Serves 6
1 sirloin of beef, weighing 6-8 lb (2.7-3.6 kg)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp flour (chestnut flour if available)
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4pt (140 ml) red wine, almost boiling
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) gas mark 7.
2. Trim off any surplus pieces of fat and lay the sirloin, skin side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush the olive oil over the meat, and allow any surplus to drip down into the roasting pan.
3. Lightly dredge the upper surface of the meat with half the flour and some salt and pepper. Put it into the top half of the oven.
4. When the meat has been seared all over, after 20-25 minutes, remove it from the oven and dredge with the rest of the flour and a little more salt and pepper.
5. Return the meat to the oven.
6. After 10 minutes, open the oven door and pour a third of the almost boiling Wine into the roasting pan. This will mix with any of the flour that has drifted into the roasting pan and browned to make the beginning of the gravy.
7. Close the oven door and continue cooking the beef for the required amount of time.
8. When the sirloin is done, remove it from the oven to a carving dish and keep it warm.
9. Pour off as much as possible of the fat in the roasting pan. Add most of the rest of the boiling Wine and stir it well to mix with the cooking juices and scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan.
10. Place the roasting pan on the stove and boil the gravy until it reduces by half.
11. Pour in the last of the Wine and boil again until thoroughly mixed and further reduced.
12. Season the gravy and pour it into a heated jug.
