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Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooking: 60 minutes | Serves: 8
Since Christmas is around the corner, we thought it was about time we shared this festive MLA roast beef recipe with you. Not only does this recipe taste great, but it also looks amazing – it’s perfect for impressing your family and friends at your Christmas roast dinner. This roast beef is an event in itself!
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef fillet/tenderloin
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 small bunch rosemary
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- To serve: horseradish, gravy and vegetables
Method
- Preheat your oven to 200ºC. Tie the beef with short pieces of string at 5cm intervals (you can also ask your butcher to do this). Brush the beef lightly with oil and sear it on all sides over a moderately-high heat until evenly browned.
- Reserve 3 whole sprigs of rosemary. Coarsely chop 1 tbsp of the remaining rosemary. Combine the chopped rosemary, oil and garlic in a small bowl. Rub the rosemary mixture over the beef. Thread the reserved rosemary sprigs under the string on the beef. Season the beef well with ground pepper and salt.
- Place the beef on a rack in a roasting dish. Roast for 45-60 minutes for rare, 60-75 minutes for medium, or 75-90 minutes for well done. For ease and accuracy use a meat thermometer.
- Remove beef, cover it loosely with foil, and rest it in a warm place for 10-20 minutes before carving across the grain. Place on a serving platter and serve immediately with horseradish or your preferred gravy or sauce, and fresh seasonal vegetables.
Cooking Tips
- Eye fillet has a thin membrane called ‘silverskin’ which needs to be removed carefully with a sharp knife if your butcher has not already done so. If left on, the silverskin it will shrink during cooking and cause the fillet to curl up.
- For even cooking and attractive presentation, the meat should be as uniform as possible and tying the joint (or more technically, ‘trussing’ the joint) is the key. Using individual pieces of kitchen twine, tie the joint firmly at 4-5 cm intervals, spaced evenly between each truss. Tuck the thinner tail of the fillet underneath and tie in place.
- Judging your roast’s degree of doneness using a meat thermometer. The internal temperature of the meat should be: Rare – 55-60ºC, Medium – 65-70ºC, Well done – 75ºC.
- You can also use tongs to test the roast’s doneness. Gently prod or squeeze the roast – rare is very soft, medium rare is soft, medium is springy but soft, medium well is firm and well done is very firm.
If you’d like to know more about cooking beef to perfection, check out How to Cook Aussie Beef Cuts the Right Way.
