Roast Beef on Potato Gratin with Bacon Beans

First start with the sauce (a good sauce takes 7/8 hours!) Sear the beef bones and oxtail with lard until they turn brown. Then add the onions and roast them also until dark brown. Then add the remaining vegetables and roast with 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. As soon as a roast has formed on the bottom, start adding the 2 bottles of wine piece by piece and let them reduce. When both bottles are used up and the sauce has reduced, fill up with water until the bones are covered, add laurels, peppercorns and juniper and let simmer gently for at least 4 hours (longer if possible) at about 60 degrees . Half an hour before serving, season with salt and pepper and the sprig of rosemary, dilute a little with water depending on the consistency, or thicken with a little starch.

Prepare the roast beef for 1 - 2 days: wash it off briefly and pat dry. Rub in good olive oil, season with salt and pepper and then cover with slices of 2 cloves of garlic. Press the rosemary and thyme sprigs on each side. Then wrap tightly in cling film and leave to rest in the refrigerator. Take out of the refrigerator 2 hours before frying to bring the meat to room temperature. Remove the herbs and garlic slices before frying. Then fry the meat in lard for about 15 seconds on each side so that the pores close. Then sauté the herbs and garlic briefly in the hot pan and then put them back on the roast beef. Smoke the meat on a grid, over a metal bowl, at 90 degrees in the smoker. Tip: The meat must never lie in its own juice. It must be able to lie indirectly on a grillage (not directly on the grillage), separated from the heat by a sheet metal dish / casserole dish. It makes sense to use a roasting thermometer so that you can target the core temperature of approx. 55 degrees. Then the meat is nice pink and just before medium. The cooking time is then approx. 180 minutes, but it depends on the outside temperature. After reaching the core temperature, cover the meat with aluminum foil on the wire rack and let it rest on its side for about 10 minutes. So that the meat juice can be distributed throughout the whole piece.

The preparation of the potato gratin is started approx. 1 hour before serving. Peel the potatoes and cut into slices approx. 5 mm thick. Mix with a little olive oil, milk and cream in a large saucepan. If necessary, add a little milk / cream. Then season the whole thing with salt, pepper and nutmeg and the rosemary sprigs (you can also cook them later). In the meantime, heat the oven to 145 degrees. Rub the baking dish with a halved clove of garlic and then grease it with a little butter. When the mixture is seasoned, pour it into the mold and cook it in the oven at a constant 145 degrees for about 45 minutes. At the end, test the degree of doneness of the gratin with a spoon, sprinkle with the grated Parmesan and then let it turn golden brown for the last 5 minutes at 185 degrees. Important: At the end, let it stand outside for approx. 8 - 10 minutes so that the mass thickens and becomes firmer.

Wash and clean the beans and cook in salted boiling water for about 8 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, allow to drain and wrap the pork belly strips into small cuffs. Fry the bundles in a hot pan with lard until golden brown and then keep warm.