When I was about 8 years old, my parents were quite playful. Things changed when I got into my teen years but when I was little, the parentals had a good time.
One hot summer day, my father was outside washing the car and the three of us kids were playing on the lawn. My mother walked up to the rose bush and pretended to smell a gorgeous yellow rose but what she was really doing was turning on the hose.
Just as my dad turned around, she squirted him right in the face with the hose and laughed harder than I’d ever seen her laugh. Then she turned around and ran into the house.
A little while later she came back outside and stood near the hose tap and waited for him to come around the corner of the house and she was going to get him again. Dad had a better idea.
He’d sneaked in and gone upstairs and gotten a bucket of water and had carefully opened the window above where my mother was standing.
THEN, just as dad was dumping the bucket of water over my mother’s head, the priest pulled into the driveway. There were shrieks of laughter from the three of us and my father knew when he saw the priest that my mother was going to be angry.
She was. Somehow it had been okay for her to squirt dad but for him to get her wet when the priest was looking was decidedly not okay. I still laugh about it every time I think of it. Her perfectly teased and sprayed hair now looked like a wet rat and her starched and ironed sundress looked rather wilted.
I should have a wonderful segue into a perfectly delicious recipe but all I can think of is, my dad loved rare roast beef. Every time I cook one I think of him. I made this one because it has very little fat and can be sliced thin for sandwiches. We’ve had 3 meals off this one roast and there’s still some left for tomorrow.
This cooking method gives me a roast beef that’s rare from edge to edge with very little loss.
We love mustard with roast beef and my good friend Helene from MasalaHerb.com has an easy recipe for homemade whole grain mustard you should really try. We love it and it’s great with this roast.
- 1 beef tenderloin (beef fillet), sinew removed and tied with string in intervals.
- 2 cloves garlic sliced thinly
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
- The night before, remove sinew from the beef and tie the meat with cooking twine every 1½ inches.
- Put the beef in a shallow dish and sprinkle the sliced garlic over the top and then pour the balsamic vinegar over everything. Cover and refrigerate.
- Four hours and 15 minutes before serving time, preheat the oven to 70C/160F
- Take the meat out of the refrigerator, remove garlic and pat dry with paper towels. Place meat in a roasting pan and let it sit for 15 minutes to warm up.
- Put the meat in the oven, close the door and leave it for 4 hours.
- When four hours is up, heat a skillet on high heat.
- Remove roast from the oven and brush with oil. Place in the hot skillet and roll it around to caramelize for just a minute or so.
- Place on cutting board and cover with foil and rest for 15 minutes.
- Slice and serve with mashed potatoes and gravy or roasted vegetables for a wonderful meal.
We did some more ball chasing in the pool today. There could be a bomb going off nearby but Charlie wouldn’t take his eye off the ball. It’s the green thing in the air – with feet. That’s why it’s called baby. He’d do anything to get baby so we keep it on top of the cat tower because we’ve lost so many of them in the canal. At $8.95 each they add up.
