[Garam masala roast beef with spiced pumpkin wedges]
Spice up your roast tonight!
It’s certainly getting a bit nippy here in the Southern hemisphere. So you know what that means? Roasts!
Beef, pork, duck, lamb, you name it, I like it. Especially if it’s jazzed up with some aromatic spices and cooked with love.
I’d like to offer my top tips for cooking a beef roast today. The roast pictured above is a bit overcooked for my liking as I prefer it rare. But my family likes it well done and I always aim to please my dinner guests!
As you’ll see in the following shot, I cooked it so it was pink in the very centre, meaning those who like it well done ate slices closer to the outside. Then everyone is happy.
[Don't you love that plate? It's my Mum's. That's a traditional Hungarian pattern.]
How to make the perfect roast beef
- Take the meat out of the fridge 20-25 minutes before you’re going to cook it. This is especially important if you like your meat rare as room temperature meat will cook more evenly. Marinate if you’ve got time.
- Elevate the meat in the roasting dish. Either with a rack or on top of vegetables (I’ve used garlic cloves in this recipe). I like using vegetables and herbs because they permeate the meat and flavour it.
- Baste the meat regularly with the pan juices. If for some reason there aren’t any then add a splash of stock to the dish during cooking. This will mix with the fat that drips off and will be very tasty.
- Cooking times are important. These are all per 500g. Rare: 15-20 mins. Medium: 20-25 mins. Well done: 25-30 mins. So for a 2.5kg beef roast, cooked rare, it would be about 1 hour and 40 mins.
- Use a meat thermometer. If you’ve got one. It’s not essential but very helpful. Rare 55-60C, Medium 65-70C, Well done 75C.
- Rest the meat before carving. I cannot stress this one enough. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil, leave in a warm place (ie. near the oven), and rest for at least 15-20 minutes. Resting redistributes the juices back into the meat. If you slice your roast and those precious, flavoursome juices gush out onto the plate – slap yourself – you didn’t rest it long enough.
- Carve across the grain. Any other way and it will be tougher than an old boot. Don’t let all your hard work go to waste when you’re right at the finish line.
Eat with gusto, enjoy and keep warm.
Happy roasting! Christie x
Garam masala roast beef recipe
Spiced pumpkin recipe
2.5kg beef roast (boned and rolled)
10 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons garam masala spice mix
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small pumpkin (cut into wedges)
pinch of paprika
pinch of cumin
pinch of cinnamon
1. Take the beef out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Place the garlic cloves in the centre of a roasting dish in one layer.
3. Rub the roast all over with the garam masala and place on top of the garlic cloves in the roasting dish.
4. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and place in the oven. For medium, roast for 20 minutes per 500g, 1 hour 40 minutes.
5. Mix the remaining spices together and sprinkle over the pumpkin wedges. Drizzle with the other tablespoon of oil and roast with the beef for the last 40 minutes.
6. Once the beef is done, rest for 15-20 minutes covered loosely with foil. Serve the beef and pumpkin together with any pan juices.
Still hungry for more beef recipes? Here you go:
Baked meatballs w/ tomato and tamarind sauce
Chilli beef and broccoli stirfry (GF)
Pepper crust beef fillet w/ vegetable skewers (GF)
26 responses so far ↓
1 Peter G // Jun 4, 2009 at 1:20 am
Mmmmm!…who doesn’t love a good roast. The garam masala is a great choice Christie! And your tips for cooking roasts are tops too! thanks for sharing.
2 Ursula // Jun 4, 2009 at 2:48 am
This looks and tastes so delicious. I recently made a rack of lamb with harissa paste. So, good!
3 Megan {Feasting on Art} // Jun 4, 2009 at 8:27 am
This roast looks so delicious and I cant wait to try one with garam masala. Thanks for the idea!!
4 Betty // Jun 4, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Great tips!
5 Arwen from Hoglet K // Jun 4, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I like the idea of the garam masala coating, and the spicy pumpkin sounds good too. I’ll definitely be balancing my roast on garlic in future!
6 Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella // Jun 4, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I definitely agree with your tips! It looks marvellous, although like you I prefer beef rarer
7 Jessie // Jun 5, 2009 at 12:27 am
great tips for roasting! Stay warm
8 Hugging the Coast // Jun 5, 2009 at 12:49 am
I love your idea for a kind of raj inspired pot roast! The pictures are killer too!
9 HoneyB // Jun 5, 2009 at 12:52 am
Thanks for the tips!
10 Michelle // Jun 5, 2009 at 6:37 am
Your roast looks delicious. I’ve been seeing garam masala everywhere lately. I think it’s time to pick some up.
11 Paige at The Spice House // Jun 5, 2009 at 7:05 am
I love garam masala on roasted pumpkin, but I’ve never used it on beef! I like your step-by-step roasting instructions, too – I work in a culinary shop, and am amazed at the number of people who are intimidated by the idea of cooking meat.
12 pigpigscorner // Jun 5, 2009 at 7:44 am
a perfect roast! The spices combo sound wonderful!
13 Olga // Jun 5, 2009 at 9:24 am
Never cooked roast beef! Pretty photo.
14 averagebetty // Jun 5, 2009 at 9:30 am
Love the garam masala! That’s one sexy looking roast darlin’!
15 The Hungry Mouse // Jun 5, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Love, love, love roast beast! Yum!
+Jessie
16 Savory Tv // Jun 7, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Love these tips, and am now on a quest for Hungarian plates! Cheers!
17 Soma // Jun 8, 2009 at 9:25 am
I am happy to see the so famous garam masala incorporated in such a non indian recipe:-)
18 John // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:12 am
It looks very goods
I’ll definitely to come back to your blog again.
http://www.ahacook.com
19 Sherry // Jun 8, 2009 at 12:16 pm
This looks delicious. I can’t wait to try this for a dinner party.
20 Cookin' Canuck // Jun 9, 2009 at 10:03 am
Beautiful color on this roast! It looks delicious.
21 Karla // Jun 9, 2009 at 12:59 pm
This looks delicious. What cut of meat do you recommend using for this recipe?
22 Dragon // Jun 11, 2009 at 1:15 pm
You can cook a gorgeous roast, my dear. Well done!
23 Easier Than Falling Off a Log » Garam Masala Roast Beef // Jun 22, 2009 at 10:37 am
[...] is halved for a smaller roast, and comes from here. I didn’t make their accompanying pumpkin wedges, opting for the potatoes I mentioned earlier [...]
24 Jackie @ PhamFatale.com // Jun 27, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Very interesting. I’ve garam masala a lot http://www.phamfatale.com/id_107/title_Garam-Masala-Spice-Mix-Recipe/ but it never crossed my mind to add it for a beef roast. Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing!
25 Huh? // Jan 29, 2010 at 11:55 am
To most garam masala wouldn’t be considered for beef as in India the cow is sacred and therefore not eaten. I do wish it were a bit more rare though.
26 Christie // Jan 29, 2010 at 12:16 pm
@Huh? – Thanks for your comment! I did know that cow is not eaten in India for religious reasons, although the spice mix goes so wonderfully with beef (which I eat!). I also agree that the beef should be more rare, however, I was cooking it for my family who likes it well done
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