Did this again on Saturday night and have made some vital adjustments to the recipe. We also added green beans with tomatoes which went pretty well.
As usual too much meat and too many potatoes were consumed but .. who cares.
It was also washed down with a couple of very nice bottles of Il Bruciato
Roast Beef with Rosemary
Ingredients For 6
1kg - 1.5kg Piece of beef from the thick end of the fillet
sea salt and ground black pepper
10 - 15 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or more if they are short. You need to cover the whole length of the meat)
extra virgin olive oil
1 glass red wine, preferably Chianti.
Method
Pre heat oven to 225c
season fillet all over with s and p
Make a layer of rosemary on a board using half the sprigs, place the fillet on top and then cover with the remaining rosemary. it should be completely covered.
Now tie with butchers string (or the great silicone ties Martha gave me)
Choose a roasting tray in which the beef will fit snugly. Drizzle the tray with olive oil, add the filet and then drizzle more oil over. Place a piece of foil over loosely and put into the oven.
The River cafe recipe says to roast for 10 minutes, then turn the meat over, add the wine, replace the foil and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes for medium rare. My experience has been that means that the meat is extremely rare even for a blood loving carnivore like me. I would cook it for at around another 5 minutes but obviously caution is required to avoid over cooking. If you have a decent meat thermometer (and lets face it everyone should have one) you want the meat to be between 47 and 50 degrees at the centre when you take it out of the oven.
Once you have removed the beef from the oven let the beef sit in the roasting pan for 5 minutes. Now remove the rosemary and place the meat on a warm serving dish. It's amazing how much the beef will continue to cook as it cools down. Do not worry if it looks a bit bloody when it comes out .... hold your nerve AND don't be tempted to carve it to check. Have faith!
Strain the juices into a jug and serve the beef cut into slices about 1cm thick with a little of the wine juices and plenty of olive oil poured over it.
Roast potatoes from Lucca
ingredients
1.75kg waxy potatoes
2 small red onions peeled
6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh sage
120ml dry white wine
100ml ex virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 generous teaspoon fennel seeds crushed
method
Pre heat oven to 200c
peel potatoes and slice into fairly fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can.
Put them in cold water to wash off excess starch, drain and pat dry and then put in a large mixing bowl.
finely slice the red onion and, keeping the garlic cloves whole just press them to partly crush them. Wash the herbs and pull the leaves from the woody stems.. Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to make sure the potatoes and herbs are coated with the oil and wine.
choose a baking tray that will fit all the potatoes in spread in not too thick a layer (but not too thin or they will burn at the edges). Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 35 mins.
Remove the foil , then, using tfork, break up all of the the potatoes and herbs to make a rough mash. Drizzle with olive oil.
Return the tray to the hot oven and roast for a further 45- 50 mins, until the potatoes are brown and crisp and still light and fluffy underneath.Keep an eye on them and don't let them burn.
Green beans with tomatoes
For 6
Ingredients
1 500g jar or tin of peeled plum tomatoes
1kg green beans, tailed
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
Method
Blanch the beans in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan and add the garlic. Gently fry before adding half of the basil and season.
Add the tomatoes, and keeping the heat high, cook to reduce to a thick sauce, which should take 10 minutes.
Add the beans, stir to combine and season with black pepper. Add the remaining basil leaves and serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
As usual too much meat and too many potatoes were consumed but .. who cares.
It was also washed down with a couple of very nice bottles of Il Bruciato
Roast Beef with Rosemary
Ingredients For 6
1kg - 1.5kg Piece of beef from the thick end of the fillet
sea salt and ground black pepper
10 - 15 sprigs of fresh rosemary (or more if they are short. You need to cover the whole length of the meat)
extra virgin olive oil
1 glass red wine, preferably Chianti.
Method
Pre heat oven to 225c
season fillet all over with s and p
Make a layer of rosemary on a board using half the sprigs, place the fillet on top and then cover with the remaining rosemary. it should be completely covered.
Now tie with butchers string (or the great silicone ties Martha gave me)
Choose a roasting tray in which the beef will fit snugly. Drizzle the tray with olive oil, add the filet and then drizzle more oil over. Place a piece of foil over loosely and put into the oven.
The River cafe recipe says to roast for 10 minutes, then turn the meat over, add the wine, replace the foil and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes for medium rare. My experience has been that means that the meat is extremely rare even for a blood loving carnivore like me. I would cook it for at around another 5 minutes but obviously caution is required to avoid over cooking. If you have a decent meat thermometer (and lets face it everyone should have one) you want the meat to be between 47 and 50 degrees at the centre when you take it out of the oven.
Once you have removed the beef from the oven let the beef sit in the roasting pan for 5 minutes. Now remove the rosemary and place the meat on a warm serving dish. It's amazing how much the beef will continue to cook as it cools down. Do not worry if it looks a bit bloody when it comes out .... hold your nerve AND don't be tempted to carve it to check. Have faith!
Strain the juices into a jug and serve the beef cut into slices about 1cm thick with a little of the wine juices and plenty of olive oil poured over it.
Roast potatoes from Lucca
ingredients
1.75kg waxy potatoes
2 small red onions peeled
6 garlic clove, peeled and kept whole
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
6 sprigs fresh sage
120ml dry white wine
100ml ex virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 generous teaspoon fennel seeds crushed
method
Pre heat oven to 200c
peel potatoes and slice into fairly fine slices (5mm) use a mandoline if you can.
Put them in cold water to wash off excess starch, drain and pat dry and then put in a large mixing bowl.
finely slice the red onion and, keeping the garlic cloves whole just press them to partly crush them. Wash the herbs and pull the leaves from the woody stems.. Add the onion, garlic and herbs to the bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss well to make sure the potatoes and herbs are coated with the oil and wine.
choose a baking tray that will fit all the potatoes in spread in not too thick a layer (but not too thin or they will burn at the edges). Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 35 mins.
Remove the foil , then, using tfork, break up all of the the potatoes and herbs to make a rough mash. Drizzle with olive oil.
Return the tray to the hot oven and roast for a further 45- 50 mins, until the potatoes are brown and crisp and still light and fluffy underneath.Keep an eye on them and don't let them burn.
Green beans with tomatoes
For 6
Ingredients
1 500g jar or tin of peeled plum tomatoes
1kg green beans, tailed
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
extra virgin olive oil
Method
Blanch the beans in salted boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan and add the garlic. Gently fry before adding half of the basil and season.
Add the tomatoes, and keeping the heat high, cook to reduce to a thick sauce, which should take 10 minutes.
Add the beans, stir to combine and season with black pepper. Add the remaining basil leaves and serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
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