Foolproof Roast Beef

I used to be afraid of cooking roast beef. There's such a huge expectation associated with its outcome. Slightly overdone and that beautiful, tender, juicy cut is turned to a tough fibrous hunk of meat. So sad. Unlike turkey at Thanksgiving or Christmas, which, in my opinion, is just a vessel for stuffing and an excuse to cook at least 5 different side dishes to go with a protein, roast beef is usually the star of the show, the centre of the meal, from which all other dishes stem. It has to be good!

So how did I overcome my fear? I tried and failed, and tried and failed again, until I finally got the knack of it. I also had a little help from Jamie Oliver who makes a mean roast beef. His recipe was the inspiration for mine. I follow it in my head loosely every time and that, coupled with a good meat thermometer, gets me the ideal medium I'm looking for. I have also discovered that two herbs are key- rosemary and sage- and that the best root vegetable to use is a parsnip. Yes, a parsnip. Something about the flavour it imparts of the beef makes it taste so unbelievably yummy I can't help but go back for seconds (and practically drink the gravy you can make from the drippings).

Unlike something like a pot roast, which can use any cut of meat really, go for quality here. Sirloin, prime rib- they're the best for this recipe. Grass-fed if you can! You can taste the difference in the meat compared to conventionally raised cattle. Don't forget, you are what you eat eats...

Foolproof Roast Beef

Prep Time: 15 minutes (30 minutes if you count needing to let the meat sit at room temperature for about a half hour before roasting)
Cook Time: 1-1.5 hours, depending on the size of roast you're cooking
Weeknight Feasibility: Poor. Leave this to Sunday night roast dinner.

Ingredients:
1-1.5kg good quality beef
1 cooking onion, quartered
2 celery ribs, stems cut off and chopped in half
2-4 of either parsnip, carrot, turnip (a combination of parsnip-carrot, parsnip-turnip is ideal), cut in half lengthwise
5 whole cloves of garlic
4-5 sprigs each of fresh sage and rosemary
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt & pepper 

1. Preheat oven to 240C/475F.
2. In a roasting pan, lay the onion, root vegetables, garlic cloves and herbs. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Drizzle olive oil and rub salt and pepper all over the roast. Place roast on top of the vegetables, fat side up. 
4. Place roast on centre rack of oven and immediately turn temperature down to 200C/400F. Roast until a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 130-140 for medium-rare/medium (about 45-60 minutes depending on the size of the roast). Remove roast from oven and transfer the meat to a cutting board. Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the roast and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Slice thinly and serve.

A note for making gravy: I found the best way to extract the most flavour from the roast drippings is to take a potato masher and mash up all the veggies that were used to roast the meat on. Once everything is well mashed, strain the mixture into a bowl and use the resulting juices as the gravy base. Flavour central!

Salad and Antipasto

Every once in awhile it's a nice treat to have an easy antipasto dinner. I say every once in awhile because generally the meal is:

1. High fat (hello salami, prosciutto- not exactly your leanest cold cuts)
2. High salt (any olive, cured meat and cheese is laden with delicious I MEAN bad for you sodium)
3. Costly- a selection of good meats, cheese and toppings will set you back about $5-$8 per portion for 2 adults. If you want a couple of meats, a few cheese and your goodies along with some good bread and a nice bottle of wine to go with, it's not exactly a budget friendly meal.

But it is oh so good. Pair it with a salad (because you can never have enough veggies) and it's a low prep meal that is easy any night of the week.

This is what our plate looked like:

It was around Valentine's Day, hence the heart shaped salami :) I would say ours is a broad interpretation of antipasto given that we added pate and a selection of hard and soft cheese (not fresh mozzarella or provolone) but hey, it's my dinner table and I'll plate the way I want to.

For more inspiration, head out to Googleland my friends. Photos abound!

Chinese 5 Spice Roast Chicken Breast

I had decided to make the Asian Slaw salad one night and wanted a kind of chicken to go with it that had an Asian flare to it. Something more than just plain old roasted chicken, which is what I had (2 chicken breasts, skin on, bone-in). I started picking through my spice rack and found the last remnants of Chinese 5 spice that I had mixed myself when I needed just a small amount to make another baking recipe at Christmas. Since I wasn't sure I would like what I baked and rarely, if ever, use C5s, I didn't want a jar of it sitting in my spice rack taking up space and going stale.

I have since purchased a jar. No chance it will go stale now.

Chinese 5 Spice Roast Chicken Breast

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25-35 minutes
Weeknight feasibility: Good

2 skin on, bone-in chicken breasts

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey, plus another tbsp to drizzle

2 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil (something without a strong flavour)

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tsp Chinese 5 spice

1. Preheat oven to 180C/375F.
2. Whisk the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl. In a ziplock bag or a bowl/container that will allow the chicken to be immersed in the marinate, add in the chicken and the marinade. Lets sit for 2 hours or overnight.

