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Friday, December 29, 2006

Roasts Away!

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It seems to run in my family that there is some deep down primeval force that makes us all big meat-eaters. Don't get me wrong, I love veg and vegan food and in fact, I'm planning a vegan week in the new year (in tribute to an awesome vegan blog - www.fatfreevegan.com) and as soon as I can get hubs to write me a little countdown script, I will plug 'er in here. :)

But in the meantime....it was a scrumptious roast last night. Sirloin tip roast is a very flavourful cut, but I think that had I planned ahead a little more, I could have cooked it much better.

I covered my roast in a yummy paste rub - 1 T olive oil, 1 T dijon mustard, 1 T brown sugar, 1 T bbq sauce, 1 T fresh rosemary, 1 T fresh thyme (sub 1/3 amount of dry spice if you don't have fresh), 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1.5 t sea salt and about 1.5 t crushed pepper (I just stuck it in a ziploc and whacked it with my meat mallet....too lazy to grind that much with my crappy pepper grinder).



This is the most heavenly smell - this paste roasting in the oven. Everyone should make this paste and put it on SOMETHING (grilled mushrooms, chicken, you name it!). It's that good. The smell as this roast cooks is absolutely intoxicating....I was practically drooling throughout the entire cooking time.

Which brings me to my next point. This recipe is shamelessly stolen from my fave book, Eat, Shrink and be Merry, "The Great Pretenderloin." I've never actually bought a full beef tenderloin, though I'm sure it would be delightful. At like $50-60 per kilo, it's just more than I'm willing to spend on a roast. My yummy sirloin tip was only $9 for 3 pounds (yay for sales!). So I followed the tenderloin cooking instructions (knowing, of course that my thicker roast would take longer).

But this cut is very particular - when it is cooked to medium or less, it is delightful. At well-done, it is shoe leather. I cooked this roast at a higher heat (like 400F after the initial browning at 450F). Initially, I had the roast uncovered, but once I turned down the temperature, I added about 3/4 c water and covered the roast to keep it from getting dry (is that smart? I'm not sure - I'm a total roastin' amateur!).

All this to say that roasting at a high heat will garner you rather uneven results (not necessarily a bad thing most of the time). So the outer ring of the roast will be pretty much well-done, while the inner part will be done to medium (it took probably about 55 minutes to cook to medium - I just used a thermometer and checked every 10 minutes after the half hour mark).

And it was good....but the medium "parts" of each slice were SO much more tender than the outer parts that I think the next time I cook this particular roast, I'll use a different technique. The previous technique (high heat) will be a good choice if you have people who vary in their preferences - i.e., people who like their meat well done (aka destroyed!) can have the outer slices, while those who prefer it more rare can have the inner slices.

BUT, if you cook the roast at a LOW heat for a longer time, you'll minimize the temperature difference between the inside and outside parts of the roasts - i.e., a greater proportion of your roast will be uber-tasty. From what I've read, I'd roast the whole thing at about 250F for a couple of hours (check after an hour, use a thermometer!) to get the whole shebang to the desired doneness. Yum. :) I'll do that next time I have that particular cut of roast - it's very flavourful, if a little bit tougher when it's more well cooked.

Gravy was super easy to make - I just used what was already in the pan (my thawed roast lost a hefty amount of water), added 3/4 c beef stock and about 1/3 c red wine, along with about 1 T of cornstarch and whisked away on the stove.

The potatoes were a HUGE hit with hubs, though a little less so with my little bro. I just love them - so pungent and unexpected with a roast - I did 7 yukon gold potatoes, boiled 'em, and drained. Then I added 2 T unsalted butter, 3/4 c. milk, about 1.5 tablespoons of wasabi powder, and about 1/2 t sea salt and whipped away.

As you can see from the photo below, I was completely and utterly lazy with my vegetables...yes, my friends, that is a frozen mix. I had broccoli and spinach, but just couldn't be bothered to actually cook them! So lazy....so sad....



WHat's worse though is that I kept on eating after dinner! The midnight hunger pangs sent me straight to the coffers of a pizza chain, who in turn went straight to my thighs. I don't even dare set foot on the scale. I can't even blame this on the holidays! It's just me being awful.

On the menu for tonight is a super tasty Chicken Pot Pie with a biscuit crust. Wish me luck in avoiding the midnight munchies. Thanks for reading! As always, feel freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to leave me a comment - I love them! :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your wassabi mashed potatoes sound devine...yum yum!
Your hubs is one lucky man!!

Anonymous said...

It's funny what you say about cravings. I'm usually a fairly disciplined eater, but lately I'm famished all the time. It must have to do with this time of the year...

Anonymous said...

mmm looks tasty. Don't be ashamed about the frozen veggies, they are packed with nutrients and a good healthy option!

flowerdrumsong said...

Wow Leslie!!!

Didn't realize that this has become a cooking blog! Good job! :)

-from WB-
Calgary,AB

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