Bottom Round Roast

Before the weather gets too hot for roasts, we had decided to do one more proper Sunday Roast and … the weather was Very Very cooperative and we had a very cool day tonight. Perfect beef roast weather !

The bottom round roast was coated in olive oil, chopped garlic, ground Italian herbs, and freshly ground pepper and roasted for about 15 minutes at 400-degrees. During that time we washed and halved some red potatoes, covered them with water in a small sauce pan – brought them to a steady boil then turned them off. The drained potatoes were added to the meat pan (my Heart also added about 2 Tbsp of crisco to the pan), sliced side Down, and were seasoned with herbs and pepper. The pan was then returned to the oven, temperature reduced to 375-degrees for 1 hour.

Fresh green beans were washed and the end picked off then placed in a skillet, with a lid, and covered in water.

Some slivered almonds were toasted in a small skillet until just lightly browned, and set aside. The beans were brought to a full boil and then covered and the heat was turned off. After about 20 minutes they were drained and a hearty dollop of butter (probably 2 Tbsp) and the almonds were added to the pan – I usually put the heat up to high for just a minute or two to make sure that they aren’t watery.

During this whole process, my Heart is making Yorkshire pudding. First – right after the roast went into the oven – he mixes sifted all-purpose flour, milk, eggs, and salt with the mixer into a slightly foamy batter. This rests in the fridge for the hour that the roast is cooking. Then, the oven is turned back up to 400-degrees in prep for baking the Yorkshire. This time he decided to do Individual Yorkshires so he heated four round aluminum cake pans (the disposable kind) with about 1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp of crisco each. There should be enough crisco so that the entire base of the pan is covered. Once Hot and melted, the cold batter is poured into each pan and they are returned to the oven to bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Definitely do NOT open / check the oven until the very end – they need to maintain the temperature so they will rise (think popover or souffle). The individual Yorkshires were wonderful.

Roast, potatoes, green beans served up

Meal served up (without and with gravy) – absolutely delicious

I was also remiss and did not take a picture of the amazing dessert my Heart concocted – just wanted to eat it. Croissant dough with almond paste, canned peach half, a touch of Armagnac – individual servings – baked until golden brown and topped with warmed vanilla custard (British style)