Are you a bit of a beefeater but have little occasion to roast a joint of beef? Fortunately, most delicatessens – be they the gourmet variety or at the back of your local supermarket – now sell roast beef for which I’ve devised six quick recipes that might fill the void.
In the fridge or the deli, you’ll mostly find roast beef in slender slices which make tasty sandwiches with some spinach, lettuce or coleslaw mix, and a little mustard, pickles or mayonnaise. Finely chopped or shredded, these beef slices can also go into soups, rice and noodle dishes. If you really hunger after an old-fashioned plate of roast beef with gravy or a beef stew, ask over the deli counter for some sliced for the plate, say about ½–¾ cm thick.
An alternative from the deli is sliced corned beef (also known as corned silverside). Corned beef is cured, or preserved, in salt. The beef is placed in a brine solution for about a week. The brine pickles the meat and makes it tender. Corned beef is higher in fat and calories than roast beef, but it’s often moister and more tender. If you use sliced corned beef rather than roast beef in the following recipes, it might be best to omit the soy sauce, which would make the dish doubly salted.
Yes, you’ll notice that the following recipes use soy sauce to salt the dish and give it some depth of flavour rather than beef stock. This is in keeping with my philosophy of sticking to a limited but versatile range of condiments. I personally have little call for beef stock in my cooking and find soy sauce to be an acceptable substitute, and, of course, it has a wider range of uses than beef stock cubes. However, if you do have beef stock on hand, either as a cube, powder or liquid, do use it instead.
To find more dishes with beef, which could easily be adapted for roast beef, see the entry One Pot Main Courses: Beef.
Recipes:
Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy
Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy
- 1–2 slices roast beef, sliced for the plate (approx. ½–¾ cm thick)
- 3–4 mushrooms, chopped
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. cornflour
- Pepper, garlic granules and dried onion
- Place mushrooms, soy sauce, tomato paste and spices in the small cup of a bullet blender with ¼ cup water and microwave on high for 60 seconds
- Allow to cool and liquidise
- Dissolve the cornflour in 1 tbsp. water and add to the sauce
- Microwave on high in 30 second bursts and stir until the sauce thickens
- Place beef in a microwave proof dish and cover with sauce
- Microwave for 2 minutes
Variation: to prepare on a stove top, at Step 4, pour the gravy into a frying pan, add the beef and heat gently.
Quick Beef Stew
- 1–2 slices roast beef, sliced for the plate (approx. ½–¾ cm thick)
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- ¼ cup carrot, chopped
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ½ cup canned potatoes
- 2 tsp. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. chicken stock powder (optional)
- 1½ tsp. cornflour
- Garlic, pepper and parsley
- Olive or canola oil
- Cut the roast beef into 1–2 cm cubes
- In a small saucepan, sauté onion with garlic and pepper
- Add vegetables and sauté to heat through
- Add ¾ cup water with parsley, soy sauce, tomato paste and stock powder (optional) and simmer for 10 minutes
- Dissolve cornflour in 1 tbsp. cold water and stir into mixture
- Add roast beef and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, adding a little water if required
Variation: substitute ½ cup frozen mixed vegetables for the carrot and peas
Beef and Mushroom Risotto
- 1–2 slices roast beef, chopped
- ¼ cup rice
- 2–3 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- Dried onion, pepper and parsley
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan, sauté mushrooms with pepper
- Add rice and stir until translucent
- Add ¾ cup boiling water with soy sauce, dried onion and parsley
- Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Stir in beef and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes
Variation: place a portion of frozen spinach on rice during Step 4
Quick Beef Chow Mein
- 1–2 slices roast beef, sliced
- 1 portion instant noodles
- 2 tbsp. chopped onion
- 1 cup coleslaw mix
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- Garlic, mild curry powder and ginger
- ½ tsp. chicken stock powder
- Canola oil
- Douse noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes, tease them apart, drain, and retain some of the water
- In a wok, stir fry onion with spices
- Add coleslaw mix and stir fry until wilted
- Add soy sauce and stock powder with 1 tbsp. noodle water
- Add beef and stir through
- Add noodles and stir through
Quick Beef Curry
- 1–2 slices roast beef, chopped
- ¼ cup rice
- ½ cup carrot and red capsicum, chopped
- 2 tbsp. chopped onion
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- Chilli, garlic and mild curry powder
- Canola oil
- In a small saucepan, sauté onion with spices
- Add carrot and capsicum and sauté
- Add rice and stir until translucent
- Add ¾ cup boiling water with soy sauce
- Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Stir in beef and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes
Variation: substitute ½ cup frozen mixed vegetables for the carrot and capsicum
Quick Pasta Bolognaise
- 1–2 slices roast beef, chopped
- ½ cup pasta
- ½ cup diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- Garlic, chilli or paprika, basil and pepper
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Olive or canola oil
- Liquidise diced tomatoes and tomato paste in the small cup of a bullet blender
- In a small saucepan, sauté onions with garlic and spices
- Add chopped roast beef and sauté to heat through
- Add tomatoes with basil and soy sauce and heat through
- Add ¼ cup water, bring to the boil and stir in pasta
- Set to simmer, stirring often and adding more water if required for 12 – 15 minutes or until pasta is cooked
- Stir in a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese