Perfect Roast Sirloin of Beef

It took me quite some years so perfect roast beef. I know topside and silverside are meant to be the best cuts, so I kept buying them; occasionally overcooking and getting frustrated over the fat involved (I detest fat!). As I eat beef the least of all meats - it something that I never got round to perfecting. But on I tried. And I have decided that the leanest, healthiest, easiest piece of beef to roast for me, is a sirloin of beef, off the bone. That may sound an expensive way to do it - and its not the cheapest I agree. But it is the best for healthy, juicy delicious roast beef.

A 1.5kg piece of sirloin costs around £20, sometimes less. Having roasted and sliced it - it makes enough for 6 generous meals which is about £3.30 a person. Added to vegetables, the meal still comes in well under £5.00 and tastes perfect. Unless you actually like fat on your beef, which means its probably not for you. But this is lean and juicy. And makes the most gorgeous gravy, of which I make enough for the whole roast so I can bag and freeze the remaining 4 portions after serving for an easy week day roast beef with mashed potatoes with gravy.

Ingredients:

1.5kg sirloin of beef
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled
small bunch fresh thyme
4 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 litre beef stock (cube is fine)

Method:

Set the oven to 240 C. Trim the majority of fat off the beef so you have a thin layer and massage the tbsp. oil into the beef. Slice the onion thickly and  lay in a roasting tin. Put the thyme on the onion and place the beef on top, seasoning with salt and pepper (see photo below).

Now put the tray in the oven and turn the heat immediately down to 200 C. Cook for 55 minutes for rare. One hour for medium rare, 1 hour 5 mins for medium and 1 hour 10 mins for well done. When the time is up, take the tray out of the oven, remove the beef and loosely wrap in foil to rest.

To make the gravy, set the oven tray directly onto the hob. Depending on the amount of fat you left on the beef (there should be very little), add about 1 tbsp. oil to the onions. The onions will be very dark, but that is what will be colouring the gravy. Turn the heat to medium under the roasting dish to heat up the oil. Add the flour and stir well, getting the onions incorporated and off the bottom of the tray. Now add a little stock at a time until you have a lovely meaty gravy. Add any juices from the rested beef for more flavour, strain and pour into a jug.

Slice the beef and enjoy!

Perfect Roast Beef

Diabetic Lemon Drizzle Cake

Some years ago, I used to make cakes for The Bloke's workplace, which they loved and I got to practice different recipes. The favourite was always my Lemon Drizzle Cake.

There was one chap there who is a diabetic so always missed out - so I came up with this recipe for a diabetic version. He was delighted as he got a whole cake when the others just got a slice! I've been promising him this recipe for ages, so Tony, here it is.

I use Hermesetas granulated sweetener in this recipe. As it is a very light product, rather than weigh the sugar - I find it best to use volume. 1 cup sweetener = 1 cup sugar.

Ingredients:

175g butter, softened
1 cup granulated sweetener
3 eggs
2 lemons
100g self raising flour
75g ground almonds
4-5 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup granulated sweetener


Method:

Set the oven to 180 C. Grease and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, mix the sweetener into the butter until incorporated and light. You can use an electric whisk but I used a fork. Break the eggs into the mix, one at a time until blended. Add the zest of the two lemons and stir in.

Sieve the flour into the bowl and fold in gently, followed by the ground almonds. It will be quite a stiff paste, so add about 4-5 tablespoons of milk, one at a time until you have a soft, dropping consistency.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake.

While the cake is baking, make the drizzle. In a small pan combine the juice from the 2 lemons and 1/2 cup of sweetener. Bring to the boil and reduce by about a third (about 3-4 minutes). Set to one side.

When the cake is cooked, leave to cool a little for 5 minutes. Using a skewer, make deep holes into the cake all over. Then spoon the drizzle over the top of the cake. Leave to cool completely before serving.

For those who want the recipe for a Lemon Drizzle using sugar, just substitute the sweetener for caster sugar!

Enjoy!

 

Spaghetti with Spicy Aribiatta Sauce (V)

This is an Italian dish that a friend requested a recipe for; I'm glad she did - it was a lovely lunch! Its another one of those dishes that has had all sorts of ingredients added to it, but I usually try to strip recipes back basics. Find out what the dish is trying to say to me and keep it simple. It never ceases to amaze me how much nicer food is when you don't mess around with it too much.

Arribiata literally means 'angry' in Italian, which can only be from the fiery heat of the chilli used in the sauce (of which there is quite a lot). You should really only have this sauce with penne pasta - but I like it with spaghetti and you must use fresh tomatoes, rather than tinned. You can also make this a meat dish by adding a chicken breast, maybe poached and sliced over the top with a drizzle more sauce. I wanted a light lunch and I also wanted the sauce to be the main ingredient. You don't need much - just enough to coat the pasta. With a little parmesan. Delicious!

Ingredients:    (Serves 2)

4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. chilli flakes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. sugar
200g dried pasta

Method:

Using a hand blender, process the tomatoes to a paste (its fine if you have a few whole pieces, in fact rather better if you do). Set to one side.

In a frying pan add the olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes. Now put on a very gentle heat. You don't want to burn or brown the garlic, you just need to cook gently and flavour the oil. It should take about 5 minutes. Then add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. At this stage the tomatoes will be quite light in colour.

Keeping on a low heat, cook the sauce for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes will darken as they cook. Taste to check for seasoning.

Cook the pasta of choice to the packets instructions, or until al dente, drain and add the pasta to the sauce, tossing well.

Serve with parmesan shavings and enjoy. Beware though...its HOT!

Simple ingredients!

This recipe can me made less hot by, of course, adding less chilli but I think its a sauce literally made for chilli fans!