A GOOD roast...

[[BMF] Chris]

you will need-

1 lb roast top round
powdered garlic
A. N high burning point oil "canola"
12 0z veal or beef stock NOT BROTH
2 oz mirepoix
2 oz red wine
A.N S&P
A.N cornstarch

1. rub roast with salt, pepper, powedered garlic, dont cut into the meat, you loose moisture

2. in roasting pan, brown all sides of roast, make sure oil is very hot to sear each side, if it dosent sizzle, its too cold

3. place roast on top on mirepox, put in oven at 350, i dont know how long it will take to cook, im not your oven, cook it to 100 degrees F, ummm maybe 30-40 min, a thermometer is your friend

4. pull roast out of oven with its temp is 125, let it rest a few min and carry over cooking will raise the temp to roughly 135, medium rare, the only way to eat red meat.

5. to make sauce, discard all fat from pan, deglaze with wine, reduce, "au sec" thats french for something like by 1/2, i cant explain it, i have to look at it, add stock, slowly thicken with cornstarch, bring to simmer, until slightly reduced, degrease the pan, which means scrap that crap off the bottom, its the good stuff, put through strainer, season with s&p
(if you want, add a garlic clove and some FRESH thyme when making the sauce, the strainer will get it)

if you dont understand any of this, im sorry, its very good, and id like to assume you know what most of these terms are, ill answer any question that arent like "duhhh, what is mirepox" im assuming you people know this stuff, and sorry if i seem a bit rude-

Chris

 

[aussie girl]

Hi Chris, What is mirepoix? I'm assuming its an American term, as I've never even seen the word before.

 

[thumpershere2]

I'm with you Aussiegirl, don't know what it is either.:?:

 

[aussie girl]

Hey thumpershere2, glad I'm not the only 'dummy' here, LOL.

Tried the Australian Oxford dictionary, no luck there. Then looked up encarta. One entry said "a French flavouring secret". Thats helpful.

Another entry said, "A mirepoix base is a smooth concentrated paste made with sauteed carrots, celery and onions as primary ingredients".

So I'll sleep much better now!

 

[Ishbel]

AussieGirl

You're probably asleep your side of the world - BUT, just in case you wake up in the middle of the night, panicking whether you have really understood what a mirepoix is: here's another definition There's nothing worse than having a sleepless night due to a major worry like this, is there? 8)
A mirepoix is a mixture of diced vegetables, carrots, onions and celery (sometimes with ham or bacon), usually sauted in butter. It is said to have been created in the 18th century by the chef of the Duc de Levis-Mirepoix in France. Mirepoix is used to flavor stews, soups, stocks, etc. The usual mixture is 50% onions, and 25% each carrots and celery.

 

[[BMF] Chris]

not only that, but mirpox is like the foundation for all soups and most meats in french cooking......and the cajuns have their own version called the holy trinity, which is 50% onion, 25% celery, and 25% bellpepper

 

[ironchef]

you will need-

1 lb roast top round
powdered garlic
A. N high burning point oil "canola"
12 0z veal or beef stock NOT BROTH
2 oz mirepoix
2 oz red wine
A.N S&P
A.N cornstarch

1. rub roast with salt, pepper, powedered garlic, dont cut into the meat, you loose moisture

2. in roasting pan, brown all sides of roast, make sure oil is very hot to sear each side, if it dosent sizzle, its too cold

3. place roast on top on mirepox, put in oven at 350, i dont know how long it will take to cook, im not your oven, cook it to 100 degrees F, ummm maybe 30-40 min, a thermometer is your friend

4. pull roast out of oven with its temp is 125, let it rest a few min and carry over cooking will raise the temp to roughly 135, medium rare, the only way to eat red meat.

5. to make sauce, discard all fat from pan, deglaze with wine, reduce, "au sec" thats french for something like by 1/2, i cant explain it, i have to look at it, add stock, slowly thicken with cornstarch, bring to simmer, until slightly reduced, degrease the pan, which means scrap that crap off the bottom, its the good stuff, put through strainer, season with s&p
(if you want, add a garlic clove and some FRESH thyme when making the sauce, the strainer will get it)

if you dont understand any of this, im sorry, its very good, and id like to assume you know what most of these terms are, ill answer any question that arent like "duhhh, what is mirepox" im assuming you people know this stuff, and sorry if i seem a bit rude-

Chris

Why not just tell people to cook the roast until the internal temp. reaches 125 degrees from the start? What's the point of telling people to cook it until the internal temp. is 100 degrees when you're not going to be pulling it out of the oven at that point anyway?

