Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding and a version of Tyler Florence's Ultimate Potato Gratin. (New Video) [View all]

[A HERETIC I AM]

Last edited Wed Feb 20, 2013, 12:55 AM - Edit history (2)

It has been quite a while since I tried this, and never this combination of dishes. I have several strikes against me to start, primarily that I have only a single oven, and all three of the dishes need to bake at different temps. But, what the hell. I gave it a try.

I know most of you are experienced cooks, so please forgive me if I say anything that is obvious or common knowledge. I was always told to write as if your reader does not understand the subject!

The Potato Gratin dish is basically this one by Tyler Florence of the Food Network;

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-potato-gratin-recipe2/index.html


So I started with an herb rub for the meat. Here's the ingredients including fresh Thyme, which I finely minced, about 1/2 to a Tsp of each. I used about a 1/2 Tsp of Rosemary that I ground up in the mortar and pestle;



Mixed together and set aside.


A 2 1/2 Lb Bottom Round Roast. Not really the best choice, but serviceable.



Rubbed into the meat on all sides, then drizzled with a bit of olive oil. It is going in the oven fat side up, but I didn't do it on this cookie sheet - I have a rack and roasting pan.


Set the meat aside while I started on the gratin prep. I have read and heard many times that it is better to begin cooking meat as close to room temp as possible, so I just left this out instead of placing it in the fridge.

First step for the gratin prep - several cloves of garlic. I'm going to finely mince then crush with my knife. I prefer this method to using a garlic press, but that would work just fine. The salt acts as an abrasive making it easier to get the garlic into an almost creamy consistency.



All minced and crushed. Set this aside.


Video of this procedure;

I used regular Yukon Gold potatoes. I like my potatoes with the skin on for almost every potato dish I make, so I just scrub them with my scotchbrite dish cleaner under cold running water.


In a bowl large enough to fit all the potatoes you're doing, put in cream and or milk. I had only about a cup of cream left in the quart, so I added another 1/2 cup of milk. Some of the chopped Thyme is present, salt and ground pepper. Whisk in half the minced garlic.


Slice the potatoes THIN! Thinner the better. Place them in the milk/cream garlic mix.


YAY! BACON! 4 slices (I like bacon, OK? LOL), 1/2 inch dice. Use as little or as much as you like but it adds HUGE flavor, and you'll see why in a bit.


Bacon into the hot pan. Tyler's recipe says cook till crisp, but if you don't like crispy bacon, don't! I know I don't, but you want to render most of the fat out, anyway. When done, take the bacon out with a slotted spoon and drain further on paper towels. You want the bacon grease in the pan.


Now for the cabbage. I used about 1/3 of the head, sliced then diced.


Add a tablespoon or two of butter to the bacon fat, and as soon as it melts, add the rest of the minced garlic. A quick stir and add the cabbage. Stir so all of it is coated with the bacon fat/butter and then cook till it has wilted and starts to smell yummy. Add the bacon back to the pan, salt and pepper to taste, stir and pull off the heat.



Now to assemble the gratin. Using your hands, layer the potato slices around your dish. A casserole works best, but I gave mine away, so all I have is this pie dish. It'll work. After a layer of potatoes, spread with 50/50 mix of Parmesan and Cheddar (or any other cheese you like). One more layer of potatoes then spread the cabbage/bacon mix on top


One more layer of potatoes on top then pour the cream mix onto it so it runs down inside and fills the dish 2/3ds to 3/4 of the way up. Cover with the rest of your cheese mix. Cover in foil and bake in a 450 degree oven for AT LEAST an hour, depending on how large a dish of it you make. After the first hour, remove the foil, check for doneness and put back in the oven for at least another 20 minutes.

I baked it on that cookie sheet as I thought it might run over. It did! Too much food for the dish!


Here's what it looked like when it came out. Frickin YUM!



.
>

>

Now to prep the Yorkshire pudding. This is such a simple dish, it isn't funny. It's also so simple I just took one photo of the prep. 5, Count em' FIVE ingredients! Eggs, milk, flour, salt and fat, either butter or the beef drippings or a combination of both. My and your Joy of Cooking cookbook recipe is as follows; (You DO have a Joy of Cooking, don't you? If not, GET ONE NOW!!! Go! Now. I'll wait.


.
.
Seriously.,


Go now.

OK...Got it? Good. Page 787

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix together 1 cup less one tablespoon of flour (why the missing tablespoon? I have no idea) and one Tsp salt.

In a larger bowl, whisk two large eggs and one cup of milk. Pour the dry into the wet and whisk thoroughly. No lumps. The traditional way to do this was actually in the pan you are roasting the meat in, but just prep this so it's ready when the meat is done and you can use the roasting pan while the meat rests. Otherwise, just use another pan. I used my other glass pie dish. Preheat the dish (VERY important) completely, pull it out and add 1/4 cup of beef drippings or 4 tablespoon of melted butter or a combination thereof to the dish and roll it around to spread it. Pour all the mix in to the dish at once and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake till puffy and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cut and serve immediately, as it will deflate but it is still delicious especially with brown gravy.


Here's the mix;



Here's what it looked like finished;


My mom used to make this for us regularly. If you use a square pan, like a brownie pan or your rectangular roasting pan, it will make all sorts of neat shapes and puffs and look completely different and random each and every time. Using this pie dish, it rose up around the edges! Cool, eh?

The roast out of the oven and resting in its rack;


I was looking for medium rare - about 120 degrees in the center

By the way, those towels under the pan are Australian and English bar towels! I have a bit of a collection. The red one is for Winfield Cigarettes, an Australian brand. The other is from Courage Best Bitter, an English beer. I have about 25 or so. They are unique and you will usually only see them in this country in an English style pub. I collected most of them during my travels with my work in Indy Car racing back in the 1990's.

ANYWAY......

I overdid it juuuuust a tad, but still fine. Probably by only 6 or 7 minutes.



I just used one of those packets of the Knorrs type sauces of brown gravy - the grocery store brand - instead of making fresh gravy. After all this, it was simpler. I also made a quick spicy mustard using equal parts Grey Poupon and Guldens and half the part horseradish. Yum. Add a tablespoon of Mayo to that for an excellent spread for the leftover roast beef sammies!

I hope these sorts of threads are interesting and a bit entertaining, anyway. As some of you may know (as I've been a DU'er approaching ten years now) I have been an Over-The_road trucker most of my adult life. I eat in restaurants ALL THE DAMNED TIME! So when I get home and I feel like going for it, I'll take 6 hours and cook myself a meal like this. I just moved into a house in November, after pretty much living in hotels and on the road for almost 2 years. It is wonderful to finally have my own kitchen again! Unfortunately, no one to share it with (ah well) but plenty of leftovers that will keep for 6 or 7 days, anyway.

I sure hope you enjoyed this.

Bon Appetit!