Roast beef with blue cheese mushroom sauce

Name: Roast beef with blue cheese mushroom sauce
Total time: 5400 s
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 inside round (top) roast; 150 g white button mushrooms, very thinly sliced; 1 tbsp shallot, minced; 1/4 cup brandy; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 125 g gorgonzola cheese

Robert Gonzal @robert

Vancouver BC

Roast beef isn't something my family has often. Instead, if we have a beef craving, we go for steak, or meatballs, or hamburgers, or short ribs, and we leave the roast beef up to our local deli. And even then we only make sandwiches out of it. But once in a while, we give good ol' roast beef a go. With the year's end fast approaching, now seemed as good a time as any to give it another try. To help the roast turn out as tasty as possible, I followed two key steps. First, I dry-brined the meat. In my instance, it was for 2 days, which ended up seasoning the meat beautifully. You certainly don't have to go as long, but at least aim for overnight. Second, I made a delicious blue cheese and mushroom sauce to drizzle over the finished roast. I think I might've already posted the sauce recipe previously, but who cares. It's so delicious I'd bathe in it. Anyway, the result of the extra work was a roast beef that was flavourful to its core, enhanced by an irresistible cream sauce. Paired with some roasted acorn squash as a side dish (recipe coming up next!), it made for a deliciously satisfying dinner.

Robert Gonzal @robert

Saved

Ingredients

1 hr 30 minutes

4 servings

1inside round (top) roast
150 gwhite button mushrooms, very thinly sliced
1 tbspshallot, minced
1/4 cupbrandy
1 cupheavy cream
1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
125 ggorgonzola cheese

Saved

Steps

1 hr 30 minutes

1

One (or, better yet, two) days before, dry brine your roast by sprinkling it liberally all over with salt, then leaving it uncovered in your refrigerator overnight. If brining for two days, salt one side, then flip the roast after the first day and salt the other side.
2

Preheat your oven to 300 F and position the rack in the centre. Rub the roast down with a splash of olive oil, then sprinkle it with freshly cracked black pepper. Don't add any more salt. Put a rack on a baking sheet and lay the meat on top. Roast to an internal temperature of 135 F. Start checking the temperature after about an hour. Cooking time should be about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hrs, depending on size.
3

Turn your oven to high broil and continue cooking for 2 or 3 minutes, to build a nice crust. Flip the roast and broil 2 or 3 minutes on the other side. Pull the roast out and tent it with foil, then let it rest for 15 minutes.
4

When the roast has been in the oven for an hour, start with the sauce. Add the mushrooms and a heap tbsp of butter to a small saucepan, and put it on medium heat. Cook until the mushrooms give off their water, and most of the liquid cooks off. Add the shallots next, and cook another 1 or 2 minutes, just to soften them. Off the heat, add the brandy and continue cooking until the alcohol boils off.
5

Add the cream to the saucepan, then the Worcestershire sauce and several grinds of black pepper. Break the cheese into chunks and whisk it in a little at a time into the sauce until fully incorporated. Continue simmering for 5 minutes, to reduce and thicken the sauce. Turn the heat down to minimum, to keep the sauce warm until serving.
6

To serve, carve the meat into thin slices, and pour the sauce over top. Serve any extra sauce on the side. If the sauce seems too thick, whisk in a tiny splash of hot water to loosen it.