At the age of 18 I went to study English in Canterbury. All my meals were in the school’s “cellar” and there was never a single food that I liked. I lived on apples and Cadbury chocolates.
Fortunately, the mother of my host family cooked very well. When I ate meals with that family, only Saturdays and Sundays, I ate like a longshoreman!
One of the most common dishes was roast beef.
Roast beef was served lukewarm with gravy and accompanied by roast potatoes and magnificent Yorkshire puddings. I loved it!
Obviously, I don’t remember how she prepared it. However, I reinterpreted a Jamie Oliver recipe which produces a result that closely resembles my memories.
Roast beef
- Preparation time: 60 minutes
- Ingredients for 4-6 servings
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- 1 lb. 8 oz (700 grams) of sirloin beef
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 onion
- 1 small carrot
- 1 celery
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 knob of butter
- 1 level teaspoon of cornstarch
- 1 glass of broth
- Instructions
- Leave the meat at room temperature for at least two hours before cooking.
- Wash the onion, carrot, and celery very well.
- Turn on the oven at 400 ° F.
- Tie the meat with string. Massage it with oil, salt it, and flavor it with pepper.
- Cut the onion into large wedges without removing the peel, then the carrot and celery into slices.
- In a pan with oil, sauté the sirloin until it browns on all sides.
- Temporarily remove the meat and add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook over high heat until they brown well.
- Off the heat, add the rosemary and bay leaf. Put the vegetables in the pan and put the meat on a grill above the pan.
- Bake in the oven until it reaches the core temperature of 122-131 °F.
- Remove the meat from the pan and let it rest, covered, for fifteen minutes. Then cut it into very thin slices.
- In the meantime, add a knob of butter, cornstarch, and broth to the vegetables, having first removed the aromas (garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves). Cook for the time the meat rests.
Pass everything through a fine mesh sieve. - Season with salt if necessary and serve the sauce hot with the roast beef.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- The thermometer must be inserted into the heart of the sirloin. When this reaches the temperature of 122-131 °F, it is ready. Resting the meat will continue to cook and redistribute the juices.
- The cooking time cannot be indicated because it depends both on the weight of the meat and on your oven.
- The knife must have a good blade to make a proper thin cut.