Description
Cooking a rare roast beef is much easier than you might think! Tender slices of meat that will melt in the mouth, flavored with just enough garlic and butter, make for a memorable weekend roast.
Ingredients
Scale
- 450g roast* (1 lb)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 30g butter (2 tbsp)
- 3 bay leaves or sprigs of thyme
Instructions
- An hour before cooking, remove the beef from the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Coat the beef thoroughly in the oil and season it on all sides. Keep it covered.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355 °F).
- Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over high heat until hot. To check if it’s at the right temperature, drop a little bit of water in the pan, the droplets should remain intact and slightly bounce around the pan. Wipe the frying pan clean of water.
- Sear the beef all over until it has a nice brown color and a crust starts to form, about 1 min to 1 min 30 per side. Remove the beef to a small casserole dish.
- Cut each clove into 3 small slices using a sharp knife. Then pierce the beef in 6 different places, about 1cm (⅓ in) deep and insert the garlic slices, pushing them almost all the way in.
- Add knobs of butter all over the beef and put the herbs around it.
- Cook in the oven for 10 min then remove and insert a digital thermometer into the center of the meat to check the temperature. Keep on cooking the beef in 2 min slots, taking the roast out of the oven and checking its temperature until the thermometer reads your desired temperature. **
- Guideline; the thermometer should read 50°C to 55 °C (122°F to 131°F) for rare, 60°C (140°F) for medium-rare, 68°C (155°F) for well done. If you don’t have a thermometer, know that a rare roast will be soft to the touch, whereas it will resist being pressed with your finger if it’s well done.
- Remove the beef to a cutting board (don’t discard its cooking juice), cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 5 to 7 min. This will allow the juices to redistribute throughout the meat and be reabsorbed, resulting in far more tender and juicy slices of meat.
- Discard the herbs and pour the cooking juices and melted butter into a small jug. Slice the rare roast beef after it rested and serve along with the sauce.
Notes
* You can use a small cut of bottom round roast, eye round roast, top round roast, or boneless rump roast.
** I cooked the beef for 14 min in the oven to get it as seen in the photos (rare).
Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container placed in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 slices
- Calories: 508
- Fat: 34.1g
Keywords: small roast beef, french roast beef, rare meat, sunday lunch