Entrees with Fruit - Roast Beef

Increasingly fruit seems to be relegated to pie fillers and drinks yet it was once a common ingredient in entrees. In the following article I will show you how to prepare delicious, succulent roast beef bursting with flavor and all-round nutritional benefit. Do not be alarmed! This is a pretty simple recipe using ingredients available in any supermarket.

The key to cooking roast beef is to let the flavor talk for you. I usually pick a roast about 3 ½ to 4 lbs. This will easily be enough for 4 with a some left over for sandwiches or whatever on another day. If you have it in the freezer then transfer to the fridge the night before and take it out about an hour before cooking. Don not worry if it looks a bit fatty as this will melt and strengthen the juices while it is cooking. Using a sharp knife, make about 8 incisions, four on each side. Take a fresh garlic clove and slice it as thinly as possible, inserting one slice in each incision. Do not worry, the garlic will act as a catalyst allowing the flavor to diffuse through the meat, there will not be a strong garlic taste, indeed anyone unaware of the procedure will not know you put garlic in.

Preheat the oven to 375º. Place the roast in a large, 3 - 4 inch deep pan with plenty of room round the sides. Pour olive oil over the roast, about a tablespoon or so; I like to rub the oil in but that is not necessary. Lightly sprinkle a little salt and pepper over it and pop it in the oven. Depending on the weight, I would say 30 minutes for 3lbs and 40 for 4lbs, you will need to turn the roast about half- through. Usually you are told to put the roast in with the fat on top but this does not matter as you are going to turn it anyway and the juices will run down the sides for half the process.

The idea of this first stage of cooking is to brown the outside of the roast. Take the roast out of the oven and turn the oven down to 215 (for rare), 225 (medium) or 235 (well done). Add one cup of water to the pan and 1tbsp of olive oil. Pour in the contents of one tin of black beans. Pour in ½ cup of red wine (do not worry about the alcohol content, cooking wine for 2 hours will reduce the content to legal limits!) Add 8 ounces of dried apricots, I usually slice them in half, and a cup of raisins. Stir around the roast as the idea is for the juices etc. to soak into the apricots and raisins. Put the roasting pan back in the oven at the temperature desired and cook for two hours.

After two hours the roast will be cooked to your specifications and will have a really rich flavor and here is another benefit of the fruit. Apricots are very high in vitamin A, C, B2, B3 and beta-carotene, they are recommended by nutritionists to help combat heart disease. In addition, apricots are an excellent source of minerals as they contain calcium, phosphorous and iron with small amounts of sodium, sulphur, manganese, cobalt and bromine. The above is excellent with roast potatoes, try it, vary it to your taste and enjoy.

Ingredients : Boneless Rump Roast

Olive Oil

Garlic

Red Wine

Can of Black Beans

Package of sun dried apricots

Raisins

Salt and Pepper.

Sources : juicing-for-health.com/apricot.html
whfoods.org