Topside Beef

My mother always made this when she had missionaries over for lunch on a Sunday. When I was no longer living at home, I made sure I wangled a lunch invite whenever I knew she was making this. Everyone would go back for second and thirds just because it tastes so good!

• 1 "square" topside or silverside beef roast
• 2-3 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 liter monis red grape juice (US equivalent, Martinelli's)
• 1 can creamed mushrooms or 1 can sliced mushrooms AND/OR
• 1 10.75-ounce can cream of muchroom soup
• soy sauce
• cornstarch for thickening

Spike roast with slivers of garlic. In a large frying pan, heat butter and oil until butter is melted; sear all side of roast. Remove roast from pan. Fry onion in same pan until onion is "glassy," adding more butter and oil if necessary. Place roast in a roasting pan; add onions, grape juice, and mushrooms (you can use canned mushrooms or mushroom soup or both). The meat must be covered. If your roasting pan is too large, put the roast in a pouch of tin foil so that the liquid completely covers the meat. Cover and cook at 350 for 2 to 3 hours. Add soy sauce to taste. Remove roast from sauce, shred the meat, and return meat to the roasting pan. Thicken sauce with mixture of cornstarch and water; the amount depends on how thick you want the sauce. Serve over rice, with a side of garden peas and fresh green salad. Makes about 8 servings.

Lesley Nell Roodepoort Ward Roodepoort Stake Roodepoort, South Africa

My mother always made this when she had missionaries over for lunch on a Sunday. When I was no longer living at home, I made sure I wangled a lunch invite whenever I knew she was making this. Everyone would go back for second and thirds just because it tastes so good! My mom had ten children, and I think all would agree that this is her best recipe.

In 2004 I went back to South Africa to visit my mom while she was undergoing chemotherapy for her second round of breast cancer; I remember sitting on the edge of her bed and asking her the details of this recipe and other favorites. My mom died at age sixty-two of breast cancer. My name is Beverly Ledward, and though I grew up in South Africa, I now live in Herriman, Utah, and am a member of the Ledward Pioneer Ward. I put my mother’s name on this recipe in her memory.

--- Excerpted from Worldwide Ward Cookbook: Mom's Best Recipes, available now at Deseret Book