A Roast to Remember

Christmas Roast - A Sirloin Tip Roast

On Christmas Eve, Rachel & I were back in Wisconsin in my hometown of Sussex staying with my parents for the holidays.  This December, there has been plenty of snow in the Midwest, so it definitely looked like (and felt like) winter outside.

My mom and I were thinking about what to cook for dinner for the four of us, and she found a boneless sirloin tip roast in the chest freezer, weighing about 3 1/2 pounds.  When you're only two people in a household, it's hard to find an occasion or the appetite to cook up such a large cut of meat.  And with the chilly weather and the holiday, a deliciously cooked roast sounded perfect!

The roast itself was from Kummrow Farms, a beautiful small farm near Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (the town's name was derived from coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi term for "waterfall").  Kummrow Farms feeds their cattle (and bison) almost entirely on grass and hay, and does not use hormones nor antibiotics.

Roast from Kummrow Farms

Back to the cooking.  Normally, I would bake the roast in one piece until its center is a beautiful juicy, deep red color.  However, my parents prefer their beef medium to medium-well.  To tailor dinner to all four of us, I cut the roast in half.  The first half (for my parents) went in the oven about 20 minutes before I added the second half. 

The seasoning for the roast was simple.  I used a combination of salt, fresh ground black pepper, and Penzey's Italian Herbs (rosemary, oregano, and thyme).  The spice mixture was rubbed onto all sides of the roast pieces.  Then I let the roast sit out on the counter, allowing it to warm to room temperature (about 25-30 minutes).

Once the meat was prepped, I added my potatoes, onions, and celery to the roasting pan.  Since the roast was quite lean (almost all the excess fat had been trimmed off), I added some rendered pork fat to the vegetables to ensure there was enough fat in the roasting pan to keep the beef from drying out and to give it that extra boost of flavor.  I placed the pan in the oven while the roast sat on the counter because I wanted to make sure that the potatoes would be cooked through by the time the roast was done baking.

Before adding the roast to the pan, I always brown/sear it.  I feel it seals the juices inside the roast, and ensures a juicier end product.  But you can skip this step if you're pressed for time.

For side dishes, I cooked up some delicious cinnamon-honey glazed carrots, using the recipe from Food & Wine (carrot recipe link).  I also baked my buttermilk biscuit recipe, which I posted last month (biscuit recipe link). 

For wine, we chose a 2007 La Linda Malbec and a 2003 Proemio Cabernet Sauvignon, both from Mendoza, Argentina.  These are big, full-bodied red wines with plenty of spice, acidity, and tannins to handle the pepper and herb flavored roast.  Other great options would be a full-bodied Syrah or Merlot.  If we had a nice red Bordeaux on-hand, it would have been another good option.




The British Empire


I looked briefly at the history of the roast.  While I'm sure humans have been roasting cuts of bison, pigs, cows, and woolly mammoths for millennia, the modern 'roast' seems to be a British invention.  I read somewhere that roasts were a common Sunday meal because the bakery ovens, which were used for baking bread throughout the week, were available on Sundays because the bakeries were closed.  It is interesting to look at a map of British influence and where roasts are most commonly served.  Today, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada, which were all at one time under the control and/or influence of the British, are places you'll likely find roasts on the family menu.



Merry Christmas everyone!  Enjoy the holiday season and the time spent with friends & family.

Sirloin Tip Roast Recipe

Ingredients:

One 3 to 4-lb sirloin tip roast (or similar beef roast)

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 to 3 lbs. potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 stalks celery, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

3 cups beef stock (you can substitute chicken or mushroom stock)

1/2 cup red wine

2 T. olive oil or rendered meat fat

Dried herb mixture (combination of rosemary, oregano, and thyme)

Dash of cayenne

Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F

2. Prep roast by rubbing salt, pepper, and herb mixture all over the outside

3. Leave roast on counter at room temperature for 25-30 minutes

4. Place vegetables in a large roasting pan, add salt, pepper, herb mixture, cayenne, and oil/fat.  Stir and place in the oven.

5. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

6. Add about 1 cup of stock to the pan (make sure there's always enough stock to fill the pan about 1/2" to 1" high)

7. Turn the oven down to 275° F8. Brown all sides of the roast in a large skillet, then add to the roasting pan.
8. Cover and bake for about 45-60 minutes.  It might need more time if it's a larger roast or if you prefer medium or medium well beef.  Use a meat thermometer, placing in the thickest part of the roast.  145° F for medium-rare, 160° F for medium, 170° F for well-done.

Soup’s On: Mushroom

Mushroom Soup

Soup is polarizing.  For some, it is the highlight of the meal, the perfect dish to demonstrate a chef’s ability (or lack of ability), a light lunch, or simply a comfort food to warm up on a cold day.  For others, me included, soup is overrated.  Either it’s a bland, broth-based soup with mushy vegetables or it’s an indulgent, creamy soup that makes you feel guilty.  In a restaurant, I always opt for the salad.

Prepping all the mushrooms

However, even for non-soup people like me, a soup comes along every once in a while that is the perfect combination of flavor, texture, and even healthiness.  This soup recipe, which I adapted from F&W’s Wild Mushroom Soup, turned out very well.  My friends and I love its hearty texture and earthy flavors.  As I mentioned in my previous entry on Asian cuisine, this soup also has the umami component, which comes from all the mushrooms (which deliver this type of flavor). 

