Classic Roast Beef and Gravy

For Christmas dinner I decided to make this recipe I saw in an issue of Cook's Country magazine last year for "Classic Roast Beef and Gravy" view for free here. The recipe is also in my copy of "Cook's Country Best Lost Suppers". I followed the recipe nearly exactly except for the following:

-I rubbed the roast with kosher salt but didn't measure how much I used, and let it sit overnight as directed (be generous with the kosher salt, can also coat it in garlic powder to sit over night)
-after browning the roast, I sprinkled it with a little bit of garlic powder
-I put a little water in the bottom of the pan with the roast so that the drippings wouldn't burn, since the roast was on the rack it did not touch the water and didn't affect the recipe
-I only used one onion (not two) and omitted the celery
-I added a little water and more flour to the gravy because the flavor was a little strong and I wanted to water down the gravy a little bit
-definitely use low-sodium beef broth
-I did not strain the gravy- I left the vegetables in it and blended it with an immersion blender, this made the gravy thicker and made the color look more like beef gravy, and it tasted great
-I also added a dash of soy sauce and a dash of maggi to the gravy
-pull out of the oven at 115 degrees! I pulled it out at 120 and it went from medium rare to medium while it rested.

This recipe came out absolutely amazing and I would definitely make it again. It got rave reviews at the dinner table as well. This is one of the best recipes I have made in a long time. This is why I am such a fan of Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen- they test their recipes so they are pretty fool proof.

• 1 top sirloin roast, fat trimmed to 1/4 inch thick 
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, copped
• 2 onions, chopped fine
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery rib
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste 
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cans beef broth (or four cups total)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1. Pat roast dry with paper towels.  Rub 2 teaspoons of salt evenly over the surface and cover with plastic wrap for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.  
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat over to 275 degrees.  Pat roast dry with paper towels and rub with 1 teaspoon pepper.  Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Brown roast all over, 8 to 12 minutes, then transfer to a V-rack set insode a roasting pan (do not wipe out Dutch oven).  (I don’t have a v-rack, so I just placed mine on a cookie sheet above a jelly roll pan).  Transfer to oven and cook until meat registeres 125 degrees (mine took about 1 1/2 hours – use a temp probe if you can!)
3. Meanwhile, add mushrooms to fat in Dutch oven and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.  Stir in onions, carrot, and celery and cook about 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste, garlic and flour and cook for 2 minutes. (don’t skimp on the time – you want to cook the flour so you don’t taste it in the end).  Stir in wine and broth, scraping up any browned delicious bits on the bottom of the pan.  Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.  Strain the gravy and stir in the Worchestershire sauce – season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Transfer roast to foil and wrap up for 20 minutes.  (Don’t skimp on this step either – you need to let the juices redistribute after taking out of the oven.  Serve with gravy and enjoy!!