The quest for good roast beef continues.

Outside or bottom round

There are many cultural differences between my home country (Wales) and Canada, many obstacles to navigate and barriers to break down. Opinion is divided on who said it but "Britain and (North) America are two countries divided by a common language" is one of the truest phrases ever uttered. Who would have thought that there were so many different words used to describe cuts of beef? Not me, that's for sure. 

Outside round cooked as a pot roast with onions, vinegar and garlic.

It took me ages to work out what everything was translated to and steakhouses would often leave us scratching our heads in bewilderment. Tenderloin, New York, Porterhouse? What? I have since figured it out as far as the more common 'steak' cuts are concerned and can now order with confidence at the best establishments, but, trying to find an elusive piece of beef that Neil's mum uses is proving to be a hard task. 

When I once asked her what the stretchy, tender cut she used was, she wasn't sure but thought she may have recalled it being labelled as 'silverside'. Investigations this side of the pond yields no results, it simply doesn't exist and to make matters even more complicated, I have recently discovered from a great new book that the cuts in North America and the UK are different also, not just the names. So, the search continues. 

Outside round roast on day two. Soaked in the cooking liquor and reheated it became much more tender

According to my book, Plenty by Diana Henry, silverside is cut from the same place as 'round' in North America, but as that piece is much larger in NA, in the UK it could be silverside, top rump or top side. You figure it out! 

Anyway, we tried 'outside round' also known as 'bottom round' and were cautiously optimistic. Neil was less than pleased with the cooking instructions we found, suggesting this cut is best as a pot roast, braising in some liquid as this really shatters his idea that all good roast beef must be just that: roast in an oven,dry with the fat and juices dripping onto the fluffy Yorkshire pudding underneath. I tried a recipe anyway. The result was okay, the flavour being a little bland and the texture unusual. The grain of the meat was really prominent but lacked that 'stretchy', tender nature of the mother in laws. Sliced and stored in some of the cooking liquid for a while, it became juicier and tenderer and worked well with some gravy made from the cooking liquor. The roast beef proper of Neil's dreams it wasn't though.

You can see from the photo that the grain is very prominent. Cutting across the grain into thin slices is important to ensure tenderness.

A very useful diagram of the differences between US and UK cuts of beef.

What I have learned about steaks:

North America                                           UK

Tenderloin                                                           Fillet

Strip loin, New York                                             Sirloin

Porterhouse                                                         T-bone

Sirloin                                                                 Rump

One of the best roast beef and Yorkshire pudding dinners I have had recently was here. (Scroll down to see) .They said they used sirloin, which would be a large cut of rump in the UK. It was medium rare, juicy and very flavourful.

I have tried in the past to recreate the perfect roast, trying prime rib and brisket, nothing so far has come up to Neil's expectations, then again, it's his mum, perhaps nothing ever will!

The outside round roast on day 2. The meat was much tenderer after sitting in the sauce overnight and re-heated.

Roasted squash soup and dinner on a very long table.

Whoa, what a difference a month makes! Visiting the farm market on Saturday to buy some vegetables was a lesson in seasonality that really hit us in the face. Gone were the rows and rows of multi-hued peppers like jewels and pink, cream and deep purple eggplants. Nowhere to be seen were the chili peppers, just lots and lots of apples in a dizzy array of colours and names. Apples are no good to me. Well, the odd crunchy and sharp Granny Smith cooked alongside a pork chop or sliced thinly and fried in butter in a side dish of kale and celery, but generally not to be eaten on their own, (too many carbs, alas). We still managed to leave with a size able amount of produce, including red onions, herbs, chard and an acorn squash, which I made into a soup with sweet overtones and earthy, robust flavours. As we were leaving we noticed a bin with free Hubbard pumpkins available still in pretty good shape. We took one home and I was disappointed to find the inside just beginning to develop a furry mold. Shame, it would have worked nicely in the soup.

 Recipe:

1 acorn squash, quartered and de-seeded

1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters

6 garlic cloves, left whole

4 small beets, peeled and quartered

Extra virgin olive oil

4 large sage leaves

4 sprigs thyme

salt and pepper

1/4 cup vermouth

2 cups chicken stock

dash of white wine vinegar

Place the squash, onion, garlic, beets and herbs on a baking dish. Pour over about 1/4 cup oil, coating everything, (including the herbs or they will burn quickly) and cook in a pre-heated oven 375oF for 1 hour.

Remove from the oven and discard the herbs. Place the roasted onions into a large saucepan, scrape out the flesh from the squash and add to the onions. Squeeze the garlic from its peel and add also. If the beets are soft enough, add these too. If not, boil in a little water until softer and then add. 

Place the pan on which the vegetables roasted over medium heat and pour in the vermouth. Scrape all the left over bits into the vermouth as it heats and then pour this along with the chicken stock into the vegetables.

Cook the soup for about 20 minutes on low heat and taste, season well and blend to a smooth consistency. Add the vinegar to wake up the flavours and give a nice fresh zing to the sweetness. Serve.

 The beets required another 5 minutes in water in the microwave to soften, but in truth they never did soften enough to blend and happily sat whole in the soup creating a candy like ripple effect of orange and pink stripes.

The most beautiful sunset orange colour.

The soup re-heated well the day after with a rogue stray bit of beetroot making it look pretty.

Roast beef and Yorkshire Pud

As in any city or indeed town or village, Vancouver has its fair share of Irish pubs. They are usually pretty easy to spot through the shamrocks and leprechauns giddily prancing around on the windows. but, we also have a different kind of Irish pub, a classy, gastro-pub called 'The Irish Heather' with an excellent menu and a whisky list so long it includes obscure drams from such far off places as India and Japan. This pub is a Vancouver institution and also has sister restaurants, cafes and delis. One of their most successful events is a communal dining experience called 'The Long Tables Series' featuring a set dinner and drink from Sunday to Wednesday on a 40 foot long dining table. This has been running for quite some time and after many proclamations of "we must go". last night we finally did. The menu was what inspired us mostly, being good Brits, the prospect of eating roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, carrots and gravy was too good to pass up. So we took our Brazilian friends, also lovers of a good roast and imbibed and feasted.

 

 The food was outstanding. The beef was cut from a large strip-loin served medium rare and incredibly tender and beautifully seasoned. The mash was garlicky and smooth, the Yorkshire pudding was fluffy on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside and the 'jus' was so good, being rich and almost 'winey' that I would have liked an extra jug placed on the table for us to share in a true communal sense. Neil complained that the portion was a little small and when he reminded me of the roasts you get in pubs in the UK, where the meat generally covers the plate, I guess he had a point, plus, Gabriel, one of our dining partners, commented he was still hungry quite a lot.

What I really liked, though, was the whole experience of sharing a table with friends and strangers, in this case, eating a good meal and enjoying the atmosphere. Unfortunately, one of our party didn't turn up, so we had a few empty chairs next to us, which took away from the communal aspect slightly, but the overall experience was so enjoyable, from the initial bell summoning us all to sit down, to the chef coming out to explain the food and the guy from the brewery of the beer we were drinking standing up to give a little talk and proclaiming this was his 12th time at the table! I loved it and have provided the link below for you to look at. If you live in Vancouver, you should try this with some good friends and if you don't live here, you should come and visit! We're thinking of going again soon to try the suckling pig.

Irish Heather Long Table Series