Yes there has been an abundance of chicken lately, and while I have still been eating it a lot, in a variety of forms I must add, no new recipes have been put forth.
This past Saturday though, PB and I had an early Valentines day celebration as both of us were working Sun, Mon and Tuesday evenings so our opportunity to celebrate on the day itself was non-existant. We had decided to get each other a card and small gift each and to cook a meal together. Incidentally, we got each other the same card...no big deal, that's they way we roll!
PB has a knack for one pot wonders and a lot of experience with roasts, as when he was working up North a lot, this was one of his perennial menu items so he honed his technique significantly. We went to the grocery store that afternoon and looked for a nice cut of beef but didn't see a suitable one so we asked at the meat counter and picked up a thick 2lb joint of sirloin tip. The plan was to roast it with chunky cut veggies, simple one pot style with tonnes of flavor. Don't get me wrong, this recipe is tres simple but it's delicious and sophisticated and worthy of entertaining, which we will do next time we make it. You can use any veggies you like. We had on hand potatoes, carrots, onion and red pepper. Sweet potatoes and parsnips would also work well. We did a couple of key things that, IMO, made this roast a success:
1) PB's knowledge of meat cooking time, without the use of a thermometer
2) Parboiling the potatoes and then mixing them with the other raw veggies to create a potato coating of sorts
3) The shallot/garlic "paste" we made as a crust to the joint.
4) Salt. Lots.
5) Love. Lots. (cheesy, I know)
So without further ado, here is the recipe in full (that we created):
"Mucho Impressivo" easy roast beef
approx 2lb sirloin tip roast ( try to get a fat one, not a flat one)
combination of roasting veg
2 shallots, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried rosemary
couple of handfuls of mushrooms, sliced
olive oil, unspecified drizzle amount
butter
salt
pepper
more salt
Put oven on to heat to 400F.
Cut potatoes into chunky chunks (Yes that is the best way to describe it) and par boil until just softening.
While they are parboiling, cut up other veggies....chunky.
Rub olive oil over the joint, season, and then rub the shallot and garlic all over it.
Sprinkle rosemary on top and rub the coating in more.
Place roast in pan.
Place chopped veggies in a large bowl and drizzle in olive oil and then season generously. Stir 'em up.
Add potatoes to bowl of veggies and stir it all up so the outer layer of potato gets on everything.
pour out veggies to surround the beef. Looks good, doesn't it? Looks like this doesn't it?
Roast at 400F for 45 mins if you like your roast rare in the middle like we do.
After 45 mins, remove beef and place on cutting board, covered in foil to rest for 10 mins.
Pan fry sliced mushrooms in a bit of butter and oil and season to taste.
Turn oven up to 450F and let veggies cook for 10 minutes more until ready to serve. slice beef and put mushrooms over the top, or to the side. Whatever you want to do.
If you followed these instructions, this is what you should have right about now:
Oh I forgot to mention, you don't really need gravy. The juices from the meat and the richness in the vegetables is flavour enough. However, if you have some red wine handy, you could de-glaze the veggie pan and mix in the meat juices and you'd probably have a divine jus to top it all off.
So remember, easy recipe, BIG respect from guests. Just don't let on how easy it was.
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