Super Sunday

MH takes the sin out of the classic roast dinner with a positively angelic roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

Maligned for their halitosis tendencies, the onions in your dripping-free MH gravy boast a life-saving CV. According to American Heart Association research, they lower cholesterol and cut your risk of heart attacks. "Phytochemicals in onions are some of the strongest in any food," says Dr Lorelei DiSogra, of the American National Cancer Institute.

Ask the man in the bloody apron for silverside beef. With only 4.2g of fat per portion, the cut halves the lard count found in a standard rib roast.

Keeping the skin on your new potatoes makes them a great source of fibre. While ensuring your personal space on crowded trains, "a high-fibre diet will also protect you against a variety of ailments, from heart disease to haemorrhoids," says Dr Dennis Burkett, cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.

Green beans are available all year round in Australia, "so you can get them fresh, which means higher vitamin C content," says nutritionist Sarah Stanner. One serving delivers 20 per cent of your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of the vitamin, which nukes free radicals to reduce your risk of clogged arteries and cancer.

Dripping-free Yorkshire puddings are up there with stomach-stapling and amputation in the weight-loss stakes. Not cooking your puds the traditional way - drowning in beef dripping - will spare you 10g of saturated fat per pudding and bring the kilojoule count down from 1013 to a mere 109.

Roast Beef
Serves 8



You will need:
2 eggs
250 millilitres skim milk
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
500g new potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp rosemary (fresh or dried)
1 kilogram silverside beef
175g plain flour
400g green beans
1 tbsp chopped chives

Plus: roasting tin, Yorkshire-pudding/muffin tin, hand blender or whisk, large pot, roasting pan, steamer

1 Hour 30 minutes
Mix the eggs, milk, salt and oil with a hand blender or whisk for three minutes. Put the mixture to one side, then liberally grease the sides and bottom of a Yorkshire pud/muffin tin with some extra vegetable oil.

Cut the spuds into bite-sized pieces. Place in a covered pot full of salted water. Gently boil the potatoes over a medium heat for seven minutes until they're just softening up, but not so mushy that they'll lose their shape during roasting. Drain the potatoes then coat with olive oil and rosemary.

1 hour 15 minutes
Preheat the oven to 290˚C. Make sure it's clean or your smoke detectors will be getting a workout. Heat a frying pan on the highest heat, then sear the beef in it. This should take about three minutes: it seals in the juices and speeds up the cooking process.

Season the beef with salt and cracked pepper, place in a heavy roasting tray, then bung it in the oven. Set the timer for 15 minutes, then get back to the paper and that glass of red that's breathing so nicely.

1 hour
When the timer sounds, turn the oven down to 210˚C and add the spuds to the tray. If you like your beef so rare that a good vet could resuscitate it, cook it for 30 minutes more (45 minutes total). If the sight of bovine blood offends your inner veggie, make it a further 40 minutes (55 minutes in total).

20 mins
Remove the roast, cover in tin foil and leave for 20 minutes. The meat will keep cooking during this time, with heat from the outer portions working towards the cooler centre. When you take the meat out, stir the spuds and move them to the oven's bottom rack. Place the oiled Yorkshire-pud/muffin tin on the top rack and preheat for seven minutes.

13 minutes
Finish off your Yorkshire pudding batter by whisking the flour into the egg and milk mixture, then pour it into the preheated tin and bake for 13 minutes. While they're baking, cut the ends from the beans and steam them in salted water over medium heat. Reduce the oven to low, toss in the chopped fresh chives and season. Slice the beef, grab the puds straight from the oven and serve the lot.

Onion gravy

You will need:
1 large onion
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp flour
250ml chicken stock

While the beef is roasting, slice the onions and fry in olive oil over a low heat. Sprinkle with salt and stir regularly until the onions brown. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir for two minutes.

Stir in the flour, then whisk in the chicken stock. Use a hand mixer or blender to blitz the mixture until all the strands of onion have been minced and your gravy's lump-free. If it's too think, add water.

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