The classic. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, broccoli, peas and gravy, (not shown).
The best beef for this kind of meal I have tried is top sirloin. It's more expensive but worth every penny for the extra tenderness and flavour. The recipe at the bottom of the post is for this cut but I have tried many others: Click on the link for the post:
Searing the meat first is the way to go. Brown equals flavour, so I have been reading lately. Opinion is divided other whether it actually seals in juices.
This is medium rare. If you want to have some leftovers the next day, this will ensure it is moist and tender, not tough and dry like left over meat can be.
Roast potatoes. Contrary to popular belief, mashed potatoes are not traditional for the roast dinner. The potatoes and Yorkshire pudding would be placed under the meat to catch the flavourful drippings as it cooked. Now we use healthy oil, but still par boil the potatoes to get crispy edges. Recipe at bottom.
The roast potato must be fluffy inside, crispy on the edges with a nice, browned bottom.
Yorkshire puddings. Neil's first attempt and what a triumph! The recipe called for 12 which he cut down to 4 but still made 12 much smaller puddings. He ate 7 with his dinner!
Recipe: Roast top sirloin
1 2lb piece of top sirloin
2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 325oF
Season the sirloin on all sides with salt and pepper.
In a frying pan, heat the oil over high heat until hot. Sear the meat on all sides until dark mahogany in colour.
Remove the meat from the pan and place on a baking dish.
Roast the meat at 25 minutes per pound for medium. Add 5 - 10 minutes more per pound for well done or 5 - 10 minutes less per pound for medium rare. (My piece took 47 minutes to reach medium, although it was probably more medium rare.
Remove the meat from the baking dish, 'tent' with foil and leave to rest for 20 minutes or so.
Yorkshire puddings (serves 4 or 12 mini muffin size)
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp butter
pinch of salt
Mix the milk and egg together in a bowl until well mixed.
Add the flour and salt and mix until you have a batter.
Use a little of the butter to grease 4 large muffin rounds or use the whole tray to make 12 mini-Yorkshires, (butter each one).
Warm the buttered tray for about 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven where the meat is roasting (325oF).
Remove the tray carefully and divide the batter between however many puddings you are making.
Bake for about 25 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. Try to serve immediately or they will deflate slightly.
Roast potatoes
4 potatoes
1/4 cup oil
Peel the potatoes and par boil in boiling salted water in a large saucepan until slightly cooked, (about 10 minutes). Drain and let them cool for a few minutes to allow any residual moisture to evaporate. Shake the pan to fluff the edges slightly. (This is important for crispy bits).
Pour the oil onto a baking tray and heat in a pre heated 325oF oven for 10 minutes until really hot.
Remove the tray from the oven and place the potatoes into the oil, turning carefully to cover them with oil. You can also spoon some oil over.
Place back in the oven and roast for 45 minutes. They should be golden brown with crispy edges and meltingly soft inside.
Notes:
You could season the potatoes with some salt and black pepper before adding to the oil.
In college, my friend Louise spread Marmite over the bottom of the potatoes before adding to the oil. They will intensely savoury and rich. You could add a little Marmite to the oil itself or herbs or spices, although herbs may burn a little unless submerged.
Neil's mum deep fries the potatoes once they have par boiled. The result is extremely crispy but unless drained well, they can be a little saturated with fat. Neil's mum's are excellent.
Red wine gravy
Juices from roasted meat
1 tbsp flour
1/4 cup red wine or Port or Sherry
1/4 cup water
beef stock if necessary
Once the cooked meat has been removed from the baking tray, transfer the tray to the hob. Over low heat, add the flour and stir well to ensure smoothness. Let this cook for at least 2 minutes to cook the flour and eliminate the raw taste.
Add the alcohol and water and stir well. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes to cook out the alcohol and thicken.
Now, taste the gravy. You may think it lacks some beefy flavours so add about 1 tbsp beef stock, adding more as required. The gravy should be fairly thick. You can make this without flour, adding some cream to thicken.
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