Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Garlic Herb-Crusted Spring Creek Beef Roast with Creamy Mustard-Wasabi Sauce

I adapted this from a recipe received from Kirstin at Spring Creek Ranch. It was her mom's tried and true Herb-Crusted Spring Creek Beef with Creamy Mustard Sauce recipe. I always feel extra special when the recipe comes from "mom's kitchen". Thanks Kirstin for sharing!!

I made some changes, as I usually do. It is a great recipe using a less expensive cut of meat and since the beef was grown locally, raised the RIGHT way, it was just that much better!!

Approx. 2lb Spring Creek Inside Round Roast

Herb Paste
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh sage, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seed, crushed or cracked with a spoon
1 tsp coarse salt, best to use a sea salt or very coarse salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
Combine all ingredients into a paste.

Mustard-Wasabi Sauce
½ cup sour cream (or thick, strained plain yogurt)
2 tbsp grainy brown mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 - 1 tsp wasabi powder (add to taste, depending on how wimpy you may be)
Whisk together in a small bowl. Chill until eating time!

Cook roast from thawed (room temperature is preferred). Rub roast with herb paste. Let the roast sit in herb paste for 1-2 hours. Place roast in small baking dish that is similar in size to the roast, so that juices can be captured. Bake uncovered at 400⁰F for approx. 25 min to brown outside, then turn oven down to 275⁰F. Do not use convection oven settings for this -- sometimes you just gotta go old school. Add a little water or beef broth to keep juices from burning to the bottom of the pan. Bake until the roast reaches an internal temp of 130⁰F. Remove roast from oven, cover with foil & let rest for 5 min. Carve against the grain, drizzle with pan juices and serve with mustard-wasabi sauce. It will be pink in the centre -- don't overcook it. Try to slice it as thin as possible...yum!

Kirstin's tips: The mustard sauce also works great to spread on roast beef sandwiches (so true) or as a dipping sauce for our Spring Creek Top Sirloin Medallions (I will try this soon).

Yeah, I am not usually a roast beef fan but this was delish!

Froze up the extra slices for future sandwiches. I always do this when I cook too much that way we don't get tired of leftovers and later on it is a nice quick treat on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Wicked Awesome Brownies

No really...that IS what we call them.

A little bit crunchy, a little bit chewy, and a whole heck of a lot of chocolate. Wicked. Awesome.

Disclaimer: there is nothing low-fat about these babies. Sometimes you must not mess with perfection.



3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (that's about as healthy as it is gonna get)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare an 8" square pan using spray oil or melted butter and dusted with flour.

Combine chocolate and oil in saucepan and stir over LOW (take your time) heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Stir in vanilla and sugar. Let cool for five minutes.

Transfer chocolate mixture into mixing bowl and beat eggs in, one at a time.

Add both flours and baking powder and mix well. It will be thick.

Spread carefully and evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Top will be dry and cracked. Test with a knife and you should get a slight amount of gooey deliciousness on the tip when you pull it out.

Remove from oven. Run a knife around the edge and let cool on rack. This is very important as these brownies will crumble if not cooled COMPLETELY! Not that I would know as I am never in a hurry to eat these...no, no, I am not...really...

Oh shut up.

Enjoy.

Wicked. Awesome. See, I told you.