Standing Rib Roast with Merlot Sauce and Horseradish Cream

Not for the faint hearted (or the vego ;) this melt in your mouth classic combination of tender beef, red wine and horseradish really is a match made in heaven, or hell, depending on how you want to look at it.  Me.....I choose heaven!

Serves 6-8

You will need:

21/2 kg standing rib roast
1 bottle of merlot (not your best but one that you would definitely drink)
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
12 thyme sprigs
40 gm of unsalted butter, cubed
Sea salt and cracked pepper
Olive oil for frying

For the Horseradish Cream:

2 tbs of pickled horseradish
2 tbs of sour cream (light if you wish)
1 tsp of grated lemon zest
1 tbs of chopped fresh parsley
Paprika for sprinkling
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.  Heat a large heavy based frying pan to nice and hot, season the beef generously with sea salt and pepper and sear the meat well on all sides.  Place in a roasting pan and bake for approx 1 hour and ten minutes for medium rare.

To make the sauce, in the same pan that the beef was in, add a little olive oil and lightly fry the onion, carrot, thyme sprigs and celery until tender. Pour in the bottle of merlot, bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer.  A splatter guard is useful here!  Allow the wine to reduce by approx 2/3, this may take up to half an hour.  When the sauce has reduced, pour through a seive and discard the vegies.  Put the remaining sauce in a pan and bring back to a simmer.  Whisk the butter in a piece at a time until you get a lovely rich, glossy sauce.

In a bowl, combine the horseradish, sour cream, lemon and parsley.  Mix well, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with the paprika and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.  Refrigerate until needed.

When the 1 hour and 10 minutes is up, remove the beef from the oven and cover loosely with foil.  Allow to rest for at least half an hour before slicing into thick slices*.  Pour the sauce in a jug and drizzle a little over before serving.  I served this with rosemary and sea salt roast potatoes and a roasted beetroot and goats cheese salad, recipes to follow!

*  You may have heard it before but resting the meat for that length of time is essential if you want it juicy and tender.  All the juices flow back into the meat which in turn continues the cooking process and the meat will actually be hotter in the centre than it was when you first pulled it out of the oven.  That is a fact!