i have been perfecting my recipe and cooking for a roast over the last few months and i think i am there. i use a silver tip roast (that we get pre-tied from fresh direct), but this should work for any beef roast. we like the silver tip because it is flavourful without being too “fatty”. we also do a ~7 pound roast to get all the leftovers — which you can do SOOOOO many things with.what you need:

• ~7lb silver tip beef roast
• roaster with rack
• meat thermometer
• 15-20oz of whiskey (i prefer irish whiskey… ahem.)
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1.5 teaspoon kosher salt (for glaze)
• 3-5 tablespoons kosher salt (for roaster)
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper (for glaze)
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper (for roaster)
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 5-7 medium white potatoes — any starch will do, really
• 15-25 garlic cloves, peeled
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

if the roast you get is not “pre tied”, you will need butcher’s twine and the ability to tie up ye olde hunk of meat. (4×4 should do just fine…)

pre-heat the oven to 300-325 degrees.

wash ye olde potatoes — leave the skin on.

with a paring knife, slide the blade into the meat in 10-15 locations — top and bottom — as far as the blade will go. insert a garlic clove into each slit.

rub the extra virgin olive oil over the entire slab.

rub with kosher salt and pepper. turn over and repeat remembering to get the “sides” as well.

wait 15 minutes.

spread the potatoes in the bottom of the roaster. use a fork to poke some holes in each potato. sprinkle kosher salt and pepper on them.

place the remaining garlic cloves in the roaster — on the meat, on the potatoes, everywhere…

insert meat thermometer.

place roaster in oven.

in a small/medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, add whiskey, salt and pepper. bring ALMOST to a boil and turn the heat down to low. add brown sugar and honey and stir, simmering, for 3-5 minutes. add corn starch and stir, simmering, for 3-5 minutes. remove from heat.

spoon mixture onto the meat 4-6 times over the course of its cooking journey. i try to get it on there every 20 minutes or so…

when the meat temperature gets to 130 degrees, turn the glaze saucepan on HIGH heat until it bubbles up and thickens into a gelatin-like consistency. remove from heat.

spread gelatin glaze on the meat and return to oven.

remove from oven at 140 degrees. let rest for 10 minutes.

1/8-1/4 inch slices. i like carving with either a nice sharp knife or an electric blade. it depends on how lazy i feel that day. ahem.

serve 2-4 slices with a whole potato and a green vegetable (peas, green beans and leeks go well…)

enjoy!

another beautiful saturday in nyc.

alison and i headed up to o’flanagan’s for some brunch with noga. she is in town for a few days from her self-imposed exile (just kidding!) in iowa. i was particularly interested in some of the linguistic discussion during brunch; how do new hebrew words get created, etc…

alison went for the full irish again, but skipped the puddings. both noga and i went for the eggs benedict. the hollandaise was a little orange-r than i am used to, but the eggs were done perfectly. the home fries neaded salt, but they were made from small potatoes and had a nice mix of onions and green peppers. the bloody marys were not as good as the last time we were there, but the mimosas were served in a pint glass. wow! the staff was very nice, as usual, and we joked around with them — especially the one that was still trying to wake up. there was also a table of 11 behind us with a little girl who had just come from her first communion. white dress and all.

to the back bar for some pool… this was my second time playing in a qualifier at o’flanagan’s. diane was there, but dorie was running the show. we also saw mandy (from the last qual) and talked a bit with misako. i played dave, an SL4, in the first round. i played, arguably, very well. however, i gave dave ball in hand at three critical points over the course of the three games and i lost. i need to work on my shot speed — again. i felt like i rushed a few shots and i need to calm down a bit, chalk up and look at the shot for a few more seconds.

and this is where we decided to spend money.

off to bed, bath and beyond. we went to bbb to purchase a picture frame and a shower liner. we left with hundreds of dollars of “stuff”. i am particularly digging the new couch pillows, but have lingering disappointment that we did not purchase a kitchen gadet that plugs in. although, i’m not sure what i would do with a soft-serve ice cream contraption so i guess that’s a good thing. ahem.

off to the new era cap store. alison and i have tickets to some upcoming cubs/mets games and my cubs hat does not fit right… cubs hat? check. new red sox hat? check. new sabres hat? puh-leeeze. even the new era store in nyc does not have sabres gear in any quantity. i did see the “new” sabres hat that just came out — one of the staff members was wearing it. nice.

the new era cap store is conveniently located near to… the new astor wines location. i picked up a few syrahs that we have not tried before, a big bottle of pinot grigio and a few bottles of prosecco. i really liked the new space, but it certainly felt less “big” than the old location. the wines were laid out by region, but within the regions there was a mix of different varietals. i wish they would sub-section. the irish whiskey section has been halved, unfortunately, but they have a nice new climate controlled area with very expensive stuff.

back to the hizzouse… watched happy feet. or at least alison did. i fell asleep. another penguin movie. caught the end of the ottawa/nj game. ottawa takes the series…

for the record… josh must have been having a great time at the no pants wine swill in dc. at least that’s what we gathered from the text messages! although it was cinco de mayo, we steered clear of tequila. and, although it was kentucky derby day, we both steered clear of mint juleps and, for the matter, actually watching the race. i’m sure a horse won.

a GREAT saturday. out and about. this is why people live in nyc.

saturday night was the celebration.

alison has finished all of her finals for law skool - forever!!

we had a great gathering at qdt (quality drinking time — reade street and west broadway). over 20 folks came out to celebrate and congratulate alison on her amazing accomplishment. both of us had a TON of cool conversation with everyone!

thanks to everyone that came out!