SC - chicken on string (and beef)

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

Donna Kenton wrote:

> I still can't cook a decent roast beef, not even mundanely.  It's
> something we rarely had as a kid, so I can only cook a pot roast.  Of
> course, it's a wonderful pot roast, but beef by itself is something I
> tend to shy away from -- it's such an expensive mistake.
> 
> Any fool proof medieval recipes for a beef roast?  I've got a great pork
> roast recipe that I'll trade for it!
> 
> Rosalinde

At the risk of seeing all my perfectly good pompous pontification about
period cookery go to waste, I'd advise making sure you have an
appropriate cut for roasting. Despite what the supermarket, with their
generally odd sense of humor, says, this usually includes neither chuck
nor bottom round. But wait! There's more! Make sure there is at least
SOME fat on the outside. Health considerations notwithstanding, it
usually provides for a tastier roast.

If you are lucky enough to have a good butcher, you could ask him to
bard the roast, which involves wrapping the roast in paper-thin slices
of pork fat. It helps keep the meat moist, and can be removed after
cooking. If you have an insane butcher, like I have (but also am) you
can ask for it to be larded. This introduces the fat inside the meat,
and means that a tough piece of meat can be cooked for a long time (till
tender) without drying out.

In general, though, I'd say the thing to do is to season the meat highly
on the outside with salt and pepper, slivers of garlic, etc. Your call.
Put in a pan on a rack or on a bed of chopped carrots, onions, and
celery (1:2:1) Roast for 20 minutes at around 400 degrees F., then lower
the heat to 350 or 375 degrees F., and roast for 18-20 minutes per pound
of beef. 18 for rare, 20 and up for more well done. About 45 minutes or
half an hour before your impeccable math says it will be done, check
with a meat thermometer. Unless it is a really small piece of meat (like
under 2 pounds), it will continue to cook after it is out of the oven.

So, take it out when the thermometer reads 110-120 degress F. for rare
(the temperature will go up to around 140, which is really the
temperature for rare beef.

120-130 will carry over to about 145-150 for medium rare / medium.

140 or so will get you 155-160 for medium well.

Anything above that will get you well done beef (gag!)

Hope this helps! You can mess around with things like seasoned fresh
bread crumbs or flour, usually applied sometime during the cooking
process, but these aren't essential, and you should probably experiment
with these when you are feeling confident. (Sorry, Aoife!!!)

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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