Dear reader,
Happy Saturday! I hope you’re well.
After some unseasonal, although not unusual for Canberra, cold days, the sun was shining today! If you’re a first-time reader and from somewhere in the northern hemisphere of our amazing planet, I live in Canberra, the capital city of Australia.
We’re continuing to see case numbers of COVID-19 rise in some jurisdictions while the growth slope in others is falling. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing the fatality numbers rise. I’m not impressed that healthcare professionals and politicians quip that the people dying are older or have comorbidities. These are humans who are dying. Most of the dead had families and friends who loved them and would mourn and grieve. I’m not getting any younger, and I have close friends who are vulnerable, or they have vulnerable children. I don’t want to mourn the loss of a friend or family member. I don’t want to grieve with a friend who loses a son or daughter.
Enough of the moroseness. I’ve had a great week, made better by the love and kindness of those who are closest to me.
Ingredients
- Rump roast
- Pumpkin
- Sour cream
- Marmalade
- Instant gravy
- Frozen peas
Instructions
- Undress the beef from its environmentally unfriendly see-through plastic.
- Dry the meat with absorbent paper.
- Season the roast with salt.
- Dry brine the roast in the refrigerator. (Preferably overnight).
- Heat the oven to 220 °C (200 °C fan-forced).
- Insert the meat thermometer deep into the flesh. Ram it in up to the root.
- Put the meat on a rack over a baking tray and put it into the oven.
- Set the cooking app according to how you want the beef finished off. I like my meat rare to medium-rare. I like it to be juicy with the meat juices flowing. It gives me a bit of a thrill to give it a poke and see the juices running from it.
- Cook at this temperature for 15 minutes to get the surface well browned.
- Reduce the temperature to 170 °C (150 °C fan-forced) and cook according to the instructions provided by the app associated with the thermometer.
- When instructed, remove from the dish, transfer to a carving board, cover with foil and rest according to the app before carving.
- Lovingly sharpen your carving knife (as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend Proverbs 27:17 NLT). I add this proverb because real friends are brave enough, to be honest with each other. That honesty is an expression of love. Honesty leads to growth and stronger relationships. I like that I can be honest with those who I love and cherish.
- When the meat is well-rested, carve the roast into slices. I like my beef to be thick and meaty. Resting the meat gives it an almost tumescent quality as the flesh retains its juices until you make your incision with your blade.
- Make the instant gravy according to the maker’s instructions. I nearly wrote “manufacturer’s instructions for use”. I’ve been using that phrase all week for advice I’ve been writing at work. I’m tired of writing it.
- Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and massage each chunk with some oil and marmalade.
- Place the pumpkin into the oven, which has been heated for the meat.
- When the pumpkin is soft, remove it from the oven, put it into a metal or glass bowl and begin to get a little rough with it. I use a fork, but you could use a dedicated masher or even a ricer. It depends on how you want your mash. I also leave the skin on for the extra fibre, and with all the mammal meat I eat, my bowels need all the dietary fibre I can consume.
- Season the mash with salt and pepper and add a dollop of sour cream. I also like some spring onions in my mash, whether made with pumpkin or spuds. I know some people like chives, but spring onions are more versatile for my cooking style. When I say cooking style, that’s overstating it. I don’t think I’m stylish at all.
- Cook the frozen peas. You can choose microwave radiation, boiling water, or bunging the peas into a skillet.
- Plate up the meal however you choose.
- Give thanks to the Lord.
How was the meal?
I feel like I’m in a bit of an afterglow with this meal. As I was cooking, I was thinking deeply about someone extraordinary.
When I make a mash, a lot depends on how I feel at the time. Sometimes I enjoy a more refined form of mash, almost pureed, and that’s when I’ll use a ricer or blender. Tonight I wanted something more rustic to match the rump roast.
Rump may not be as tender as ribeye; however, in my opinion, it has more flavour. While I never think of ribeye as insipid, roast rump has a more corporeal mouthfeel, and who doesn’t want corporeal mouthfeel? 😉
Final thoughts
- How was your week?
- What sort of mash do you like? Do you prefer potato or pumpkin? Do you enjoy them equally?
- Do you like to treat your spuds or pumpkin a bit roughly or with tenderness for a smooth result?
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or let me know via Twitter or Facebook.
Rump roast 
Rump roast 
Rump roast 
Rump roast and rustic pumpkin mash with instant gravy and frozen peas and corn 
Rump roast and rustic pumpkin mash with instant gravy and frozen peas and corn 
Rump roast and rustic pumpkin mash with instant gravy and frozen peas and corn 
Rump roast and rustic pumpkin mash with instant gravy and frozen peas and corn
Very eye catching meal, Gaz. The steak looked like it turned out brilliant. I usually prefer a more refined mash, not chunky but smooth. I actually haven’t had pumpkin mash but I’m guessing it might be close to sweet potato mash.
