Super lazy day today, cooking with what I have on hand. Bread, roast beef in a skillet, some killer gravy.
Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup scalded milk (I like 10% cream)
- 1/2 cup cold water, and 1 cup warm water for the yeast
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Scalding the milk means to bring it up to 195F.
- Let the milk cool to 140-150F, pour into a large mixing bowl, add the cold water and the temperature should be around 115F
- In a separate bowl, activate the yeast in 1 cup warm water, and whisk in the sugar. Let it sit for 5-15 minutes - at least 1/2" layer of bubbles on top.
- Gently whisk the yeast mixture into the milk, and then stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Knead for 10-15 minutes, until the dough pulls cleanly from the edge of the bowl. If it seems too wet, keep kneading for another minute before adding 1 tbsp of flour. If it seems too dry, add 1 tbsp water and knead for another minute before making any more adjustments.
- Form the dough into a ball, and either spray with oil, or lightly brush with oil, cover, and put in a warm place for 1-2 hours (until it doubles in size.
- Punch the dough down to deflate, and consider letting it rise again if you have time.
- Form the dough into the shapes you want, let rise for at least half an hour in that shape or container, then bake at 350 for 10-30 minutes (small rolls to larger loaves), until golden brown, and internal temperature is 190F.
- Small rolls can be eaten fresh, loaves should be left to cool to room temperature on a rack.
Notes
3 tbsp sugar makes for a slightly sweet bread, if you want to cut it down, I'd recommend not going under 1, just so the yeast has something to eat.
For pizza dough, use 1 cup warm water, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 3 tsp of optional dried herbs (like basil, oregano, marjoram). Omit the milk and baking powder
Skillet roast beef
Ingredients
- 2-4 lbs roast beef
- buncha buncha salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup dry red wine (or 50-50 red wine+water)
- 3 cup beef stock
Instructions
- Season roast with salt and pepper. Tightly wrap in plastic and let set overnight (24 hours is best).
- Preheat cast iron skillet over med-high heat for 5 minutes, preheat oven to 225F
- Add oil to skillet.
- Once smoking, sear the roast on all sides, t hen remove to a plate.
- Add veggies and cook until browned.
- As soon as they start turning brown, add the garlic - we only want it in the pan for about a minute.
- Add the butter and let it melt.
- Stir in flour, and whisk it up.
- Cook until the mixture darkens.
- Place roast on top of the veggies, and into the oven for 2-2.5 hours.
- We want to cook until internal temperature at the thickest part is 135-150F, depending on desired doneness. (med-rare to med-well).
- Remove roast from skillet and set aside (cover in foil).
- Return skillet to med-high heat.
- Deglaze the pan with wine (or vinegar), scrape all the bits off the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the beef stock and bring to a boil.
- Recude heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until thick.
- Strain, and discard the solids.
Notes
If the gravy is not thickening to your liking, you can make a slurry of cornstach and water1:1 tbsp per cup of liquid you want to thicken.