This Sunday roast recipe is perfect for a rainy evening like we had tonight. I’ve adapted the original Sunset Magazine recipe for just two people. It can be really difficult not to dry out a roast when its a smaller poundage like when you’re just cooking for two. So it is very important to monitor the roast’s temperature consistently as its cooks. For a nice pink center that a good roast beef needs (not a dried out cooked through brown center) you want to not let the roast get over 130ºF. Also, it rests on the cutting board out of the oven it will continue to cook a little longer so keep that in mind.

Prepping the Roast Beef for Two ©EverydayCookingAdventures

This was one of the only few times I’ve ever “trussed” or tied meat with kitchen twine so I was pretty proud of myself that it looked as nice as it did when I finished. I used my mortar and pestle to grind up the red chile flakes and salt before adding it to the food processor.  I chose to stick the garlic cloves into little slits I made to the top of the roast so it helped seep that garlicky goodness into each slice of beef.

Beef with Garlic Cloves Ready for the Oven: Roast Beef for Two ©EverydayCookingAdventures

To the sauce at the end of the recipe, I added a little mixture of pre-combined water and flour so that the sauce became more of a sweet gravy. I drizzled this over the mashed potatoes I served alongside the roast. This recipe could of course be doubled if you had a larger piece of beef and wanted to serve more people such as for a holiday or dinner party. Here’s my roast beef for two:

Roast Beef for Two ©EverydayCookingAdventures

Roast Beef for Two ©EverydayCookingAdventures

Spicy Beef Cross-Rib Roast with Caramelized Clementine Sauce

Recipe from: Sunset Magazine, December 2009

Yield: Serves 2 to 3
Cook Time: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds clementines
1 tsp. red chile flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 boned beef cross-rib, chuck roast or boneless chuck roast (about 2 lbs.), tied with kitchen twine as a roast*
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. dry sherry
2 green onions, cut into 2-in. matchsticks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Finely shred zest from 2 large clementines; save clementines for another use. In a food processor, whirl zest, chile flakes, ginger, garlic, and salt to mince. Blend in oil. Put meat in a 12- by 17-in. roasting pan, rub all over with chile mixture, and set fat side up.

2. Roast beef until browned, 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of meat reaches 90°F, and bake another 20 minutes.

3. Juice remaining clementines. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add clementine peels and boil gently 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain; rinse with cool water. Scrape out and discard pulp and white pith. Cut peels in half, then stack a few at a time and cut into long, thin strips. In a bowl, combine clementine strips, sugar, soy sauce, sherry, and about 1/3 cup clementine juice.

4. When meat is at 90°F, pour clementine soy mixture around it in the pan. Cook, stirring sauce occasionally, until meat reaches 130°F for medium-rare, 30 more minutes; as pan juices begin to caramelize, stir in a few tbsp. clementine juice if needed to prevent scorching.

5. Transfer beef to a cutting board and let rest, tented loosely with foil, 15 minutes. Pour remaining clementine juice into roasting pan, set pan over high heat, and cook, stirring often, until juices are thickened and shiny, about 7 minutes. Scrape sauce into a bowl.

6. Snip twine from roast. Thinly slice meat crosswise. Serve with sauce and green onion slices.