Food Experiment #4: Roast Beef With Cider Marinade

When salt and peppa ain’t enough, add alcohol. After all beer goggles make viewees hot and helps population growth nightly (at least our government hopes for that!).

On a foodie note, alcohol also goes with food. I thought: “Why not a wet marinade for a beef roast”?

So armed with meat and little else, I went out on Google and found this Cider Marinated Beef Roast (src: Cooks.com) that piqued my interest.

Did it work?

You’ll Need These Ingredients:

• 1 beef roast, 2 lbs. (I used Sirloin), tied

Marinade Ingredients

• 2 cups of Apple Cider
• 2/3 cups of Salad Oil
• 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup of chopped Onion (1 med.)
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled, smashed, but not completely crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon of salt, thyme (I picked up sage, silly me!), whole allspice (no allspice, so I used clove & cinnamon in equal parts), dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon of pepper

Instructions and “Did it Work?”

1. Make the Cider Marinade

Chop up the herbs and throw everything into a plastic bag. How difficult can it get?

2. Marinade the Beef Roast!

Chuck the roast into the bag and leave in the fridge for more than 4 hours. Turn the roast every 2 hours.

It’s a freaking mess even with a ziplock bag. These two tips will get the most out of your wet marinade in a bag:

1. Gash the beef. Stick inch-deep holes or slashes all over the beef roast so that the marinade will seep into the beef
2. Place the bag on a deep dish to catch slippage from the marinade

I noticed that the cider marinade cooks the outside of the beef. If so, how in the world is the marinade of any use? Meathead Goldwyn’s most excellent post “The Secrets And Myths Of Marinades And How Gashing Can Make Them Work Better” is a fairly scientific approach to marinating meats that bring joy to meat geeks.

The end result of the marinating process:

3. Roast it! 

My reference recipe calls for 20 min in the oven at 220C before roasting again for 36min at 180C. After roasting, take it out and give it 20min of sitting time under an aluminium tent.

Roasting Rule of Thumb: 15min per 450g + 20min @ 180C

The Cider Marinated Beef Roast is on the right side (browned roast).

Once 20min has gone by, start carving the roast into thin slices.

Verdict

I thought that the roast was too rare. And I prefer my beef bloody. Perhaps another 15min in the oven would have sealed the deal. Otherwise, it was full of beefy goodness.

Almost success!

Travel: The Best Part of Penang (Part 2)

Check out The Best Part of Penang (Part 1) for more cast iron cartoons.

Travel: Best Part of Penang (Part 1)

Isn’t the street food.

It’s finding gems like the graffiti and cast iron cartoons below that make the trip to Georgetown worth while. These tongue-in-cheek cartoons tell Penang’s story in an interesting and appreciable manner that doesn’t seem like a stiff roll of parchment paper.

Of course, their kick ass black as sin coffee helps too.

Food Experiment #3: Pumpkin Nog with Cinnamon Rum

Since it’s Christmas, let’s do something noggy for these bleak rainy days. It’s pissing cats and dogs and old gods on us for the entire month.

What to make a nog from?

In the words from the immortal, blankey-wielding Linus, “The great Pumpkin!”

Hence, food experiment #3 (i think!): Pumpkin Nog.

You’ll need:

• 250g small Pumpkin
• 250g milk boiled with some Cinnamon
• 250g Cinnamon-infused rum

 

Pumpkin Nog with Cinnamon Rum Instructions

1. Make the Cinnamon-infused Rum

Add 4 sticks of cinnamon (or whatever amounts that you prefer) to 250g of dark rum. Seal it in a mason jar and leave it in a cool, dark place for 3 days. I chuck my jar in the freezer.

2. Make Pumpkin Puree

Slice the pumpkin in half. Scoop out the insides (pretend they’re your enemy’s intestines and guts). Chop up the pumpkin into inch-long cubes.

Roast the pumpkin for 15 min. Roast again for 15 min with generous heaps of brown sugar on top of them.

Scoop it out and mush them up.

3. Mix it all together!

Like the title says. Add all the ingredients together and stir until combined. Chill and serve. Keep a bottle of run nearby to pow-wow up the drink.

Image source: Cocktail Times

Verdict

My first try failed. Too much rum, too little blending of pumpkin… it was far too thick and too full of stuff for a cocktail drink.

Back to the drawing board. Although I must say that Pumpkin roasted with brown sugar rocks as a possible dessert.

My Facebook Friends Like Ang Moh Food

This picture racked up five likes in the span of five minutes.

Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Egg, taken at Spruce.

Salty, chewy, with an egg dan dan (蛋蛋). Pretty good except that it costs $22 and an OK 250 cal. 

Wunderlust: Cycling Again

I’ve been cycling to and from my workplace nowadays. It takes me 30min because of traffic by family-happy cars.
It’s not easy doing it again – especially with the long layoff working in an ad agency – and the fact that my legs are gimpier than before.

But I really want to go on a cycling trip again. Quite likely a return to Desaru (like this One man’s Ride from Singapore to Desaru).
Desaru is nothing much. A beach, a couple of resorts and that’s about it. But the point isn’t  sight-seeing or shopping. It’s to exert, ride and unwind. Just what I need.
I think I’ll stay at Penggarang this time round.

View cycling to desaru in a larger map

Maybe during late December when I have time off?
But first, get strong, overhaul the bike and ride.
Preferably into the sunset

Exercise: Lots of Running and Some Hanging

I lift stuff. But every now and then, I take my bike out for a spin, or whack my punching bag, or run around on the basketball court – despite a gimpy knee.

One of my least favourite exercises, but oh-so-useful, is the Suicide Drill. This is how I feel after 1 set of those drills.

Source: Coloradoan

The Routine:

• 50 X Hang Cleans
• 50 X Pull Ups
• 200 X Push Ups
• 2 X Suicide Drills (Yup, I’m a wussy)
• Basketball shooting drills
• 15 min of bag kicking

Exercise of the day: Suicide Drills

Essentially, it’s a sprint drill where we run/sprint up and down the basketball court: to the foul line and back; to the half court and back; to other foul line and back; and to the other end and back.

It builds cardiovascular strength, agility, blah blah… it does what interval training routines do -- makes you stronger!!! Woot!

A How-To do Suicide Drills – brought to you by a bunch of basketball kids. .

Running Suicide Drills