Makes: 10 portions. Cooking time: 45 minutes. Oven temperature: 220°C reducing to 180°C. Temperature at center of joint: 63-65°C.
Ingredients:
— 1½ dl prepared sirlion
— 2 dl melted dripping or oil
— salt
— 1 liter brown stock
— 2 bunches picked watercress
— 1 dl horseradish sauce
Method:
(1) Season the joint and place onto the bones in a roasting tray fat side uppermost. Coat with dripping and place into the oven reducing the temperature after approximately 20 minutes. Baste at regular intervals.
(2) When cooked, remove from the roasting tray and retain in a tray, preferably standing on a wire grid. Any juices collected may be used in making the gravy.
(3) Place the roasting tray on the stove and gently heat allowing the sediment to settle.
(4) Drain off all surplus fat allowing any sediment to remain in the tray.
(5) Add the brown stock and allow to simmer gently for a few minutes.
(6) Strain through a fine conical strainer into a deep sided saucepan. Reboil, skim all traces of fat and other impurities that may come to the surface and season to taste.
(7) Neatly arrange the slices of meat slightly overlapping on an oval flat dish. Coat with some of the roast gravy and garnish with watercress.
(8) Serve the remainder of the roast gravy and the horseradish sauce in sauceboats.
Possible problem, cause and solution:
(1) Meat is dry, lacks flavor and has shrunk excessively:
— meat was of poor quality; only good quality meat should be used as these problems
cannot be rectified.
— meat was cooked at too high a temperature; care must be taken to roast the meat at the correct temperature to avoid these problems which cannot be rectified.
— item was not basted during the roasting process; care must be taken to follow the correct roasting procedure basting regularly to avoid these problems which cannot be rectified.
— meat without a natural fat coating was not larded or barded; care must be taken when preparing the meat as once cooked these problems cannot be rectified.
(2) Item yields less meat than expected:
— meat was of poor quality; only good quality meat should be used to avoid the problem of shrinkage as the quality of the item cannot be rectified.
— meat was cooked at too high a temperature; care must be taken to roast the meat at the correct temperature to avoid this problem which cannot be rectified.
— item was not allowed to rest once cooked before it is carved; it is important to allow the meat to rest before carving to avoid a low yield which cannot be rectified.
— item was not properly carved; care must be taken to carve the meat correctly to achieve the maximum yield from the item.
(3) Gravy is dark in color and has a burnt or bitter flavor:
— item was cooked in too large a roasting tray; the meat should be roasted in a suitably sized tray to prevent the fat and sediment in the bottom from burning and passing the flavor and color onto the gravy, this cannot be rectified.
–basic stock was of poor quality; care must be taken when preparing the basic stock as if it is overcooked, dark and bitter these characteristics will be passed on to the gravy and cannot be rectified.