secure with cocktail sticks.

Heat up a little olive oil in a frying pan and seal the paupiettes all over. Transfer to an ovenproof dish pour in enough beef stock and ale to half cover the paupiettes.

Cover with foil and cook in the oven at 165ÂșC for 20 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven, take off the cover and check that the meat is firm and any juices that run out of the meat are clear.

Take the paupiettes out of the dish and keep warm on a plate. Drain off the cooking juices into a saucepan, stir in the tomato puree and the rest of the ale. Bring to the boil and thick with cornflour. Boil up and allow to reduce and thicken.

Taste then season with salt and pepper if necessary. Should the sauce have a bitter taste then sweeten with brown sugar. This does depend on the ale that you are using. Lastly add the thyme.

To serve remove the cocktail sticks from the paupiettes then cut them in half on the slant. Arrange in the centre of warmed plates and spoon the sauce over them. Serve with roasted parsnips, cabbage and mashed potatoes.

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