Please advise.

 

[[BMF] Chris]

because, if your eating your roast rare, you want it atleast 100 degrees, because the carry over cooking will atleast make your meat warm, so its more of an, "at the minium" type deal, i think rare is defined at 120 or below, id assume the carry over cooking would raise it to 110, or 115, giving you good rare meat, thats still warm.

 

[Ishbel]

Chris
Thank you for your 'advice' - but some of us ARE Europeans - we eat French food on a regular basis. We understand French cookery terminology. Goodness, some of us even cook in the French style

 

[ironchef]

because, if your eating your roast rare, you want it atleast 100 degrees, because the carry over cooking will atleast make your meat warm, so its more of an, "at the minium" type deal, i think rare is defined at 120 or below, id assume the carry over cooking would raise it to 110, or 115, giving you good rare meat, thats still warm.

Carry-over cooking does not raise the internal temp. of food by more than 5-7 degrees at the most. Beef at 105 degrees does not have the chance to use the heat to break down the structure and proteins in the meat, and you will be chewing on literally, raw meat, instead of a pleasant rare to medium rare texutre. Taking the roast out when the internal temp. reaches 110-115 would be fine, but it depends on the cut of meat you're using. For a top round, that should work as long as the quality of the beef is good.

 

[GB]

dont cut into the meat, you loose moisture

It is my understanding that you would lose moisture if you cut into meat that was cooked, not if you cut into meat before it was cooked. Many recipes actually call for cutting into meat before it is cooked and they all retain their moisture. Two that come to mind are garlic studded meats where you cut little slits in the meat and put cloves of garlic in the slits. Another would be stuffed pork chops. You cut a pocket in the chop and stuff it.

I agree that if you cut into meat without letting it rest after it is cooked then you will lose a lot of juice, but I have no problem cutting into meat before cooking it.

 

[Andy M.]

It is my understanding that you would lose moisture if you cut into meat that was cooked, not if you cut into meat before it was cooked. Many recipes actually call for cutting into meat before it is cooked and they all retain their moisture. Two that come to mind are garlic studded meats where you cut little slits in the meat and put cloves of garlic in the slits. Another would be stuffed pork chops. You cut a pocket in the chop and stuff it.

I agree that if you cut into meat without letting it rest after it is cooked then you will lose a lot of juice, but I have no problem cutting into meat before cooking it.

I have to agree, GB. It's the heat of the roasting process that causes the muscle fibers to contract and squeeze out their internal juices. Allowing the meat to rest before carving allows those fibers to relax and re-absorb the juices.

Clearly, the heat induced contractions are not an issue when the meat is raw and at room temperature or below. Cutting the muscle fibers then will only cause a minimal moisture loss at the point of the cut.

 

[jennyema]

Medium rare is actually more like 140-145 (internal).

125 is very rare.

IC is right, IMO. Carry-over will usually be 5, maybe even 10 degrees, so taking the meat out at at internal temp of less than 110 will mean you are basically eating raw meat.

Also GB and Andy are correct, slicing/cutting/poking raw meat does not cause it to lose moisture. After all, unless you are eating a whole pig or something your meat has already been cut and it didn't have all the juice drain out.

BTW same goes for salting. You should always salt meat before cooking it. Salting just prior to cooking does not draw out any significant moisture.

 

[ironchef]

Medium rare is actually more like 140-145 (internal).

125 is very rare.

IC is right, IMO. Carry-over will usually be 5, maybe even 10 degrees, so taking the meat out at at internal temp of less than 110 will mean you are basically eating raw meat.

Also GB and Andy are correct, slicing/cutting/poking raw meat does not cause it to lose moisture. After all, unless you are eating a whole pig or something your meat has already been cut and it didn't have all the juice drain out.

BTW same goes for salting. You should always salt meat before cooking it. Salting just prior to cooking does not draw out any significant moisture.

That's a good point that I forgot to mention.

115-125 degrees is on the side of the rare spectrum that's closer to still moving. I should've said 115 is the cut-off for the rarest that you'd want to cook beef. Usually people who want their meat at that doneness will request "super rare".

 

[pdswife]

I love this site. I learn something new from you guys everyday. Thank you for making my life better.