A very popular dish in American restaurants, petite sirloin is often referred to a portion of beef cut from top sirloin (hip) of the beef. The top sirloin of the beef is sliced lengthwise before being cut into smaller steaks. This is generally done to reduce the size of the individual steaks to a serving size. Beef roasts at times can be healthier if you choose your cuts and ingredients with care. What makes petite sirloin so popular is that it blends with all cooking style such as baking, roasting and grilling. According to recent studies, perfect size for the weight watchers which can be considered healthy is 3 oz. Petite sirloin can also be sliced into strips for stir fry or diced into chunks.
Complexity level: Medium
Time taken: 2-2.5 hours
Ingredients:
1 portion of beef top sirloin petite roast about 3 to 4 pounds
a. For seasoning
Fresh thyme, chopped, 2 tablespoons
Pepper, crushed, 1 tablespoon
3 cloves garlic, minced
b. For garnishing
Butter, 2 tablespoons
Finely chopped onions, 2 cups
Figs, chopped, 1 cup
Water, ½ cup
White wine vinegar, ¼ cup
Process:
a. First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mix the seasoning elements together and rub it evenly on the surface of beef roast. Keep aside some quantity of the mixture, say 2 teaspoon to be used later for the sauce.
b. Now, place the roast on shallow roasting pan. Keep the fat side up. Then insert an ovenproof thermometer in such a manner that the tip of the thermometer is pressed in the center, which is the thickest part of the meat. Do not rest the thermometer in the fat, but press it hard enough to touch the meat.
c. Do not add any water or cover the meat. On the preheated oven, cook the meat keeping in mind 30 minutes for each pound. Depending upon your choice you can opt to cook for 1.5 hours for rare and 2 hours for medium done.
d. You can keep a track of the roast by checking the temperature of the meat thermometer. For rare, it reaches 135 F and for medium it will be 150 F. Let the roast be transferred in a carving board and tent it loosely with aluminum foil. Now, keep it aside stand 10-15 minutes. Temperature will continue to increase to about 10 degrees to reach 145 degrees for rare and 160 degrees for medium.
e. Then prepare the garnish in the meanwhile. In a large non stick pan, add the butter. When the butter is warm add the chopped onions. Now, add the seasoning mixture to it, which you have prepared earlier. Cook for 20-25 minutes until the onions are tender and brown. Once the onions are tenderized, add figs, water and white wine vinegar to the above mixture. Lower the flame and let it simmer. Simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the time it reaches a thick consistency. Remove from heat and add salt.
f. Finally, cull out slices of meat from the roast and smear it with salt and pepper. Garnish it with the sauce and serve hot.