I also enjoyed cooking it because you have a lot of flexibility within the recipe.  If your grocery store or farmer’s market has a good variety of mushrooms, you can pick out whatever is on sale or whichever mushrooms you love to eat.  I used a combination of white, portabella, and shiitake mushrooms, along with the some unusual ones, such as trumpet and oyster mushrooms. 

Another flexible aspect of the soup recipe is its texture.  I pureed my most recent batch only once, which made it slightly chunky.  However, if you prefer a very smooth, completely homogeneous soup, you can puree the soup again after adding the stock and water.  The viscosity of the soup is also a variable, which you can change to meet your taste.

Fresh portabellas

The only other soup I enjoy as much as this hearty mushroom soup is a well-made, roasted tomato soup.  If you have a favorite soup recipe, please post it below and I'll try it out.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Soup

(serves 6-8 bowls of soup)

Ingredients:

1 T. olive oil

¼ lb. pancetta, chopped

2 pounds mixed mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced

2 medium shallots, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, minced

¼ tsp fresh sage, minced

¼ tsp fresh rosemary, minced

¼ cup Marsala

2 T. Sherry

¼ cup heavy cream

1 quart mushroom stock (or low-sodium chicken stock)

2 cups water

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Chives, minced (for garnish)

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil

2. Add the chopped pancetta, cooking until it’s golden brown, 5-7 minutes

3. Remove pancetta and place on a plate with a paper towel to absorb the oil (but do not clean out the oil in the pan)

4. Add mushrooms to the pot, along with salt & pepper

5. Sauté until mushrooms cook down, about 10 minutes

6. Add the shallots and fresh herbs, stir, and let cook for 3-4 minutes

7. Add the Marsala and Sherry, stir, and let it reduce by half

8. Add heavy cream and return crispy pancetta to the pot; turn off heat

9. Using a food processor, blend the mushroom mixture into a fairly smooth consistently (or more to your preference)

10. Return the pureed mushroom mixture to the pot, add the stock and water

11. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the soup reaches your desired consistency

12. Serve with fresh minced chives

Biscuits & Gravy

Biscuits & Gravy

Ahh…breakfast.  I love the wonderful aroma of coffee slowly rolling through the house on an early morning.   Or that unique slightly burnt toast fragrance, which always reminds me of my grandparents’ house in central Wisconsin.  And who doesn’t enjoy the smoky, savory smell of bacon on a lazy Saturday morning (aside from vegans and vegetarians)? 

Growing up, most of my weekday breakfasts consisted of cold cereal, toast, or maybe a Pop-Tart.   On occasion, my family and I would also enjoy a nut or fruit kringle (a Danish pastry), which are for some reason, made in Racine, WI (a city located in between Milwaukee and Chicago with a strong Danish heritage).  On the weekends, my mom made pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, or cinnamon rolls.  I always looked forward to waking up to the smell of bacon.  Yum.

Today, I still love to cook up a big, American-style breakfast on the weekends.  My go-to is a combination of roasted baby red potatoes, over-easy fried eggs, and thick-cut bacon or spicy sausage patties.  When Rachel makes breakfast, she goes for sweet...cooking up pancakes or French toast.

Most recently, I had an urge to cook up another American breakfast dish, particularly popular in the South: Biscuits & Gravy.  This classic dish consists of a hearty plate of buttermilk biscuits (see my previous post for the biscuits recipe) topped with a creamy, slightly spicy, sausage gravy.  

Biscuits & Gravy, with pears and hard-boiled eggs

Cooking the gravy

It’s not too hard to cook either, with the gravy recipe greatly resembling a béchamel sauce.  All it requires is a little patience and the steady stirring of the gravy in the pot.  Over the 25-30 minutes of simmering, the milk, onions, and sausage thicken into a delicious, creamy gravy.  For a little extra kick, add a dash of cayenne pepper or use a spicier pork sausage.  

I could not find the origin of the recipe.  There’s a non-cited claim on Wikipedia stating it was first cooked in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  With the popularity of sausage in the German-rooted state of Wisconsin, it’s definitely possible.  Wherever Biscuits & Gravy came from, I’m happy she or he decided to mix sausage, biscuits, and creamy sauce.

Enjoy!

Biscuits & Gravy

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

1 T. butter

½ cup Vidalia onion, diced

1 lb. breakfast pork sausage

¼ cup flour

3 ½ cups 1% to 2% milk

4 to 5 medium sage leaves, finely chopped

Dash of cayenne

Salt and pepper to taste

*1 tsp corn starch mixed with 1 T. warm water (optional – see note)

8 to 12 buttermilk biscuits (about 2 per person), cut in half

Directions:

1. Heat pan to medium, add butter

2. Once melted, add onions, salt, & pepper, and stir

3. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until onions soften and turn translucent

4. Add sausage, breaking it up as it cooks through, into very small pieces

5. Once sausage is browned, add flour, stirring well to mix it into the onion-sausage mixture

6. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent burning

7. Add milk, sage, and cayenne

8. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low

9. Simmer for 25-35 minutes, stirring constantly, reducing by about half, or until you reach your desired thickness

10. Cut open warmed biscuits, and spoon a generous serving of the gravy on top

*If you are in a rush or desire an even thicker gravy, add the corn starch mixture