I haven't forgotten

I haven't forgotten to post new recipes to this BLOG. I haven't forgotten how to cook, either. I just have had only one opportunity to cook this past week. And, because this recipe wasn't something my mom would have cooked, I had no remembrances of recipes past -- therefore, I guess I have forgotten, something!

The only meal I actually cooked this week included a rare sirloin roast which wasn't too tough to cut, and which when reheated, still stayed rare in the center. A trick I learned about cooking beef rare was actually learned on The Food Channel several years ago.

I think it was Bobby Flay who was making a standing rib roast at Christmas time -- something I used to do every year when the children were growing up, were living at home, and we spent Christmas Day all together, so it was worth cooking something. Anyway, he made this roast and it looked yummy, so I tried his method to get the perfect crusty roast with a rare center.

He suggested pre-heating the oven to 450 degrees, putting the roast in the oven at that temperature for 15 minutes, then cutting the temperature back to 350 degrees for an hour, which was enough time to cook a four-rib roast.

Well, roasts without bones do not have to be cooked as long, and timing is all important if you want a crusty, rare roast of sirloin. So, while I can't promise that your roast will be crusty and rare if you follow my recipe, I know that mine USUALLY is just right, and the amount of juice from the roast makes just enough gravy for a small to medium roast.

I usually get a 2-3 pound roast. I set it in the 450 degree oven for 15 minutes, then cut it back, and cook it for 45 minutes. I remove it from the oven after the 45-minute period and let it rest for 15 minutes. There will be "reddish" juice coming from the roast, which I pour back into the pan where the drippings are. I add one cup of water to the pan drippings, then thicken the drips with cornstarch (equal parts water and cornstarch), using a whisk to get all the drippings well mixed.

NOTE: If the juice from the roast isn't reddish, then it isn't rare in the middle, as you will find out when you slice into it.

I usually serve the roast with baked potatoes and a salad. That's it. Tonight, the potatoes didn't cook in time, so we just had roast and salad which was fine. The other night, when I first cooked the roast we had it with corn on the cob, instead of baked potatoes, and the requisite salad.

I say "requisite salad" because I am, after all, of Italian descent, and there was never a meal when we didn't have a green, leafy salad with our dinner.

ttfn