Roast beef for xmas day?

[sidekickdmr]

Hello,

I’m cooking xmas dinner for 12 this year, having never really cooked a roast, let alone a xmas dinner I’m a little out of my comfort zone, however im pretty handy in the kitchen and im sure I can make something more than edible.

So im doing a large turkey crown, gammon joint and Beef to give people some variety of meats to choose from.

I have ordered the turkey crown and gammon (both from Marks and sparks and look very nice), however im a little stuck on the beef front.

As there is turkey and gammon too, I only really need a small amount of beef, perhaps a 4 person size, that way 8 people can have a half portion (we have 2 veggies and one non red meat eater).

I don’t like fatty beef, I like my beef rare so find the fat is just chewy.

So I was thinking the best cut for me would be Fillet?

I’ve been told a 1KG fillet will feed four, I was going to sear in a hot pan and then into oven for a short time to be crisp on outside and rare in middle.

Will this be dry? on looking online they suggest fillet is too lean and should use additional fat like bacon.

Any other cuts that may be better?

Thanks

[Pete Franklin]

It won't be dry if it is properly rare. Assuming you are roasting in a med hot oven - Remove from oven when internal temp hits 35-40dc and let rest for 20mins the temp will continue rising by 10-15dc to decent rare temp.

[Hosenbugler]

As my daughter is overseas for Xmas, we had "fake" Xmas this past weekend. We had bone in rib of beef from the local farmshop .

For eight of us, we had Chicken, Boiling bacon, and the rib of beef, which was 2 ribs. Unsure as to weight, but th it was £51 , at a bone in price of £18.95 a kilo. (£25 boneless) .

It was superb, and the meat quantity was just about spot on, little excess. For the extra numbers, you may need 3 ribs, won't be cheap, but in our case, first rate.

[jmorgan]

Probably off your radar but we are having rib, on the bbq. Well worth the time if you have the inclination. Going to be a three or four hour smoke with mesquite chips.

[sidekickdmr]

Just had a look at rib and im sorry but it looks too fatty for me.

I just want a nice clean slice of meat, dont mind a bit of fat on the top that I can just trim off but not going through the meat.

So a nice hot sear and 15 mins in the oven at 200 seems the way to go for a 1KG fillet, leaving to rest under foil for a further 10/15.

[Foliage]

I've had beef wellington for Christmas Dinner before, it was lovely.

[Feirny]

I got a joint from Lidl at the weekend, served 4 of us fine. It was about £9.

It was put in the slow cooker and left for about 8 hours, it was bloody lovely. Not very fatty at all.
Came in a box from their freezer section, 28 days matured or something. I'll be getting another for this weekend.

[dudleybloke]

A nice bit of brisket will do nicely.

[Davey S2]

Foliage said:

I've had beef wellington for Christmas Dinner before, it was lovely.

We used to have that and it was great. My mum prefers the traditional turkey though.

Beef would be my choice every time.

[HotJambalaya]

Foliage said:

I've had beef wellington for Christmas Dinner before, it was lovely.

Same here, was excellent.

good thing too because the goose (which I'd never cooked before!) was bloody tiny!

[Pferdestarke]

sidekickdmr said:

Just had a look at rib and im sorry but it looks too fatty for me.

I just want a nice clean slice of meat, dont mind a bit of fat on the top that I can just trim off but not going through the meat.

So a nice hot sear and 15 mins in the oven at 200 seems the way to go for a 1KG fillet, leaving to rest under foil for a further 10/15.

Given your preference for lean I'd go with fillet. As you say, a good pre sear and then in to a hot oven. Unless of course you have a way of holding an oven, or pan of water, or better still a water bath at 54c for a couple of hours. That way your fillet will be consistently rare but not raw throughout.


http://youtu.be/WOqEXH58-dA

[V8mate]

I always do a sirloin joint at Christmas, with other meats like you.

It's a great cut and has barely any fat.

[anonymous-user]

As someone else said, brisket might be a good shout.

If you have a slow cooker, you can bang it in on low the night before, just when you go to bed and it will sort itself out. Plus you can make some super gravy with the cooking juices.

Might be a good idea as that you you can concentrate on the turkey and gammon and the beef will be there ready to go whenever you are.

It won't be rare, but any fat renders down and disapears and the meat is lovely and tender.

[calibrax]

V8mate said:

I always do a sirloin joint at Christmas, with other meats like you.

It's a great cut and has barely any fat.

Yep, I'd agree, this would be perfect for the OP - the fat will keep it moist while cooking, and can easily be cut off before carving.

[Bonefish Blues]

sidekickdmr said:

Just had a look at rib and im sorry but it looks too fatty for me.

I just want a nice clean slice of meat, dont mind a bit of fat on the top that I can just trim off but not going through the meat.

So a nice hot sear and 15 mins in the oven at 200 seems the way to go for a 1KG fillet, leaving to rest under foil for a further 10/15.

As an alternative ask a butcher to sort you 2 rib Côte du boeuf joint, which is a trimmed rib.

[Fury RS]

Rolled Sirloin from our local butchers is our joint of choice. Cook it medium rare, it will retain it's flavours and moisture.
Not the cheapest of joints but worth it...

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Skodasupercar said:

As someone else said, brisket might be a good shout.

If you have a slow cooker, you can bang it in on low the night before, just when you go to bed and it will sort itself out. Plus you can make some super gravy with the cooking juices.

Might be a good idea as that you you can concentrate on the turkey and gammon and the beef will be there ready to go whenever you are.

It won't be rare, but any fat renders down and disapears and the meat is lovely and tender.

This is what we do, I can't be arsed with turkey but the family want it so that's the main event. In order to free up cooker space though we do "my" brisket in the slow cooker like we normally do of a Sunday.

Yes it's a fatty joint but slow cooked it renders down into the cooking juices so you don't actually eat it. As above the gravy is excellent especially with half a bottle of cheap red thrown in.

Only other suggestion is to make sure you get a big piece of meat, everyone might want turkey but when they see your slow cooked brisket all the buggers will want some

[condor]

Supermarkets usually stock a 20+ day aged Chateaubriand this time of year priced approx £30. I had 2 last year and they were very good. I cooked mine for 50 mins in the oven at 180C, nice and rare in the middle.

[calibrax]

Bonefish Blues said:

As an alternative ask a butcher to sort you 2 rib Côte du boeuf joint, which is a trimmed rib.

Probably still too fatty for the OP, although it would be delicious and melt-in-the-mouth! A lot of the flavour comes from the fat... very lean meat is highly over-rated IMO.

Here's a Cote De Boeuf I prepared earlier...

[Bonefish Blues]

My butcher trims it more aggressively back to the eye which, when cooked is still spectacular, and no nasty white bits