3. In a roasting pan, place chicken breasts skin side up. Discard remaining marinade. Drizzle some honey (about a tbsp) on the chicken. Cook for 25-35 minutes or until skin is nicely golden brown and juices run clear.

Serves 2.

Lamb and Beef Chili

Chili is one of those stick-to-your-ribs meals that keeps you warm on those cold winter nights. It's also one for which there is no real standard recipe. Some like it chunky, spicy, runny, thick, with beans, without- the list goes on. I think everyone has been to at least one chili cook-off or knows of someone who has. It's a popular meal. To date my traditional chili has been of the thick and chunky with-beans variety. For whatever reason, I was inspired to try something a little different. I must have been watching a lot of Food Network or something (I'm a total Triple D and You Gotta Eat Here addict). I came up with a runnier variety that is perfect for soaking good bread in. It also features lamb- something I discovered is less than traditional. You can opt out of the lamb and just increase your beef quantity to compensate but I feel it loses a bit of heartiness by doing so. Lamb is a fatty, rich meat that is packed full of flavour- sometimes a bit too much so, but when combined with the beef and spices the combination is lip-smacking good. The chocolate is an extra touch that adds a hint of sweet to balance the spicer chili flavours.

Lamb and Beef Chili

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50-60 minutes
Weeknight Feasibility: Poor if from scratch the day-of, Very Good if reheating!

1 lb lean or extra lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground lamb
1 medium cooking onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 can of crushed tomatoes, about 19 ounces
1 can of tomato paste, about 5.5 ounces
2 cups beef stock
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
Water, to thin
1 ounce of dark or bittersweet chocolate, finely grated

1. Begin by browning your meat in a large soup pot on medium heat. Once the meat has browned and some of the liquid evaporated, add the onion, cooking until onions are translucent. Add garlic and carrots and cook 4 minutes more.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes, paste, stock, and seasonings. Bring to a slight boil then continue to simmer 20-30 minutes. At this point, add water if you feel the chili is still too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the desired consistency has been reached, add the finely grated chocolate.
3. Serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4.

Best if served the next day as all the flavours have time to meld and mature.

Roasted Vegetables, Sausages and Spaghetti

You know when you've used a recipe so often you have it memorized and can't remember where it originally came from? That's what happened here. I can't take credit for it as it was originally from a recipe, but I can't recall from where... I think Today's Parent. Since their magazine redesign back in 2012 their food section features a buffet of goodies that I regularly pick from. They don't require complicated ingredients, they're time-friendly and best of all, kid-friendly too. 

You start by chopping up a red onion, 2 small peppers (whichever colour is preferred in your household), 2 carrots, and 3-4 sausages into 1 inch dice. Throw them onto a baking sheet and add to that 5-6 whole garlic cloves and a pint of cherry tomatoes. Toss the entire mixture with olive oil, basil and oregano (dried in this case, which is super convenient because not everyone always has fresh on hand). Your mixture will look like this:

 It already looks so yummy! Into the oven it goes at 200C/400F for about 20 minutes. At this point I usually put a pot of water on the stove to boil. If it boils before the 20 minutes is up I just turn it off until I'm ready to take everything out, give it a shake, and stick it back in for another 15-20 minutes. At the first 20 minute mark, take out the tray and give everything a toss and turn. Return to oven. Put your noodles in to cook. Once cooked, drain and reserve until your vegetable and sausage mixture is
done. Take the tray out and add the pasta to the tray directly, like this:

Toss the pasta so that it gets coated in the lovely natural sauce created by the veggies and sausage. The flavour of the vegetables is so rich as they've just been steam roasted with the delicious flavours from the herbs and sausage. Serve warm with some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top.

Roasted Vegetables, Sausages and Spaghetti

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Weeknight Feasibility: Very Good

For this recipe you will need:
1 small red onion
2 small peppers, any colour, or 1 large 
2 carrots, peeled
5-6 garlic cloves
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
3-4 sausages, any kind, more depending on your taste and desire for a little or lots of meat
2-3 tbsp olive oil (or what I call a liberal drizzle)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
250g spaghetti

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
2. Dice the vegetables and sausage into 1" pieces. Toss the vegetables and sausage along with the pint of whole cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves onto a baking tray. Toss liberally with the olive oil and dried herbs, ensuring that everything gets coated. 
3. Place tray on centre rack of oven and roast for 20 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile, set a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
5. After 20 minutes, remove the tray and toss the mixture, unsticking vegetables and sausages if necessary and flipping everything about. Return tray to oven and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes.
6. Cook the spaghetti until al dente and drain.
7. Remove the tray from the oven and toss the spaghetti into the mixture, ensuring it gets nicely coated with the juices from the vegetables and sausages. Serve warm with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 3 adults and one toddler.