a tasty roast

Most of us enjoy a nice piece of succulent roast beef, everyone has their favourite way to prepare and roast.

Wikipedia's description of Roast Beef is as follows:

Roast beef is a dish of beef which is roasted in an oven. Essentially prepared as a main meal, the leftovers can be and are often served within sandwiches and sometimes are used to make hash. In the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and Australia, roast beef is one of the meats traditionally served at Sunday dinner, although it is also often served as a cold cut in delicatessen stores, usually in sandwiches. A traditional side dish to roast beef is Yorkshire pudding.

In the UK, roast beef is the signature national dish which holds cultural meaning for the English.

Some prefer roast beef to be served "rare" or "pink", meaning that the center of the joint is cooked so that it retains a reddish color. Others prefer roast beef to be cooked medium or well done.

Another website describe it as:

Roast beef is perfect for a Sunday roast or a midweek meal. Recipes range from a traditional rump roasts to modern tenderloin roast and all in between.

Some may prefer a pot roast ... and the difference is ....

Pot roast is of course that stringy beef that comes from a shoulder roast, a chuck roast,  originating from the front part of the cow. It takes a slow, moist roast very well and falls tenderly apart as soon as you remove it from its broth.

Pot roasting is perfect for large, inexpensive and less tender cuts of beef as the long, slow cooking infuses them with flavour and makes them extremely tender. The beef is browned all over and then very slowly braised with a little liquid in a covered pan. A piece of Bolar Blade is perfect for this.

Roast Beef has a steak like texture and will stand firmer when sliced and comes from cuts like  sirloin, scotch fillet, rib eye, topside, or rump - all butchered from the back part of the animal.

This week I purchased a piece of Bolar Blade. Now this would normally be used as a pot roast, its a cheaper cut of meat and usually needs long, slow cooking.  I decided to try it roasted.

Here goes.....

above: create small pockets with a sharp blade for the garlic cloves.

below: use any seasonings you wish, but I used the McCormicks "Steak Spice", Cumin and Coriander. Mix the spices you are using with some light olive oil.  Rub over the beef.

 
and let it 'rest' in this mix (oil and spices) for up to an hour....

if you have a cast iron pan, griddle pan etc, place it on the stove top to heat. Also turn on your oven to about 180 deg c.

above & below: when the plate is hot, sear your roast on all sides, this will help seal in the juices. This will only take a few minutes.

below: place the roast in a baking pan in the oven. At this point you can drizzle a small amount of light olive oil over the beef.

 

and while that is taking place, add a small amount of water to the cast iron pan to 'lift' the tasty roast pieces that were left behind. Leave to cool.

below: add pumpkin, potato's and carrot to the baking pan with the roast. These will take about an hour. Depends on the size you have cut them though.

below:  while the meat and vegetables are cooking, prepare the gravy / sauce using the meat juices from the pot.  This will be quite rich,  you can water it down somewhat if you desire.

below:  when you take the meat out of the oven, let it sit for about 10 minutes prior to carving.  Here you can see the meat juices and garlic pieces, just unfortunate that you cannot smell how delicious this really is!

below: while carving, leave the vegetables to finish their cooking in the oven.

and dinner is ready ........

I have not cooked a 'roast' for over 7 years, so am in no position to 'teach' anyone how to prepare or cook a roast. All I am doing is 'sharing' what I did for dinner on Monday night!

Stay tuned for what ever else I decide to cook or bake!


have some Tasty Fun!!

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