I’ve been enjoying summer, staying indoors and avoiding crowds as much as possible. It’s trying times and we’ll probably have to live with this situation for a while unfortunately. That said, hope things do get better soon. Don’t want to get sick and pass it on and turns into an emotional chain reaction. Have a good week, Gaz.
Thanks, Mabel. I hope you stay well and safe.
I reckon staying home, and cooking and eating is the best way to pass the time.
I particularly love baked pumpkin, sweet potato and potato Gary…just pop in the oven with a little bit of olive oil and either salt and pepper or Italian herbs…delicious in a salad or just by themselves.
You’re not wrong Sue. Baked spuds or pumpkin or sweet potato is always good.
Another lovely meal! I loved smashed foods, especially potatoes. I do like them to be pretty smooth, but I don’t mind lumps, either. I’ve found that using a hot cooking broth, such as chicken broth, can add flavor and help with the mashing. Cheers!
Excellent, you make a great point about using a bit of stock or broth for flavour and smoothness. 😊
I fully agree with you re the common parlance that the older generation is basically dying ‘with’ Covid and not ‘of’ it ! Ridiculous sidestep ! Would those succumbing have died ‘without’ Covid ! Most of the elderly want to live every bit as much as those of younger generations – I am amongst them ! On a lighter note am glad you enjoyed your dinner – looks appetizing ! I eat my beef blue or rare, rarely have potatoes or mash them 🙂 ! Rice, noodles and noble grains preferred. Oh, have just put a beef tongue on simmer . . . will be lovely after the past week’s kangaroo, calamari and Chinese-steamed fish ! . . . best . . .
I enjoy kangaroo cooked sous vide to ensure tenderness. Given my fondness for using a pressure cooker, I might go and explore some other marsupial cuts. At least with a pressure cooker, I can count on two things. Proper sterilisation of the parasites and tenderness.
smile One cannot cook ‘blue’ or ‘rare’ or even ‘medium-rare’ in a sous-vide or pressure cooker . . . the only meat I eat ‘well done’ is chicken. Kangaroo HAS to be virtually rare to be edible methinks. Yes, naturally one has to take care of the what, how or where of cooking . . . yet I have eaten, weeks at a time all over the world and especially at many street stalls in the Far East etc without one single time of a gippy tummy. As a matter of fact the only time of a serious gastric problem emanated eating green spring eels at the topmost restaueant in Amsterdam ! As a single person, unless I am entertaining huge crowds at ‘normal’ times, a steaming pot, a good wok and saute pan truly are the only ‘tools’ I use . . . have a pleasant weekend . . .
The problem with marsupials is toxoplasmosis which won’t necessarily cause acute symptoms in normal healthy humans but the infection will remain latent. Should the infected person become immunosuppressed, toxoplasmosis can result in things like space occupying lesions of the brain. In infected pregnant humans, congenital toxoplasmosis can have serious consequences.
I do not argue with your premise at all . . . even remember learning about toxoplasmosis in my very far-back medical school days ! However . . . selling kangaroo meat for human consumption has become a big business in Australia worth a huge amount of money. These cases are picked up by the media very quickly indeed and the Industry cannot afford it. In this case I feel more secure making kangaroo tartare than buying, cooking and eating some of the fish grown in polluted waters in Thailand and imported here. I have been a so-called foodie since my late teens and have actually been ‘in that trade’ as well as many other things. I have yet to hear of one case of illness from kangaroo ?! Also . . . life is for living . . . one can step off a sidewalk and be hit by a bus . . . huge smile Methinks you would be terribly shocked if you knew where and what I have eaten . . . somehow I feel you do not like blue steak or medium lamb or pink organic pork either ? One’s body grows tougher the more one CAREFULLY risks . . . have a lovely weekend . . .
I was at a college of pathologists conference a couple of years ago and learnt that virtually every piece of fish sold in Australia is infected with parasites.
Contrary to what you’ve written, when I’m out I request my mammal meat to the be rare and from time to time enjoyed wallaby tartare.
huge smile How does that song go . . . “Getting to know you . . . ‘ etc et al . . .
Food looks amazing as always. My eye was drawn to you steak knife, very manly. 🙂 \ooo/
Thanks, Brother! It’s always good to have good knives. This steak knife feels good in the hand.
Hi Gaz, that looks amazing. You always make your food look very stylish! Yes, referring to those who die of Covid as being older or having co-morbidities and that being ‘okay’ is definitely not okay in my book… Pumpkin or sweet potato mash is yum, and while a smooth puree has its place, a little texture is nice.
Thanks, Emma, I think texture is important.
I’m hoping the death rates fall soon, here and in Scotland too.