I don’t normally like oysters but my mother introduced me to smoked oysters and these are a revelation – richly flavoursome as well as being very convenient (you just open the tin), they give the beef an extra dimension.

Recipe for summery smoked oyster-stuffed beef with tzaziki

for six

• 3 lb/about 1½ kg rib of beef

  

• 1 tin smoked oysters

• 1 banana shallot – peeled and chopped
• big bunch of fresh parsley- chopped
• lemon salt and Indonesian black pepper
• 200g/7 oz tub tzatziki
• 80ml/⅓ cup olive oil
• 500g/1 lb 2 oz baby new potatoes
• couple of bunches of spring onions (about 375g) – roughly chopped to include about an inch of the green
• 250g/8 oz frozen petits pois

1. heat the oven to 220°C (use the roasting oven of the aga obviously)
2. roughly chop the oysters including the oil they are in and add the parsley and the shallot
3. make a few longish (2″/4 cm) cuts about an inch (couple of cm) deep and stuff the cuts with the oyster mix
4. if you have any mixture left add it to a little olive oil and salt and pepper and massage the meat with the oil
5. cook the meat for about half an hour (take care not to overcook – if it’s thin then it will cook more quickly)
6. take it out, cover with foil and leave for about 15 minutes.

MEANWHILE

1. hopefully you will have bought baby new potatoes which are not much more than an inch and a half (3 cm) long, but if you haven’t, clean them (very quick if you use a prep-a-lot) cut them all to be about this size and the same size.
2. par boil for ten minutes maximum, drain
3. in a medium to large saucepan put the rest of the olive oil and fry the potatoes and spring onions for about five minutes
4. add the peas (straight from the freezer)