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Roast beast! I made this yesterday with a bottom round roast (not one of the best roast beef cuts, but cheap and plenty good). Eye round, chuck eye, or top round also work nicely. This isn't how you'd want to cook a really good roast -- like a prime rib, or tenderloin -- but for your average for-dinner grocery store cut, it's quite nice.
Roast Beast
* an inexpensive roast cut
* salt
* 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
* freshly-ground black pepper
Unwrap the roast from its grocery store bondage. Sprinkle with salt (I salt fairly heavily, but I like a nice salty crust), cover with a clean dishtowel, and let sit open to the air for 30 minutes - 4 hours. (Longer, and you risk winding up with a layer of corned beef.)
Preheat the oven to 275F.
Heat the vegetable oil in an ovensafe pan or pot. I use my beloved 12-inch cast iron pan, but a dutch oven or other ovensafe pot will work fine. The oil should be quite hot, but not smoking.
Sear the roast on each side. To sear well, put the roast on one side and leave it without touching for at least one, and ideally two, minutes. Then flip it to another side. The seared side should have lovely browned parts, but should not be browned across its entire surface or have any blackened bits. If there are no browned parts, leave the next side for longer. If the whole thing is browned, or if there are blackened bits, leave it for less long.
When all of the sides are seared, jam a probe thermometer into it so that the tip of the thermometer is in the thickest part, and pop it in the oven and ignore it until the center of the roast reaches 125-130F (for medium rare). (If you don't have a probe thermometer... well, I'm not sure how long it'll take. It took me about an hour, ish. But probe thermometers are a thing of beauty and a joy forever.)
When the roast hits 130, turn off the oven but leave it in there for about ten minutes. It'll coast up about ten degrees; mine hit 143, ultimately. Meanwhile, if you like, make the potatoes and the horseradish cream. When it's done, pull it out of the oven, let it rest 5-10 more minutes, and slice thinly against the grain. (This is both easier and more elegant than trying to hack it up at the table.) Serve the slices, covered in their own juices, along with....
Horseradish Cream
* 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 2 tbsp horseradish (adjust to taste)
With a whisk, whisk the cream for 3 or so minutes, until it is frothy and starting to thicken but not even close to whipped cream. Add salt and pepper and beat for another minute. Add horseradish -- I start with one teaspoon and work my way up, tasting frequently, so it doesn't get too hot -- and beat after each addition. By the end, you should have a nice, thick, creamy sauce.
Pan-Fried Potatoes
* 3 medium-sized potatoes
* salt
* vegetable oil
Scrub the potatoes. Slice into eight pieces (lengthwise once, lengthwise again, and then in half). Salt.
In a frying pan or skillet, add oil up to 1/4 inch up the sides. Heat until quite hot but not smoking.
Add the potatoes in a single layer, so that one cut side is down in the oil. Ignore them for 5-7 minutes. This is important! If you move them around, they won't develop a good crust. After the time has elapsed, flip them and cook again on a second cut side, without moving or stirring, for another 5-7 minutes. Then give them a good stir (they should end up in a single layer, but it doesn't matter what side is down), cover the pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes more.
If properly done, they should have a nice, crusty side which is a mahogany color, and another side which is a lighter golden brown.
...This isn't even a recipe, it's so simple. If you like the Old Spaghetti Factory dish of the same name.... well, it's really easy to make. And fast.
Spaghetti with Myzithra and Browned Butter
For two people:
* 1/2 lb spaghetti (or other pasta, though long, thin pastas work better than chunky shaped pasta)
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
* myzithra (as much as you like)
Put water on to boil for the pasta.
In a small saucepan (ideally one with a light-colored interior), add the butter. Heat over medium heat until it bubbles and froths, and then the bubbles die down. Watch it like a hawk until it starts to lightly brown. Stir well. Allow to brown and stir until it is a light hazelnut color, then turn off the heat. (Don't let it get too dark or it will taste nasty, but some browning gives it a good flavor.)
When the water boils, add the spaghetti.
Add the minced or pressed garlic to the butter, and let the residual heat in the fat cook it, stirring often. Grate the myzithra -- I usually wind up with 1/3 to 1/2 cup per two people. Adjust depending on how much you like myzithra. (We really like it.)
When the spaghetti is done, drain. Pour half of the butter into each bowl. Top with half of the spaghetti in each bowl, tossing vigorously. Add the cheese and toss vigorously.
