Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (178 page)
MAKES
¹⁄
3
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
TOP LOIN ROAST
4 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
1¹⁄ | tablespoons chopped fresh thyme |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh sage |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh parsley |
1 | small garlic clove, minced |
Salt and pepper |
While meat roasts, stir together butter, herbs, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside until needed. After roast has rested, spread butter evenly over surface of roast.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Roasting inexpensive beef usually yields tough meat best suited for sandwiches. We wanted to transform a bargain cut into a tender, juicy roast that could stand on its own at dinner. The eye-round roast has good flavor and relative tenderness, and it also has a uniform shape that guarantees even cooking. Searing the meat before roasting as well as salting it a full 24 hours before roasting vastly improved flavor. But the big surprise was the method that produced remarkably tender and juicy beef—roasting the meat at a very low 225 degrees and then turning off the oven toward the end of cooking. This approach allowed the meat’s enzymes to act as natural tenderizers, breaking down its tough connective tissue.
SERVES 6 TO 8
We don’t recommend cooking this roast past medium. Open the oven door as little as possible and remove the roast from the oven while taking its temperature. If the roast has not reached the desired temperature in the time specified in step 3, heat the oven to 225 degrees for 5 minutes, shut it off, and continue to cook the roast to the desired temperature. For a smaller (2¹⁄
2
- to 3¹⁄
2
-pound) roast, reduce the amount of salt to 1 tablespoon and pepper to 1¹⁄
2
teaspoons. For a 4¹⁄
2
- to 6-pound roast, cut in half crosswise before cooking to create 2 smaller roasts. Slice the roast as thin as possible and serve with Horseradish Cream Sauce (recipe follows), if desired.
1 | (3¹⁄ |
4 | teaspoons kosher salt |
2 | teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil |
2 | teaspoons pepper |
1.
Season all sides of roast evenly with salt. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate 18 to 24 hours.
2.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 degrees. Pat roast dry with paper towels; rub with 2 teaspoons oil and season all sides evenly with pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Sear roast until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer roast to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Roast until meat registers 115 degrees (for medium-rare), 1¹⁄
4
to 1³⁄
4
hours, or 125 degrees (for medium), 1³⁄
4
to 2¹⁄
4
hours.
3.
Turn oven off; leave roast in oven, without opening door, until meat registers 130 degrees (for medium-rare) or 140 degrees (for medium), 30 to 50 minutes longer. Transfer roast to carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice meat as thin as possible and serve.
SALTING—THE SECRET TO JUICY ROASTS
We’re big advocates of brining in the test kitchen (see
“TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 73 SALT CONTENT AFTER BRINING”
and
“TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 75 HOW BRINING SAVED THANKSGIVING”
). But brining works best for lean types of meat like poultry and pork. Is there an alternative to brining for fattier meats like beef? There is—salting. Salting is a kind of “dry brine” in which meat is rubbed with salt and then refrigerated for several hours. How does salting do its work? Initially, the salt draws out moisture from the meat, and this moisture mixes with the salt to form a shallow brine. Over time, the salt migrates from the shallow brine into the meat, just as it does in our usual brining technique. Once inside the meat, the salt changes the structure of the muscle fibers, allowing the meat to hold on to more water, so that it turns out juicy and well-seasoned.
We tried salting in developing our Slow-Roasted Beef and found that salting for 24 hours worked best—the results were remarkable. In addition to the slow-cooking technique we use in this recipe, salting helped transform our bargain eye round into a tender, juicy roast that rivals beef tenderloin. Smaller cuts of meat, like steaks, do not need to be salted nearly as long—about 40 minutes is sufficient.
