Roast Beef. Simply delicious
You have to decide whether you want your meat rare, well done or in between. And I find a simple meat thermometer the best way of judging. Otherwise try this which provides a timer and calculator for cooking meats. Or read the packet or ask your butcher depending on where you obtained your joint.
You will need:
- A good chunk of beef. Buy the best you can afford
- Garlic, three cloves
- A drop of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Per heat the oven to 220C. Meantime peel and slice the garlic into slivers. Two or three cloves will do for 1.5kilos of beef.
With a small, sharp knife make some incisions deep into the beef and stuff in slivers. When you have a random series in the beef, place it in a roasting tin on which you have rubbed a little olive oil. Salt and pepper the beef. Some say salting the beef drains its juices. It does not in my experience.
Shove the beef in the oven and after 15 minutes turn the oven down to 160 ish. Roast until it’s done the way you like it.
When cooked, remove from the oven and put somewhere warm, covering perhaps with a clean tea towel. Let the beef relax for ten minutes whilst you make a gravy. Gravy is best made by taking the juices from the roasting tin, mixing them with some simmering beef stock (cube, gel, freshly bought or home made) and simmering gently. Before carving the beef, remove the beef onto a warmed plate and then pour some of the gravy in the roasting tin to deglaze it. That means sloshing the gravy in the tin to dissolve the deliciousness of the encrusted remains. Use a wooden spoon if you have to. Then pour back into the rest of the gravy.
