Things Not to Cook During the Summer

It has been awhile since I've posted a recipe.  There has definitely been some cooking going on, but nothing I've felt inclined to share.  Even when I mentally peruse my list of recipes past, I just have not been inspired to write anything up.  But no fear, I've finally found something worth writing about:  roast beef.

Of course, cooking foods that require a 325 degree oven for hours on end when it's hot and humid out isn't really the smartest thing to do.  But it's hard to argue with culinary inspiration, or with a 3.5 lb shoulder roast that has been thawed in the fridge for a week and needs to be cooked.  So I grabbed the nearest cookbook (Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking), looked up a recipe for a pork roast, turned up the oven and the AC (well, mom, to 78), and started cooking.  I should pause here to confirm that yes, I did say that I looked up a recipe for a pork roast, but in the last paragraph I noted that I was writing about roast beef.  You see, with our meat CSA, the meat comes beautifully wrapped in butcher paper and labeled with the name of the cut, but I'm not always sure what type of meat each cut actually is.  Of course, once I unwrapped it, I had an inkling that it was beef and not pork, but for reasons unknown I proceeded with the pork recipe.  It all worked out in the end, and beautifully.

I'm by far my own toughest food critic, so when I tell you that this is the best thing I've cooked in the last six months, you know it was probably pretty good.  I was really quite impressed with myself on this one.  First of all, cooking a roast, while arguably about the easiest thing ever to cook, was a highly intimidating prospect.  I'm here to tell you:  totally manageable; almost as easy as just throwing it in the oven.  Second, cooking a roast was entirely outside of my comfort zone in terms of the types of food I'm used to cooking.  You know how some things just never cross your mind to cook or how some recipes you always just gloss over in the cookbooks?  This was one of them, and this is yet another reason I love the meat CSA--it forces me to try new things.

Every bite of this roast had me saying "Wow, this is so good, I'm so impressed with myself."  Yes, it was probably a bit (a lot) annoying.  But it was that good.  Despite my deep-seeded fear that beef cooked as pork would be totally dry and tough after two hours in the oven, the roast was perfectly cooked medium-rare and could be sliced with a butterknife.  The onions and potatoes, cooked for two hours in beef fat and juices, were totally decadent and a perfect complement.  And on the side, a salad of beautiful baby greens from our own garden was, of course, astoundingly perfect.

Just one caveat to all of this fawning over my own cooking:  leave roasts to seasons where the outdoor temperature is below 60.  You'll thank me for this.

Roast Beef
Adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking
 
3 lb beef (or pork!) roast, boneless
2 Tbsp butter or cooking oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 baking potatoes, quartered (optional)
4 sprigs parsley (can also add thyme, bay into herb bouquet)
1/2 tsp dried sage or thyme
1/2 cup white wine (can also use stock, canned bouillon, or even water)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Rinse and dry meat thoroughly.  Heat the butter or oil in a heavy casserole or Dutch oven over moderately high heat. When the fat is almost smoking, brown the meat on all sides, about 10-15 minutes total.  Remove the meat to a side dish.

Pour all but 2 Tbsp of fat out of the pan.  Stir in the onions, garlic, potatoes (if using), and herbs.  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook slowly for 5 minutes. 

Season the meat with salt, pepper, and dried sage or thyme, and place into the casserole, fattiest side up.  Cover and heat until meat is sizzling, then place in the lower third of the preheated oven.  Cook about 2 hours, or until a meat thermometer measures the appropriate temperature for beef.  Baste the roast 2 or 3 times during the cooking period with the juices in the casserole. 

When the meat is done, remove to a hot serving platter along with half the onions and all of the potatoes.  Pour the wine into the casserole and simmer for 2-3 minutes over low heat on the stovetop.  Then, tilt the casserole and skim out all but a tablespoon of fat.  Mash the remaining onions and garlic into the juices, then boil rapidly until you have around 1 cup of gravy.  If desired, strain into gravy boat, then serve with the roast.  Enjoy!