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With nothing in store, safer bet to cook this? (5,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

roast beef

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cook this?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'with nothing in store safer bet' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'nothing' could be 'o' (looks like zero - 0) and 'o' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'bet' is 'tbe' which is located in the answer.
an anagram of 'safer' is 'rasef' which is present in the left over letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for roast beef that I've seen before include "Joint" , "Traditional English food" , "Typical English dish" , "part of lunch for Sun?" , "Traditional English dish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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