MAKES ABOUT 1 CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
SLOW-ROASTED BEEF
¹⁄ | cup heavy cream |
¹⁄ | cup prepared horseradish |
1 | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
Whisk cream in bowl until thickened but not yet holding soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Gently fold in horseradish, salt, and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour before serving.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
While some could argue all day about what should (or shouldn’t) go into meatloaf, we wanted to focus on more basic issues—what meat or mix of meats delivers the best flavor, what fillers make the loaf sliceable and moist, and whether it should be cooked free-form or in a loaf pan. We found that a trio of beef, pork, and veal, with a higher proportion of ground chuck, was best. Loaves made without filler were too hamburger-like. Those made with binders, on the other hand, had a characteristic meatloaf texture. Cracker crumbs, quick-cooking oatmeal, and fresh bread crumbs all worked to improve the texture of our meatloaf without adding a distracting flavor. Finally, we found that the high-sided standard loaf pan causes the meat to stew rather than bake. Baking the meatloaf free-form in a shallow baking pan gave us the results we wanted.
SERVES 6 TO 8
If you like, you can omit the bacon topping from the loaf. In this case, brush on half the glaze before baking and the other half during the last 15 minutes of baking. If available at your supermarket in the meat case or by special order, you can use 2 pounds meatloaf mix in place of the ground beef, pork, and veal.
BROWN SUGAR–KETCHUP GLAZE
¹⁄ | cup ketchup or chili sauce |
¹⁄ | cup packed brown sugar |
4 | teaspoons cider vinegar or white vinegar |
MEATLOAF
2 | teaspoons vegetable oil |
1 | onion, chopped |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
¹⁄ | cup whole-milk or plain yogurt |
2 | large eggs |
2 | teaspoons Dijon mustard |
2 | teaspoons Worcestershire sauce |
1 | teaspoon salt |
¹⁄ | teaspoon pepper |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dried thyme |
¹⁄ | teaspoon hot sauce |
1 | pound ground beef chuck |
¹⁄ | pound ground pork |
¹⁄ | pound ground veal |
²⁄ | cup crushed saltines (about 16) or ²⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh parsley |
8–12 | slices bacon |
1. FOR THE GLAZE:
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan; set aside.
2. FOR THE MEATLOAF:
Line 13 by 9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil; set aside. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool while preparing remaining ingredients.
3.
In large bowl, combine milk, eggs, mustard, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, thyme, and hot sauce. Add meat, saltines, parsley, and sautéed onion mixture; mix with fork until evenly blended and meat mixture does not stick to bowl. (If mixture sticks, add additional milk, 2 tablespoons at a time, until mixture no longer sticks.)
4.
Turn meat mixture onto work surface. With wet hands, pat mixture into approximately 9 by 5-inch loaf shape. Place in prepared baking pan. Brush with half of glaze, then arrange bacon slices, crosswise, over loaf, overlapping slightly and tucking only bacon tip ends under loaf.
5.
Bake loaf until bacon is crisp and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 1 hour. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meatloaf and serve with extra glaze.
Omit bacon. Turn meat mixture into meatloaf pan with perforated bottom, fitted with drip pan. Use fork to pull mixture from pan sides to prevent glaze from dripping into oven. Brush with one-quarter of glaze. Bake until glaze is set, about 45 minutes. Top with another one-quarter of glaze; continue to bake until second coat has set and loaf registers 160 degrees, about 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 20 minutes. Simmer remaining glaze over medium heat until thickened slightly. Slice meatloaf and serve with extra glaze.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For a tender, moist, and light meatloaf, using a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal (known as meatloaf mix) is usually the way to go. But sometimes we can’t find meatloaf mix or don’t have it on hand for a quick, last-minute dinner. For an all-beef loaf that’s just as good as one made with meatloaf mix, we used equal parts ground chuck and sirloin, which provided just the right balance of juicy, tender meat and assertive beefy flavor. Chicken broth was a surprisingly successful add-in; it transformed the loaf from liver-y to savory. To replace the gelatin that was lost with the ground veal in the meatloaf mix, we used a mere half teaspoon of powdered gelatin to give the texture of our glazed meatloaf a luxurious smoothness.
