Like the country style pork chops last week, I came across a sirloin roast on special and somehow it made it into my cart. This happens way too often. I searched the internet a bit and came across this recipe for Roast Beef with Thyme, Garlic and Red Wine from Paleo Diet Lifestyle. It sounded flavorful and the picture was enticing, so why not? I gathered my ingredients and turned my oven on to pre-heat.
The recipe asks you to first use a large skillet to brown the meat, reserve the fat and then put it in a roasting dish. I figured that I could both brown the meat and roast it in my Le Creuset Braiser to save some clean up and potential mess moving fat from one pan to another. I wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason for the two pan suggestion, but Paleo Diet Lifestyle doesn't allow comments. I tweeted to them with my question, but got no reply. I figured it would be fine.
I heated 1 tablespoon of ghee in my braiser over medium high heat. The recipe calls for high heat, but I know my Le Creuset retains heat very well and medium high will get the job done. Once heated, I browned the roast on all sides. I carefully used some tongs to hold the roast up on its sides to brown.
Once the roast was browned, I turned off the burner heat and added the remaining ghee to the top of the roast. This recipe calls for Worcestershire Sauce. I tried Paleo Diet Lifestyle's Worcestershire sauce that is linked in their recipe and it was fine, but not the best recipe I've found. I used some of the Worcestershire sauce I made here. I added the Worcestershire sauce over the roast.
Then I poured the wine over the roast. Be careful if you are using the one pan method like I did as the pan will bubble and steam a bit if it's still hot from browning.
I laid the sprigs of thyme on top of the ghee on the roast.
I put the roast in my pre-heated oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. The recommended cooking time is 50-60 minutes, but I wanted to baste the roast as it cooked as recommended by the recipe. At about 5 minutes in the kitchen was already filled with a wonderful herby aroma. At the 20 minute mark, I opened the oven and carefully spooned the cooking juices and fat over the roast. I basted it two times at 20 minute intervals.
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| Be careful basting. Don't burn yourself! |
After 50 minutes in the oven, the temperature of the roast varied but the lowest temp was 145.9. I took it out knowing that the temperature of the meat would rise another 10-15 degrees while it rested bringing it to a nice medium- medium rare.
Here it is right out of the oven.
And sliced.
Accessibility & Cost of Ingredients: My goofy grocery receipt for the roast doesn't give me a per pound amount but it cost me $11.33. It wasn't grass-fed but it was antibiotic free. As sirloin is a pretty lean cut of beef, I wasn't particularly concerned. The wine was $5.49. I used this same wine for my Coq au Vin and it's actually quite tasty (not that I drank any this time around). I only needed 3/4 cup for the recipe, the bottle has been sitting on my counter taunting me since I'm not drinking alcohol right now. I'd feel bad throwing it out. Any recipe suggestions for me to use up this wine?
Preparation & Cooking Time: It took me 20 minutes to prepare the roast to put in the oven. I roasted the meat for 50 minutes and then let it rest out of the oven for 10 minutes before slicing it.
Clean Up: Since I used one pot for both browning and roasting, the clean up wasn't bad and my Le Creuset didn't require much elbow grease to come clean (sometimes it does). Everything else went into the dishwasher.
The Paleo Review: Thumbs Up! The roasts flavor met the expectations its cooking aroma set for me. None of the flavors overpower the beef but complement it nicely. There really wasn't much cooking liquid or fat left in my pan to use as sauce as the recipe suggests.
As I ate some of the roast right after it was done, some was kinda chewy. I think that my roast could have probably stood another 10 minutes in the oven and that's not the fault of the recipe. This might be a good thing as the majority of this roast was sliced, portioned, and frozen. Perhaps the meat will be perfect when I reheat it.
Perhaps my only complaint about the recipe isn't really the recipe, but the website. I hate that I can't ask questions through comments. Sorry, Paleo Diet Lifestyle, but its true. I want comments!
What's your favorite way to cook a roast?