Roast Sirloin of Beef

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861

Source: The Book of Household Management
Yield: 8.0 – 9.0 persons
Status: success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe: No

Ingredients (2)

Beef, a little salt. ↝ Beef, ground, raw [Ground beef]
Beef, a little salt. ↝ Salt, table, iodized [Spices and Herbs]

Instructions (8)

As a joint cannot be well roasted without a good fire, see that it is well made up about 3/4 hour before it is required, so that when the joint is put down, it is clear and bright.
Choose a nice sirloin, the weight of which should not exceed 16 lbs., as the outside would be too much done, whilst the inside would not be done enough.
Spit it or hook it on to the jack firmly, dredge it slightly with flour, and place it near the fire at first, as directed in the preceding recipe.
Then draw it to a distance, and keep continually basting until the meat is done.
Sprinkle a small quantity of salt over it, empty the dripping-pan of all the dripping, pour in some boiling water slightly salted, stir it about, and strain over the meat.
Garnish with tufts of horseradish, and send horseradish sauce and Yorkshire pudding to table with it.
For carving, see p. 317.

Note

The above is the usual method of roasting moat; but to have it in perfection and the juices kept in, the meat should at first be laid close to the fire, and when the outside is set and firm, drawn away to a good distance, and then left to roast very slowly; where economy is studied, this plan would not answer, as the meat requires to be at the fire double the time of the ordinary way of cooking; consequently, double the quantity of fuel would be consumed.

Original Text

ROAST SIRLOIN OF BEEF.

659. INGREDIENTS.—Beef, a little salt.

Mode.—As a joint cannot be well roasted without a good fire, see that it is well made up about 3/4 hour before it is required, so that when the joint is put down, it is clear and bright. Choose a nice sirloin, the weight of which should not exceed 16 lbs., as the outside would be too much done, whilst the inside would not be done enough. Spit it or hook it on to the jack firmly, dredge it slightly with flour, and place it near the fire at first, as directed in the preceding recipe. Then draw it to a distance, and keep continually basting until the meat is done. Sprinkle a small quantity of salt over it, empty the dripping-pan of all the dripping, pour in some boiling water slightly salted, stir it about, and strain over the meat. Garnish with tufts of horseradish, and send horseradish sauce and Yorkshire pudding to table with it. For carving, see p. 317.

Time.—A sirloin of 10 lbs., 2-1/2 hours; 14 to 16 lbs., about 4 or 4-1/2 hours.

Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.

Sufficient.—A joint of 10 lbs. for 8 or 9 persons.

Seasonable at any time.

The rump, round, and other pieces of beef are roasted in the same manner, allowing for solid joints; 1/4 hour to every lb.

Note.—-The above is the usual method of roasting moat; but to have it in perfection and the juices kept in, the meat should at first be laid close to the fire, and when the outside is set and firm, drawn away to a good distance, and then left to roast very slowly; where economy is studied, this plan would not answer, as the meat requires to be at the fire double the time of the ordinary way of cooking; consequently, double the quantity of fuel would be consumed.

ORIGIN OF THE WORD "SIRLOIN."—The loin of beef is said to have been knighted by King Charles II., at Friday Hall, Chingford. The "Merry Monarch" returned to this hospitable mansion for Epping Forest literally "as hungry as a hunter," and beheld, with delight, a huge loin of beef steaming upon the table. "A noble joint!" exclaimed the king. "By St. George, it shall have a title!" Then drawing his sword, he raised it above the meat, and cried, with mock dignity, "Loin, we dub thee knight; henceforward be Sir Loin!" This anecdote is doubtless apocryphal, although the oak table upon which the joint was supposed to have received its knighthood, might have been seen by any one who visited Friday-Hill House, a few years ago. It is, perhaps, a pity to spoil so noble a story; but the interests of truth demand that we declare that sirloin is probably a corruption of surloin, which signifies the upper part of a loin, the prefix sur being equivalent to over or above. In French we find this joint called surlonge, which so closely resembles our sirloin, that we may safely refer the two words to a common origin.

Notes

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