Roast Beef

Today I made an eye of round roast. I used this recipe and followed the suggestions in the comments. I remembered to take out the roast out of the refrigerator early today so it was at room temperature when I started. The summary:

• Grind 1 tsp black pepper corns & 1 tsp cumin seed in a mortar
• Add 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp ginger powder, 3/4 tsp salt & 1/8 tsp cayenne.
• Sliver 1 clove garlic and stick them deep in the roast
• Coat the roast with oil then with the spice mixture.
• Brown the roast on all sides in a pan
• Roast for ~45min at 275 until 115-120F
• Remove from oven and turn heat to 500
• Add 1" cubed potatoes and baby carrots, tossed with olive oil, to the pan
• Return to oven, cook 10-15 min until 130F.
• Remove roast, tent with foil, let stand at least 10 min
  
• Return veggies to over for another 5-10 min to brown.
• Season with salt and pepper.

The roast was a nice medium/medium rare. The carrots were good. Unfortunately the potatoes seemed very dry. I think this is because I used Yukon golds instead of red potatoes. I severed this with a fruit salad of pineapple, kiwi, clementine, and plum.
Tasty over all.

Tacos & Nachos

I used two pounds of ground beef to make the meaty filling for tacos and nachos. In batches I browned the ground beef with some garlic, cumin, ground chipotle, cinnamon and salt. I also mixed it with some sauteed chopped onions.

Put the meat in torillas with some fixings to make soft shell tacos. For nachos, melt some cheese over corn chips, then top with the meat and fixings.

Fixings used:

• shredded cheddar cheese
• chopped lettuce
• chopped tomato
• sliced black olives
• salsa
• guacamole
• sour cream

In all, this made some decent meals. Enjoyed by all.

Beef with Broccoli Stir Fry

With the rest of the steak tips I decided to make a stir fry. I wanted to do something with broccoli, mushrooms, and oyster sauce. It turns out someone else had the same idea. TigersandStrawberries posted a recipe for Ocean Broccoli Beef the day after I made this. Hers sounds better than mine. Mine was okay, but could have been a bit more flavorful. Here's what I did.

• 1/2 lb steak tips, sliced in to strips

Marinade in

• 1 TB dark soy sauce
• 2 TB oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp honey
• 1 TB cornstarch
• 3 TB shao xing wine

Heat some peanut oil to smoking in a wok. Add

• 2 TB Black bean chili paste. Cook 30 sec.
  

then add the meat meat and brown for a minute. Then

• Top with 4 large cloves of garlic, sliced.

Cook another min to brown the beef, then start stir frying for a minute. Add

• 1 large onion, sliced. Stir fry 2 min.
• 1 package sliced mushrooms. Stir fry 2 min.
• Add remaining marinade and oil if necessary
• Add 3 broccoli stems (sliced), cook 1 min
• Add broccoli florets from 3 stalks. Stir to coat.
• Add 2/3 c chicken broth.
• Cook until broccoli is done
• Top with 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil.

Served it with some jasmine rice. Tasty, though I think I'd enjoy it with more spice. Hubby found it unexceptional, however. Next time I'll try the linked recipe.

• 
  

Fajitas

The other night I made beef fajitas. I had defrosted steak tips. I've never had anything called "steak tips" before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Given the shape of the meat pieces, simple cooking it like a steak was out. I went the strip route and decided on fajitas.

Beef Fajitas

• 1/2 lb steak tips cut into strips,
  
• Marinade made of olive oil, lime juice, cumin, chipotle, garlic, and cilantro,
• 1 onion sliced (in the direction for wedges not rounds)
• 1/3 bag colored peppers from Trader Joe's (or two bell peppers sliced)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped & splash of lime juice
• Tortillas
  

Marinade the meat for a few hours. Then in a hot pan with a bit of oil, quickly cook the meat until done, about 3 min. Removed the meat and cook the onions and peppers with the garlic and splash of lime. Cook for about 3 min.

Place the meat and veggies on a tortilla. Top with your favorite toppings.

Toppings

• Grated cheddar cheese
• chopped lettuce
• chopped tomato
• sliced black olives
• minced cilantro
• sour cream
• guacamole
• salsa

We made 6 fajitas that were way too full. This likely should have made 8 or so. They were a favorite of the husband. I'll definitely make them again.