SC - Where's the beef, or, where's the sacrificial lamb?

[Stefan li Rous]

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain said:
> My first attemp at redacting the roast beef recipe came out fairly 
> well.  I had a 1.5 pound beef shoulder roast, about 2 inches thick.  I 
> coated it with 2 TBS kosher salt, 2 TBS crushed black pepper, 1 
> TBS fennel seeds, and a large minced garlic clove.  I covered the 
> meat with plastic wrap, weighed it down with cast iron skillets, and 
> left it in the fridge for 4 hours.

Sounds interesting.

> Results: the meat was a touch more cooked than I cared for.  Next 
> time I would cook it to medium.  The seasonings were delicious, 
> but a bit too intensely spicy, and I found the texture of the whole 
> fennel seeds annoying.  Next time, reduce seasonings, and 
> possibly used ground fennel instead of whole seeds.  Maybe a 
> fattier chuck roast would produce more drippings?
> 
> Conclusion: certainly worth trying again.  The flavor combinations 
> worked much better than I would have guessed.

So, did compressing/wieghting down the meat make any apparent differance?

I was wondering how much effect whole fennel seeds would have. I think
I might try rough ground or crushed fennel seeds rather than the
powdered/finely ground fennel you seem to be recommending for a future
trial. You might have to grind your own though to get that texture.

- -- 
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
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