Ingredients, left to right: Fennel, Mushrooms, Streaky bacon, Tomato purée, Beef joint, Mustard powder.
A strong red, opened before food preparation even begins. This wine has a cork so probably benefits from being opened for a few hours before drinking.
The tomato purée is squirted into a small bowl. This is probably about half the tube. Mustard powder is mixed in, gradually. Using a sieve like this ensures that there are no lumps. This is easiest as a two-person operation.
The joint has been untied. A loose piece of fat from one side has been removed and placed in the roasting tin. This gets put in the oven, to melt the fat. Some fat was later poured off and used for the roast potatoes.
A cut has been made into the beef joint. All lean surfaces, including the cut, have been coated with the mixture of tomato purée and mustard. The mushrooms have been peeled and the caps separated from the stalks. The stalks have been chopped and piled into the cut joint. The bacon has been trimmed of its rind. The joint is now quite loose, because it is no longer tied up with string.
The ensemble is ready to go in the oven. The bacon has been wrapped around the coated joint. This is the same pan in which the fat was melted off the loose piece of the joint. The fatty stuff that did not melt has been removed. The mushroom caps, whole, have been put in the pan with the chopped fennel and some peeled garlic. The wrapped joint sits on top of the mushrooms.
The roast starts at a high temperature, for a short time. The bacon is falling off somewhat but this is OK.
After half an hour or so, some juices have dripped out of the joint. At this point, the joint was covered in foil and returned to the oven.
After the full cooking time, determined by weighing, plenty of juice has dripped into the pan. The mushrooms, fennel and garlic have been cooking in this juice. At this point the joint and bacon was removed, wrapped in the foil in which it was covered for cooking, and left to rest. The mushrooms, fennel and garlic were removed from the roasting tin with a slotted spoon and kept warm. The tin was then heated on the hob to reduce the juices.
Served with leeks and roast potatoes.