Roast Beast with Black Garlic Demi-Glace
Freakish black garlic, sweet and pungent, adds a twisted twist on a classic roast.
Servings Prep Time
6 15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
3 – 3.5hours total 3 – 24hours
Servings Prep Time
6 15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
3 – 3.5hours total 3 – 24hours
Ingredients
For the Black Garlic Demi Glace
For the brown roux
Instructions
To start the beef:
  1. Anywhere from 24 to 5-6 hours before you plan on eating trim access fat off the roast (I leave some on, though). Salt it with the tablespoon of kosher salt and set it on the wire wrack placed over a roasting pan. Put this in the fridge, uncovered. The salt dissolves, pulling out some of the natural moisture to the surface of the meat, before it reacts with the proteins and the liquid absorbs back into the meat, taking the salt with it. Don’t skip it.
  2. Remove the beef from the fridge and let it come to room temperature on the counter for at least 2 hours before you plant to cook it. ***About now is a good time to start the demi-glace.
  3. Set a cast iron skillet that the roast can eventually fit in the oven and preheat it to 225°. Tie the roast in butcher’s knots with twine, and rub it down with 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Insert an oven-safe digital thermometer probe into the beef and set it for an internal temperature of 115°.
  4. Slow roast the beef in the oven for about 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 115°. Remove the beef from the oven and cover tightly with foil, still in the pan.
  5. Remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and heat over medium on the stove for 10 minutes. Cut the ties off the roast, add the oil to the cast iron and, once it’s rippling hot, sear the beef a few moments each side until caramelized and browned (literally mere minutes per side).
  6. Remove the roast and let it rest on a cutter board, covered with foil, for 10 minutes before slicing it as thinly as you possibly can.
For the “demi-glace”
  1. Roughly chop the carrot, celery and onion (or pulse in a food processor–drop in the carrots and pulse a few times, then celery, then onion). Heat the butter and oil in a 2-quart heavy bottomed pot until hot and the butter has melted and begun to sizzle. Tip in the vegetables and saute a few minutes until they begin to soften.
  2. Add in the black garlic and squash it in the pan with a rubber spatula. Stir in the tomato paste and herbs, cooking just another minute or two. Deglaze the pan with the brandy, scraping up any brown bits. If you’re using wine, pour that in too and reduce for a few minutes.
  3. Pour in the beef stock, season with a bit more salt and simmer over low for about 1-1/2 hours. Strained, you should have about 2 cups. This can be made in advance, and stored in the fridge (it makes removing any access fat from the top easier, too).
  4. To finish the demi-glace, make a brown roux by combining the butter and flour in a saucepan over medium-low heat (start to reheat the stock if you made it in advance, too). Stir it occasionally until the butter melts and the flour absorbs the fat, turning into a thin slurry. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until you have a roux close to the color of the stock you fortified earlier.
  5. Squash another clove or two of black garlic, add it into the brown roux and immediately stir it in. Right away, pour the stock in slowly, whisking the roux as you do, until you have a smooth sauce. Bring to a gentle boil for a few moments, then simmer over low for at least 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
  • The demi-glace can be finished before the roast is done–let’s say about 30 minutes–and just kept warm covered over the lowest of the lowest flames your stove can muster.

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