FOOD FOR THOUGHT




UPCOMING EVENTS

Tabasco Roast with Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

This dish is not only simple, but it is delicious. Now you will be able to stun unexpected guests or at the very least have a great, and healthy meal during the week, that will not take forever to prepare and cook.

Another great thing about this dish is how effectively cheap it is. Lets start with the roasted potatoes and carrots. Nothing can be simpler. At a cost of less than 12.00, you can have a wonderful side dish, or even a nice vegan style dish if you wish to serve it as a main course.

I typically love to use red potatoes, about 3 pounds worth. Just pick up a bag of carrots, organic or whichever you prefer. If you would like additional flavor, pick up a sweet onion.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Take the biggest bowl you have and fill 3/4 full with cold water. Set aside. Take your potatoes, with the skins still on, and start to cube them into pieces that are roughly the same size. What this does is allows the potatoes to be cooked at the same time. Remember, bigger pieces take longer to cook and therefore you would have either pieces that are overcooked, or some that are undercooked. After cubing the potatoes, put them into the cold water and let them sit to remove any extra starch and dirt you may have missed when washing them before.

Take about 10 carrots and chop them into roughly the same size as the cubed potatoes. Add them to the cold water.

If you did purchase an onion, remove the outer skin and cut in half, then chop roughly.

Drain the carrots and potatoes from the bowl of water, then add back to the same bowl. Add the onions and stir to combine. If you wish, you can also take a couple cloves of garlic, mince them and add them to the bowl. Add just enough olive oil to cover all the veggies, stirring to make sure everything is covered. Add your spices. I prefer my super secret spice mix, some garlic powder, and just some store bought Italian Seasoning spice.

Move all the ingredients into a 9x13 baking dish. Move to the oven and bake for about 1 hour and 30 mins, depending on your oven. The time can be adjusted depending on how crunchy you would like your veggies. I wouldn't let them cook for any less than an hour.

You can either serve from here, or let cool to room temp and move to a storage container. This will keep for a week in the fridge and is great for a quick meal or side for lunch, work, or as a dinner side.

Now for the main course. This is so simple your going to love it. The only tool that you will need here is your digital thermometer. If you don't have one, go buy one, it's worth it, and can be used for anything that you place in your oven.

I will be honest. I am not picky when it comes to cuts of meat, as long as there is protein on my plate, I am happy. You can walk into any supermarket and find a good roast. Go over to the Beef section and look around. You will find some good roasts for good money, and you will find some other roasts for cheaper. I personally look for a roast that does not have a lot of fat located on the outside of the cut. If the fat is mixed within the meat thats ok, it will add flavor to the meat when cooked, but that hard fat on the outside of the roast, thats not good stuff. I try to look for something around 3 pounds. Try to get something that is a couple ounces over what your target weight is, you don't want to forget the access fat you will be trimming off, and that will decrease the weight of your roast. Now for the last piece of advice, if your 3lb roast is more than 15 bucks, your paying too much ;)

Alright, now that you have your roast, take it out of the package, wrap in some plastic wrap, and put it in your fridge. Let it sit there for at least 24 hours. Yes, I'm not crazy. No, it won't contaminate any other foods in your fridge if it is isolated properly. Try to store it on the bottom most shelf in your fridge, and no, it won't go bad.

After letting it sit in there for a couple days, you may notice that the outside is no longer a red color, but more close to a brown. You may notice a slight smell. All this is normal. What we are doing by letting it sit is that natural bacteria located inside the roast is breaking down all the fat and connective tissues inside the meat, causing it to become more tender. The longer you let it sit, the more tender and flavorful it will be, but it will also smell more :) If it makes you feel more comfortable, when you are ready to prepare the roast, rinse it under cold water quickly.

When you are ready to cook your roast, preheat your oven to 350F. Take an oven safe skillet or cast iron and place it over very high heat. As the pan starts to heat, take your roast and remove any access fat located on the outside of the meat. If you start cutting into the fat located inside the roast, it will fall apart and not keep its shape. Cover in olive oil and season with a little salt on each side. Place in pan. You want to cook all exposed sides for 1 min per side.

This is the most important tool that you will need for the job, your digital thermometer. It should have an alarm that will sound when you reach a certain temp. Set it for 80F, remove the roast from the pan and pierce it into the exact center of your roast. Cover the roast in Tabasco or your favorite hot sauce. Add pre-roasted carrots and potatoes to the pan and place the roast on top. Move the entire pan into the oven and roast it until your alarm sounds.

Without removing the probe, flip the roast over, cover with some more hot sauce and set your alarm for 115F. When the alarm sounds, remove from the oven, and wrap roast in aluminum foil without removing probe and let sit until thermometer reads between 125F-130F. Alot of people who cook roasts forget about carry over temperatures. There is enough heat leftover in the roast to cook it the rest of the way. If we let it cook in the oven until 130F, the roast will be overcooked and will become dry when cut. Taking it out of the oven when it's not completely done will not only let the carry over temp cook it the rest of the way, but it will also give the roast time to redistribute the juices through the roast.

The temperatures can be adjusted for your desired doneness. Cooking it to about 115F-120F and letting it sit to about 125F-130F will produce a rare roast. If you desire medium-rare, you should remove your roast from the oven around 125F and let it coast over to about 135F.

When the roast is ready, place roasted potatoes and carrots inside of a dish able to hold everything, slice the roast and place on top. Serve family style.

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