Sunday Roast Beef Dinner

A blogger friend recently asked me how I make the Roast Beef Dinner that I mentioned in one of my posts.  It’s nothing special  – just a roast the way my mother always made it, carrots the way my mother-in-law fixed them, mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus with my version of a light Hollandaise sauce, and homemade yeast rolls.  For dessert, some kind of homemade pie.  For what it’s worth, this is how I cooked my roast beef dinner this past Sunday.

SUNDAY ROAST BEEF DINNER FOR 6 (with some leftovers)

I like to buy a 4 lb. Regal Rump beef roast.  The meat is lean, juicy and easy to slice.  I pour about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of a roasting pan, place the meat on a rack and surround it with about a pound of baby carrots.  I sprinkle the roast and carrots with salt and pepper, cover the pan and bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 3-1/2 hours.  We like our beef well done, so you can adjust the time to get your roast just the way you like it.  Allow time to remove the roast from the pan, place it on a platter and cover with foil for about 15 minutes before slicing.

While the roast is in the oven there’s time to set the table with my vintage Jadeite dinnerware.  Before we left our country home 10 years ago, I had a dining room, but now we gather around the kitchen table.

GRAVY

After the roast has been cooking about two hours, tip the roasting pan and ladle out 1/2 to 3/4 cup of broth.  Place the broth in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  In a small cup, dissolve 2 tsp. cornstarch in  1/4 cup cold water.  Whisk this into the broth and continue whisking until gravy starts to thicken.  My husband hated pale gravy, so I always add a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet for color and a little flavor enhancement.  Add salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate until time to reheat it for dinner.  This saves some time when you are trying to get everything on the table.

MASHED POTATOES

Peel and quarter 6 medium red potatoes.  Cover with cold water and cook over medium high heat until potatoes are done – about 20-30 minutes.  Drain potatoes and place in the large bowl of an electric mixer with paddle beater.  Beat until potatoes are broken up, then add 2 tablespoons butter and 2-3 tablespoons of milk, a little at a time, and beat to desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper.

A lot of people like lumpy mashed potatoes, but I grew up with a mother who used an old-fashioned potato masher and yearned to have creamy, smooth mashed potatoes.  When she was finally able to get an electric hand mixer in the 1950s, she never went back to the old-fashioned masher.  My family expects mashed potatoes to be whipped smooth with no lumps.

ASPARAGUS

I buy one pound of asparagus and break the spears at the spot where they break easily, discarding the lower portion.  This will help avoid having stringy, tough asparagus.  Break the upper portions into 1-2 inch pieces.  Steam until fork-tender, about 10-15 minutes.

I serve the asparagus with a lighter Hollandaise Sauce.

MOCK HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

HOT YEAST ROLLS AND BUTTER

Because of limited oven space, I bake my rolls the night before or use some of my supply from the freezer.  I put the rolls (thawed if from the freezer) on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and warm in the oven in the last 10 minutes or so before the meal is served.

Easy Potato Yeast Rolls

Everyone liked the dinner very much.

PIE FOR DESSERT

I usually have home-baked pie with a Roast Beef Dinner.  The kind of pie depends on the season and/or what I feel like baking that day.  Today, I decided to make a Kentucky Lemon Chess Pie, which we try to have at least once during the winter.  I made the pie early in the day before the roast went into the oven to allow ample time for the roast to bake and for the pie to cool.

Kentucky Lemon Chess Pie

There may be variations in the green vegetable or the pie, but basically this is the same dinner I’ve been fixing about once a month for almost 60 years.

Beef Stroganoff and Rice Pudding

My youngest daughter is a busy stay-at-home mom who always finds time to get together with me on Fridays for lunch.  I try to make meals that are tasty, quick and easy, and reduced in fat and calories.  Here is the meal we had this week.

I first made this Beef Stroganoff in 1976 and it became one of our family’s favorite dishes.  In moderation and using low-fat ingredients, it’s also a good entree  when one or more of us is trying to lose weight.   The original recipe was from a Crisco cookbook, but over the years I eliminated the Crisco altogether and lightened anything I could.  It’s a traditional meal after having roast beef on Sunday.

MY ROAST BEEF STROGANOFF

• Servings: 4
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• 1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 2 Tblsp. catsup
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tblsp. dried minced onions
• 1 cup leftover roast beef, cubed

In a large skillet, place soup, sour cream, catsup, Worcestershire Sauce, pepper and onions, stirring well, and bring to a simmer.  Add leftover roast beef and continue simmering until mixture is bubbly and heated through.  Serve over noodles.

Yield:  4 servings 

Based on 4 servings of Stroganoff and 1/2 cup of cooked noodles per serving, the nutrition count per DietPower software is:  209 calories, 8.74 g fat, 49 mg cholesterol, 276 mg sodium, 615 mg potassium, 15.2 g carbohydrate, 1.44 g dietary fiber, 2.5 g sugars, 14.4 g protein.

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  5

My mother’s rice pudding was not only a childhood favorite, but an essential dish when I was sick or pregnant or otherwise indisposed.  I could eat this pudding when I couldn’t eat anything else.  I liked it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of evaporated milk (or cream for everyone else).   My youngest daughter loves anything with lemon, so now I make a lemon sauce to spoon over the rice pudding.  Delicious and not too bad calorie-wise.

GRANDMA MARTHA'S RICE PUDDING & LEMON SAUCE

• Servings: 6
• Print

• 2 cups cooked medium grain white rice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 beaten egg

In a medium saucepan, place the rice, salt, sugar, milk and egg and mix together well.  Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat and continue to cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Spoon pudding into 6 dessert dishes.

LEMON SAUCE

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tblsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 4 Tblsp. butter
• 3 Tblsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Add water and heat mixture, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If mixture appears lumpy, whisk until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon peel.  Serve warm  over Grandma Martha’s Rice Pudding (warm or room temperature is best).

Sauce will be quite stiff when cool.  It can be warmed in the microwave or in a pan over hot water.

Yield:  1-1/2 cups sauce.  Also good over pound cake, apple cake, pie, etc.

A note in my recipe binder reads:  “From Favorite Recipes for Quilters.  We like this with Grandma Martha’s Rice Pudding.  First made 2/23/95.”

Nutrition count per DietPower software based on 6 servings of pudding and 2 tablespoons of sauce per serving:  228 calories, 5.7 g fat, 40.1 g carbohydrate, .8 g dietary fiber, 4.4 g protein.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus:  6