Today is President’s Day in America, where we honor our former leaders’ significant legacies by offering discounts on mattresses. While not the most noble way to honor our forefathers, I’ve been employing a seemingly more significant way to honor them, by making meals which correlate to their culinary preferences from when they spent time in office. It’s a great way to get my girls involved in learning some history, after they pick the name from the hat. In the past, before I had a blog, I used to honor one president, but having 2 children interested in this culinary celebration, I’ve had to change it up recently.
This year, like in 2022, one of my children picked a very recent president…much to her dismay because she “wanted to learn about somebody from the old days.” I guess she was jealous as her older sister then picked the other president who started his term in office 100 years ago! But, they both have something in common - quirks about the food they most enjoyed. President Biden, who has a childlike palate, enjoys his pasta marinara with a twist…the noodles need to be buttered as well. Calvin Coolidge, on the other hand, always requested a small dish of roast beef to be served to him…no matter what else was being served for dinner, even when guests were present. You all can figure out how to make the pasta, but here’s a slow-roasted beef recipe that can turn a cheaper cut into a star. Also, I used the remainder of the roast for another dish that will be on the blog later this week. So, keep an eye out for that!
Here's an additional fun fact about this meal. As I started plating-up dinner, it hit me that I had forgotten to pick-up a bottle of red wine at the grocery store. However, Megan let me know we had one last bottle on-hand...from none other than Stone Tower Winery. When I uncorked it, I recognized it was a 2021, which was the year we were married there. I relayed to everyone at the table the amazing coincidences, including that a different varietal (a 2021 "Kristi" Chardonnay) was served-up when Biden hosted Prime Minister Modi of India for a White House Dinner last summer!
Slow-Roasted Beef
from America’s Test Kitchen, David Pazmiño
~4 lb boneless eye-round roast
1 tbsp Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Remote probe thermometer (optional, but helpful)
Unpackage the roast. Pat it dry and trim away any excess fat and sinew.
Dry the roast once more, then sprinkle the salt all over the beef, gently patting it into the meat.
Wrap-up the roast in cling film and refrigerate for 18-24 hours.
After the roast has salted, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat and preheat the oven to 225 with the rack set in the middle of the oven.
Meanwhile, remove the roast from the cling wrap and pat it dry once more. Rub 2 tsp of oil all over the roast and season liberally with freshly-ground black pepper.
Once the oil in the skillet begins to smoke, place the roast down in the skillet and sear, 3 minutes per side, as well as one minute on each end. Open the doors or windows (even if you have a good exhaust hood) as the pan will give off a lot of smoke during the searing process.
Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a rack in the baking sheet.
When the roast is evenly browned, place it on the prepared baking sheet, insert the probe thermometer into the thickest part in the middle of the roast, and place it in the oven.
Once the roast hits 120 degrees, about 90 mins, turn off the oven but leave the roast inside until it reaches 130 degrees, another 40 minutes or so. Then, remove from the oven and set on a cutting board for at least 20 minutes to rest.
Note: If the beef starts dropping temperature before reaching 130 degrees, turn the oven back on to 200 to help increase the internal temperature of the beef.
After the beef has rested 20-30 minutes, and using a very sharp chef’s knife, slice the meat as thinly as possible and serve.
______________________________ Copyright 2024, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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