Beef is quite common meat for cooking. Due to a number of advantages that beef has over other types of meat, many housewives prefer it. But to get a tender, juicy, aromatic and mouth-watering dish, you need to choose the right meat, taking into account the age of the animal and the part of the carcass necessary for a particular dish .
Cooking beef is a time-consuming process, or rather time-consuming. After all, the minimum for cooking beef is 1 hour, the maximum is 3-3.5 hours. It all depends on the piece of meat and the cooking method. As for the latter, it is baking that will help preserve the greater number of useful elements present in beef: proteins, minerals, vitamins. For baking, the best option would be fresh (not frozen), juicy, soft, without films and tendons pieces of young beef, such as ribeye or tenderloin.
Cooking beef in the oven can be done in foil or in open form on a baking sheet; a whole piece or a few small pieces. It all depends on the preferences of the one who cooks, and the chosen dish. A baked large and juicy piece of beef can become a separate dish on the festive table, part of a salad or - cut into thin slices - will complement the sandwich.
There are many variations on the topic of cooking beef in one piece, but you can highlight the main points that are used in many recipes. To start, wash and wipe a piece of beef from excess moisture, it is better if it is large - 1-2 kg. Rub it with salt and your favorite spices (different ground peppers are perfect: black, white, red; dried herbs), you can also use a ready-made set of seasonings for baking. But to get a juicier, softer and more flavorful meat, it must first be marinated. To prepare the marinade, you can use several recipes to your taste.
- Soy sauce (a few tablespoons), about 6 cloves of mashed garlic;
- Olive oil (a couple of spoons), juice from lemon or lime;
- Red wine, grated garlic, onion, chopped into thin rings, chopped fresh greens of dill and parsley, a little salt - everything boils for 2-3 minutes.
- Soy sauce, sour cream, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, pepper, spices to taste.
These are the most common marinades used in cooking beef; There are many other options - you choose. After the marinade is cooked, coat our slice and put at least 2 hours in a cold place. Better of course for a longer time, for example at night.
After marinating, the meat can be stuffed with garlic and carrots if desired. Garlic will add flavor, and carrots, after the meat is cooked, will produce interesting orange patches in slices. Now you can proceed to the direct baking of beef. As mentioned above, you can leave it open on a baking sheet (but then it can turn out to be a little dry) or you can choose to cook beef in foil. In this case, there is more chance of getting a soft, juicy, tender piece of meat. After all, the foil not only does not allow the moisture released during the cooking process to evaporate, but also allows to preserve nutrients to a greater extent; the aroma of spices added during pickling is also completely preserved. To get the best effect, the foil must be folded in half or three - this will help prevent the evaporation and leakage of meat juice.
Before putting the meat into it, the oven should warm up well: the baking temperature must first be about 250 degrees, then set at 200 - at this temperature, the cooking of beef will last about another two hours - it all depends on the baked piece.
Lovers of crisps on baked meat should not immediately remove it from the oven. And stretch the baking sheet, open the foil and pour over the finished beef with the juice formed during the cooking process and without closing the foil, put the meat back into the oven for another 15 minutes. This time should be enough to form a crust, but it will not be enough to dry our beef. When the meat is cooked, it must be removed immediately (in no case should it be left in the oven, as it can become dry and hard). Beef prepared in this way can be served both hot - as a separate dish decorated with herbs, and in cold - as a cut.