Serve. We had it with a dry riesling (Snoqualmie Terroir Riesling, for those in Washington).
Roast Beast
* an inexpensive roast cut
* salt
* 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
* freshly-ground black pepper
Unwrap the roast from its grocery store bondage. Sprinkle with salt (I salt fairly heavily, but I like a nice salty crust), cover with a clean dishtowel, and let sit open to the air for 30 minutes - 4 hours. (Longer, and you risk winding up with a layer of corned beef.)
Preheat the oven to 275F.
Heat the vegetable oil in an ovensafe pan or pot. I use my beloved 12-inch cast iron pan, but a dutch oven or other ovensafe pot will work fine. The oil should be quite hot, but not smoking.
Sear the roast on each side. To sear well, put the roast on one side and leave it without touching for at least one, and ideally two, minutes. Then flip it to another side. The seared side should have lovely browned parts, but should not be browned across its entire surface or have any blackened bits. If there are no browned parts, leave the next side for longer. If the whole thing is browned, or if there are blackened bits, leave it for less long.
When all of the sides are seared, jam a probe thermometer into it so that the tip of the thermometer is in the thickest part, and pop it in the oven and ignore it until the center of the roast reaches 125-130F (for medium rare). (If you don't have a probe thermometer... well, I'm not sure how long it'll take. It took me about an hour, ish. But probe thermometers are a thing of beauty and a joy forever.)
When the roast hits 130, turn off the oven but leave it in there for about ten minutes. It'll coast up about ten degrees; mine hit 143, ultimately. Meanwhile, if you like, make the potatoes and the horseradish cream. When it's done, pull it out of the oven, let it rest 5-10 more minutes, and slice thinly against the grain. (This is both easier and more elegant than trying to hack it up at the table.) Serve the slices, covered in their own juices, along with....
Horseradish Cream
* 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp pepper
* 2 tbsp horseradish (adjust to taste)
With a whisk, whisk the cream for 3 or so minutes, until it is frothy and starting to thicken but not even close to whipped cream. Add salt and pepper and beat for another minute. Add horseradish -- I start with one teaspoon and work my way up, tasting frequently, so it doesn't get too hot -- and beat after each addition. By the end, you should have a nice, thick, creamy sauce.
Pan-Fried Potatoes
* 3 medium-sized potatoes
* salt
* vegetable oil
Scrub the potatoes. Slice into eight pieces (lengthwise once, lengthwise again, and then in half). Salt.
In a frying pan or skillet, add oil up to 1/4 inch up the sides. Heat until quite hot but not smoking.
Add the potatoes in a single layer, so that one cut side is down in the oil. Ignore them for 5-7 minutes. This is important! If you move them around, they won't develop a good crust. After the time has elapsed, flip them and cook again on a second cut side, without moving or stirring, for another 5-7 minutes. Then give them a good stir (they should end up in a single layer, but it doesn't matter what side is down), cover the pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes more.
If properly done, they should have a nice, crusty side which is a mahogany color, and another side which is a lighter golden brown.
...This isn't even a recipe, it's so simple. If you like the Old Spaghetti Factory dish of the same name.... well, it's really easy to make. And fast.
Spaghetti with Myzithra and Browned Butter
For two people:
* 1/2 lb spaghetti (or other pasta, though long, thin pastas work better than chunky shaped pasta)
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
* myzithra (as much as you like)
Put water on to boil for the pasta.
In a small saucepan (ideally one with a light-colored interior), add the butter. Heat over medium heat until it bubbles and froths, and then the bubbles die down. Watch it like a hawk until it starts to lightly brown. Stir well. Allow to brown and stir until it is a light hazelnut color, then turn off the heat. (Don't let it get too dark or it will taste nasty, but some browning gives it a good flavor.)
When the water boils, add the spaghetti.
Add the minced or pressed garlic to the butter, and let the residual heat in the fat cook it, stirring often. Grate the myzithra -- I usually wind up with 1/3 to 1/2 cup per two people. Adjust depending on how much you like myzithra. (We really like it.)
When the spaghetti is done, drain. Pour half of the butter into each bowl. Top with half of the spaghetti in each bowl, tossing vigorously. Add the cheese and toss vigorously.
Serve. We had it with a dry riesling (Snoqualmie Terroir Riesling, for those in Washington).
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Grating it oneself is definitely worth it, though (and grating myzithra is easy, since it's fairly dry and crumbly).
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