If you placed lamb, chicken or beef in front of me naturally I would go for the lamb.
I love its flavour especially when cooked the "Greek way"; using lemon juice, olive oil and oregano.
Like anything though, it's good to take a break otherwise things can get quite monotonous and boring. For the first time in a long time, I prepared a roast beef for a dinner party I held a few weeks ago.
One of the guests, who is also a good friend of mine, isn't really into the "gamey" taste of lamb. So off I went in search of something different.
As soon as I saw the slabs of Angus beef at the butchers I knew I wanted to play around with this protein.
I chose a rump roast that weighed approximately one kilo and had the butcher apply a "net" over the roast to help keep its shape whilst cooking.
I have to say-it was a fat little thing!
I was a little concerned that it would come out a little too rare but I used the "touch method" to determine it's done-ness. (I highly recommend you get a meat thermometer if you really want to be sure-every cut of meat is different and so is every oven).
To help the roast beef recipe along I made a chimichurri style sauce.
Not really sure if it's the "real deal" but it certainly tasted great.
I used one half of the chimichurri sauce as a marinade and the other half was served as an accompanying sauce.
I marinated the beef the night before I cooked it and allowed it to come to room temperature one hour before I began to roast it. There wasn't much marbling in the actual meat itself, so I took the "slow approach" when cooking it.
For the first half hour I had my temperature at 180 deg C and then I dropped it down to 160/155. I made sure to turn the roast beef every half hour and baste it in the combination of juices and marinade that had made their way to the bottom of the pan.
I served it up with a roast corn salsa to which I also added a can of rinsed black beans.
Add some coriander rice on the side (and don't forget the crisp Sauvignon Blanc!) and the main course was served.
P.S. All leftover roast beef was turned into sandwiches!
Roast Beef with Chimichurri
Ingredients
- 1 kilogram rump roast, rump roast
- ½ cup flat leaf parsley
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil , to bring it all together to make a paste/sauce (may need more - adjust accordingly)
Instructions
- Prepare your beef by cleaning it under some cool running water. Pat dry with some paper towels.
- Prepare the chimichurri salsa by combining all the ingredients (except the olive oil) in a food processor. Whizz everything together and begin pouring the olive oil through the spout in a steady stream until everything comes together and you have some kind of paste/sauce. I like to add a little extra olive oil and keep the sauce slightly runny.
- Place the beef in a non reactive bowl and pour half the chimichurri over it. Massage the marinade into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.
- Allow the beef to come to room temperature (approx one hour before roasting) and place in a hot 180 deg C oven for half an hour. (I like to drizzle a little more oil over the beef before I roast it)
- Turn the temperature down to 160 deg C and turn the beef over and baste it with combination of juices and marinade-do this every half hour (if you find it’s a little dry add a little water)
- After approx 2 hours take your beef out and allow it to rest, covered with aluminium foil.
- Slice and serve with chimichurri sauce
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