Beef Roast with Kickass Gravy

This is one of my favorites!  I make a DAMN fine gravy, if I do say so myself.  I will serve the roast with mashed potatoes (usually instant, unless we have company, then I'll make them from scratch) and a veggie of some kind.  Tonight, I also served The Bread, which comes to us courtesy of The Pioneer Woman, and you can find the recipe here:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/the-bread/.  I highly recommend it.

For the roast, you will need:

• A roast.  Duh!  I don't buy any particular cut of meat; I just get what's on sale.  Tonight was a tri-tip roast.  Isn't it pretty?
• Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 big spoonful of minced garlic (I buy this in bulk from Costco.  Don't judge.)
• 1 packet Lipton Onion soup mix (again, you can use the generic, but why?)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• A Ziploc baggie big enough to hold your meat (that sounds dirty, doesn't it)

How to do this:

At least 3 hours before you plan on eating:

1)  In your baggie, mix the soup mix, garlic, and a fair amount Worcestershire sauce.  Muck it up really well.  Add a little bit of water - you want enough marinade to cover your meat.

2)  Remember my comment about cooking angry the other day?  This is a good time to do so.  I want you to take a fork and your piece of meat, and stab the hell out of it.  Both sides.

3)  Take your well-forked meat and put it in the baggie.  

4)  Seal the baggie.  I cannot stress this enough.  Please, please, please make sure that your baggie is sealed.  Holes in the baggie would also be a very bad thing.

5)  With your meat in the well-sealed baggie, massage the marinade into the meat. (Wow, this is turning into and R-rated recipe, isn't it?)  Lay the baggie on your counter or in your fridge.  I prefer baggies for marinades, since it's very easy to turn your meat and make sure everything gets covered.

6)  Every 30 mins or so, turn your baggie over.  And while you're there, give your meat a good rub down.  Really rub that marinade in to the roast; you want it to soak into all those lovely fork holes you made earlier.  So, yeah, I want you to grope that roast like a dirty old man would a cheerleader.  What? Too much?

7)  After at least 2 hours of marinating (or an hour-ish before you want to eat), preheat your oven to 425°.

8)  At the same time, heat a large skillet on your stove.  No oil, no spray.  Just heat it up.  You want it hot enough that water drops dance in it.

9)  Take your roast out of the baggie and save the marinade.

10)  Sear the roast in the hot skillet, just a minute or two on each side, then put the seared roast in your roasting pan, whatever kind you use.  The smaller the better, but big enough so that the meat does not touch the sides of the pan.

11)  Dump the marinade on top of the roast and grind some pepper on top.

12)  Add some water to the pan.  This is very important!  You are cooking the meat at a fairly high heat, and you do not want the juices to burn.  You will need those later.

13)  Roast the meat at 425° for 45 minutes.  Be sure to check on it periodically and make sure the juices aren't burning.  If you need to, add more water.  I didn't check on the roast as often as I should have today (Eleanor was grouchy), and my juices did burn a bit.

14)  After 45 mins, take the roast out, move to a platter, and loosely tent with aluminum foil for at least 15 mins.  The roast will continue to cook during this time.  After a few minutes, you might be able to drain off some additional juices from the plate.  Be sure to save all the juices for your gravy.  For my tri-tip roast tonight, this made for a very nicely done roast - medium-well on the edges, medium-rare in the middle.

The Gravy:

Gravy can be tricky.  That's why it's so easy to just buy a jar at the grocery.  But trust me, this is SO much better.  Because gravy requires a lot of attention, I wasn't able to take many pictures, so sorry.

You will need:

• A half-stick of butter.  Real butter, not margarine.
• Flour
• The drippings and juices from your roast (see, I told you you'd need them).
• A can of beef consomme

The How-to:

1)  Melt your butter in a small sauce pan.

2)  Turn heat down to low.  

3)  Slowly, slowly stir small amounts of flour into your melted butter.  You will need to keep stirring continuously from here on out.  I use a fork to help keep everything lump free, but you can use a whisk, also.

4)  Keep adding small amounts of flour until your roux (that's what the butter and flour mixture is called) is slightly thicker than yogurt.

5)  Just keep stirring, just keep stirring, stirring, stirring....

6)  Stir in the drippings.  Stir, stir, stir.

7)  Add about 2/3 to 3/4 of your can of consomme.  Stir, stir, stir.

8)  Continue to heat on low and keep stirring.  Gravy should start to thicken up, but you may also need to add a little more flour.  Just be sure to add the flour in tiny increments and stir continuously.

9)  Once your gravy has thickened, then you're ready to go!

Serve with potatoes and a veggie or a salad!  Oh, and don't forget The Bread!

Enjoy!