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| Tied and guyed |
Getting on for two months since our last serious beef, noticed at reference 1, we took another Sunday just past. Having ordered it a few days before, not best pleased that the fore rib of beef I had been expecting had morphed into rolled rib of beef, with just a few token bits of bone still there. It was all wrapped and ready for me when I arrived, but I thought it proper to take a look. Story one was about how carveries liked it that way. Story two story about how it had come from the abattoir that way, but I suspect it had actually been prepared for some other customer who had changed their mind, or worse still just not bothered to turn up to collect it.
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| Tomahawks |
On the up side, I did learn about a tomahawks, a rib of beef cut rather in the way of a lamb cutlet, with a long tail. I think they arrived at the butcher shrink wrapped and he said that he usually had them in for the weekend, when they were popular for barbecues, despite their slightly awkward size, being a bit big for one, especially a lady. But tempted and in the absence of barbecue, I suppose we might grill them, not that our electric grill is that clever.
Back with the joint to hand, it weighed in at 5lbs and 12oz, and on the basis of the successful beef at reference 1 decided on two and a half hours at 190°C, including 20 minutes resting, so into the preheated oven at 1130. Took a look at 1300 and basted it. Turned the oven off, and transferred the beef to to a serving dish and returned it to the oven to rest.
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| Served |
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| Sliced |
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| Slices |
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| Sauce |
Drained about a cup of flour out of the roasting dish and then roux'd a bit of flour, after a fashion. With the resultant paste being added to the sauce that I had confected from garlic, onion, celery and carrot. Simmered for an hour or so in a little oil, with the sliced carrots being added towards the end, then passed through the blender. Textured, rather in the way of one of those organic vegetable soups in a milk carton, rather than smooth in the way of custard. And as it turned out, it did rather well with first the brown rice and on the two cold meat days following with the mashed potato.
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| The end of the beginning |
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| The sauce was rather thicker than it looks here |
Plus brown rice, plus crinkly cabbage. Spot of Sauvignon blanc by way of apéritif, spot of Waitrose's Pomerol with the main business. As good as it was on the occasion noticed at reference 2.
Plenty of sauce left over, with some of it being reheated the following day to pour over some rather dry brown bread. Or to be more precise, poured into a hollow made in some rather dry brown bread. From where it went down very well. Sharpening steel from Japan, via a car boot sale at Hook Road Arena.
While the crows were not performing with the scraps of fat. Their usual form is to come down within a few minutes, to parade around the back lawn, and then, very nonchalantly at first, to get stuck in. On this occasion they failed to perform, although they did deign to turn up about an hour after the scraps had been put out.
So while more or less bone free, the beef did very well. There was plenty of fat, which would have contributed to the good flavour - very lean beef not being too clever in that department. And I think BH rather liked the way it was much easier to carve with most of the bone out. Proper slices, like in a restaurant.
By the end of Wednesday lunchtime, down to the stump, which will probably serve for a salad snack. Passed on cottage pie on this occasion.
What will I ask for next time?
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