Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Stout Beef Roast



Mara at What's for Dinner? graciously invited me over as a dinner guest yesterday. Well... as an internet dinner guest. She published one of my articles as a guest post. I am posting it here as well (with a few minor modifications).

Enjoy!

So I had a sirloin roast in my fridge... For two days.

I had no idea what to do with it, but I had a hankering for beer. Good beer. So I went to the grocery. Browsing in the (upscale) beer section, I saw it: Murphy's Stout. No, not to drink. This brew was for the roast!

To be honest, I did buy beer to drink too. Abita Abbey Ale, Abita Turbodog, and a Lobster Lovers Beer. What? Too much? I don't think so! You gotta have something to sip on in the kitchen!

So I poured myself a cold one (or two!) and I got to work.

This is what I needed, and this is what I did:

Ingredients:

  • 1 4 lbs. Beef Roast, at room temperature

  • 2 to 3 tbsp Salt and freshly ground pepper, or to taste

  • ⅛ to ¼ tsp Ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

  • 2 pint Beer (Stout), at room temperature

  • 2 to 3 Russet Potatoes, cubed

  • 3 or 4 Carrots, diced

  • 7 to 9 cloves Garlic, sliced thickly

  • 3 medium to large Onions, sliced length-wise

  • 3 to 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, or to taste

  • 1 Lemon, juice of

Directions:
1. Make numerous small slits in both sides of the roast (space them evenly). Stuff the slits with the sliced garlic. I slice the garlic into small, thick pieces so that they will fit into the slits.

2. Liberally season the roast with coarse ground sea salt and black pepper. Rub it in well.

3. In a hot dutch oven or large pot, pour enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom. Brown both sides of the roast for several minutes. Then, transfer to crockpot.

4. Add a bit of water to the hot dutch oven or pot. With a strong spatula or large spoon, scrape the bottom to loosen up the debris. Add water and debris to the crockpot. Then add Worcestershire Sauce.

5. Pour 2 pints of Stout (I use Murphy's Stout... not too expensive. About $1.50/can.) to the crockpot. At this point, the roast should be covered with liquid.

6. Add the onions, potatoes, carrots to the crockpot. You could also put some on the bottom the crockpot before you put the roast in.

7. Turn crockpot on high and let it cook for 3 or 4 hours.

8. Turn crockpot down to low and let cook for several hours (5 or more?).

9. Add the juice of one lemon and extra salt & cayenne to taste.

10. Serve with rice.

NOTE: Just made this the other day. I cooked it on high for about 3 to 4 hours, then turned it to low and cooked it for about 8 more hours! Delicious and fall-off-the-fork tender.


(Serves 10)