This will kick your ass with flavor, and it's so easy to make! Also, it's a good excuse to make Two Rooks' Sweet Blackbird Stout.
Two Rooks' Irish roast beef with stout au jus
Brown the roast on all sides in a couple of tablespoons of bacon fat over high heat in a dutch oven. (I like the enameled cast iron kind, as they hold heat so well and are easy to clean up.) When browned, reduce heat to a very low flame and pour the stout over top of the roast.
To the broth, add the tomato paste and bouillon cube, then the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. Season with a bay leaf and rosemary and thyme, and simmer covered for three hours until roast is tender. The juices should mostly cover the veggies, but it's not necessary that the roast is covered. Mine sits halfway out of the liquid; it stays moist because the lid stays closed.
If you use a very large pan, you may need to add more beer, tomato paste, bouillon and herbs. If so, make sure to drink any half bottles of stout while you cook, just for good measure. In fact, it's probably a good idea to have several bottles on hand so you can enjoy the labor of letting every thing simmer while sitting on your butt and posting some drunken ramblings on HBT. If anyone asks about your bleary-eyed state during dinner, just inform them that you wore yourself out cooking such a kick-ass meal for them. Then drink some more beer.
As your roast is cooking, baste a few times with the liquid, but seriously, don't open the lid too often and let out all the moisture. Keep the heat very low.
When it's done, serve with the stout jus spooned over top of the meat, or on the side for soaking. Delicious with spent grain bread!
Two Rooks' Irish roast beef with stout au jus
- 3 pound beef roast--this gets very tender, so we use an inexpensive cut
- Bacon fat
- One bottle of sweet stout (or one bottle dry Irish with two tsp brown sugar added). We use our Two Rooks Sweet Blackbird stout.
- 3 sweet potatoes, cut up
- 3 carrots, cut up
- 2 - 3 onions (depending on size), cut into wedges
- 3 - 4 diced garlic cloves, or to taste
- bouillon cube (veggie or beef)
- 1 TBSP tomato paste
- Bay leaf, rosemary and thyme
Brown the roast on all sides in a couple of tablespoons of bacon fat over high heat in a dutch oven. (I like the enameled cast iron kind, as they hold heat so well and are easy to clean up.) When browned, reduce heat to a very low flame and pour the stout over top of the roast.
To the broth, add the tomato paste and bouillon cube, then the sweet potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. Season with a bay leaf and rosemary and thyme, and simmer covered for three hours until roast is tender. The juices should mostly cover the veggies, but it's not necessary that the roast is covered. Mine sits halfway out of the liquid; it stays moist because the lid stays closed.
If you use a very large pan, you may need to add more beer, tomato paste, bouillon and herbs. If so, make sure to drink any half bottles of stout while you cook, just for good measure. In fact, it's probably a good idea to have several bottles on hand so you can enjoy the labor of letting every thing simmer while sitting on your butt and posting some drunken ramblings on HBT. If anyone asks about your bleary-eyed state during dinner, just inform them that you wore yourself out cooking such a kick-ass meal for them. Then drink some more beer.
As your roast is cooking, baste a few times with the liquid, but seriously, don't open the lid too often and let out all the moisture. Keep the heat very low.
When it's done, serve with the stout jus spooned over top of the meat, or on the side for soaking. Delicious with spent grain bread!