Roast Beef with Tomato Gravy

Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).

Peel the onions and boil them in unsalted water for fifteen minutes, then drain them.

Smear the beef all over with oil or beef dripping, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

Lay it in a roasting pan with the boiled onions, the whole, unpeeled garlic cloves, the tomatoes, and the bay leaves.

Roast for twenty minutes.

Decrease the oven temperature to 350F (180C) and continue roasting for a further ten minutes per pound (500g).

When the beef is done, remove from its pan, then set it aside somewhere warm, lightly covered with aluminum foil to keep it warm while it rests and while you make the tomato gravy.

(If you are roasting potatoes to accompany this, now is the time to take them out, put them in another dish, and continue roasting until crisp and golden.)

Squash the onions, tomatoes, and garlic in the pan with the back of a wooden spoon.

Dust the flour on top and place the pan and its contents over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until the flour browns a little.

Pour in the Madeira and let it bubble a while, then add the stock and the mustards, stirring and scraping at the stuck-on roasting juices.

Season, then leave to simmer, with the occasional stir, for ten to fifteen minutes (any longer and the gravy will lose much of its character).

Check the seasoning and push through a coarse sieve into a warm pitcherit really must be warm.

Serve with the beef.