Sirloin Tip Roast

Let's talk New Years resolutions. Are you a "I'm going to work out everyday" person? Or did you decide you were going to avoid fast food and eat more salads? Do you want to lose 10 pounds? Did you resolve to make your bed every morning? Or maybe look for a new job? Finish your education?

Me? I'm not a huge resolution person. BUT I do have desires for 2013. They include publishing a number of papers, taking a preparing future faculty course, and applying for jobs this coming fall. Wow. Lots to do for my career.

I also decided it would be fun to add some goals for the blog. I'm planning on checking more things off on that bucket list. AND I'm starting this new series; I'm calling it "Science Sundays". Here I will explain some aspect of science behind food, cooking and baking. Then, of course, I'll have a recipe to highlight what I'm talking about. I'm not promising a Science Sunday every week but I'll shoot for at least a few each month. This will be fun for those of you who care to learn a little bit about science and it will be fun for me to bring my two loves together.

So let's get started!

I'm kicking off the first few weeks of Science Sunday talking about the major food molecules that we need to consume on a daily basis. First up is protein! As we all probably know, protein is a characteristic of food from animals such as milk, eggs, meat and fish. Additionally, we can find protein in a variety of beans and nuts. The basic building blocks of proteins are amino acids; which are linked end to end via amide bonds.

The sequence of the amino acid side chains is important, but the overall 3D shape of the protein is important to whether or not we can eat it and contributes to the flavor. When a protein is in a natural state, it is globular and there are interactions between individual amino acids that are not directly connected to one another. When we cook the protein, the internal bonds are broken and the shape is changed in a process we call denaturation. Visualize it like this-- say you had a long piece of string. If you randomly ball up that piece of string, you have the "natural" state of the protein. Now throw that ball up in the air and the string unravels. You have just cooked your protein and denatured it. Most proteins can be denatured at temperatures around 104 F (or 40 C). However, we don't need heat to denature proteins; we can use other things like salt, acid, base, alcohol, and stretching motion (like whisking). Once the natural state of the proteins are denatured, they don't just stop there, new bonds are formed as they continue to cook.

So let's denature some proteins. We made this sirloin tip roast for Christmas Eve dinner. It seems like a perfect example of cooking proteins. So enjoy the amino acids as you do some chemistry in the kitchen!

Sirloin Tip Roast (adapted from food.com)
Ingredients:
Sirloin tip roast (5 to 8 lbs-- ours was 7.3 lb)
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup water
1/2 cup red wine (we used Pinot Noir)
Dijon mustard
0.75 oz package au jus mix

1 1/2 tbsp dried minced onion
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp dried tarragon
salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Water and cornstarch, for making gravy

Directions:
Let the roast set at room temperature for 1 hour prior to cooking. Mix together the au jus mix, minced onion, garlic, basil, rosemary and tarragon. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Rinse and pay dry with a paper towel. Generously rub salt and pepper on all sides of the roast.

Cover the bottom of a large pan with olive oil. Heat over medium high heat until very hot. Place the roast in the hot pan (being very careful because the oil is hot!) and sear on all sides until nicely brown and some of the fat has been rendered. It should take 5-8 minutes.

Place the roast on wire rack sitting in a roasting pan. Poke 15-20 slits into the roast (enough for the garlic cloves) using a sharp knife. Push the slices of garlic into the slits. Pour the water and wine over the top of the roast. Generously brush the roast with Dijon mustard. Season the roast with salt and pepper again. Then sprinkle the mixed seasonings evenly over all of it, rubbing in slightly.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours until roast is a little bit less than you desire (if you want medium, remove from oven when medium rare). Make sure you use a meat thermometer pushed into the center of the roast to determine the temperature. Remove from the oven and tent with aluminum foil. Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes to continue to cook.

Pour all of the juices into a small saucepan, add a water until you get to the amount you need for the gravy and bring to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water and add to pan. Stir until thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Carve roast and serve with gravy.

Mini Gingerbread Men (and others!)

Did you ever have those gingerbread men cookies that were covered with some granulated sugar from the bins at the grocery store? I used to love those; the thick and crunchy perfection of cookies. I think it was the memory of those cookies that made me really want to make gingerbread cookies this year. When I came across this recipe in my Cooking Light Holiday edition, I figured I should try them out. The original recipe called for a combination of golden cane syrup with molasses but since I couldn't find the syrup in my grocery store, I upped the molasses slightly and subbed in some corn syrup. They are probably not as "light" anymore, but they did turn out well.

They are quite the crunchy thick cookies I was imagining, but even the non-gingerbread lovers will enjoy the flavor. The ginger isn't over the top and if you use 1-inch cookie cutters like I did, you'll get bite-sized goodness that is just enough.

Gingerbread Cookies (adapted from Cooking Light December 2012)
Ingredients:
For cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of salt
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp molasses
1 large egg

For frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp meringue powder
3-5 tbsp water (more or less to thin as desired)
green and red food coloring

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Whisk well to mix.

Beat the brown sugar and butter in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the corn syrup, molasses and egg and beat until combined, about 1 minutes. Add the flour mixture and stir using a wooden spoon until just combined. Form into a ball with your hands and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, working with half of the dough at a time, roll to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use cookies cutters to get the desired shape and cookies, rerolling to dough as necessary. Continue cutting until you have used almost all the dough, placing the cookies on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes and then remove and let cool completely.

Prepare the icing by beating the powdered sugar, meringue powder and about 3 tbsp water in a large bowl on low speed until the sheen has disappeared. Separate into two bowls and color with red and green food coloring, adding more water as necessary. Spoon into disposable pastry bags fitted with size two round tips. Pipe on to cookies in desired designs.

White Almond Bark Chex Mix

This is a Christmas cookie tray staple at my house... and it is probably my favorite Christmas treat ever! Oh my, it is so addicting that I could eat an entire bowl in an evening and feel sick later in the night, just to consume more the next day. That is why whenever I start a new job, I always make it for my new coworkers. It is soooo easy to scale up to however many people you need to give treats to and it takes no time at all.

There is one kitchen utensil (?) that is essential in making this: you must have a large glass or ceramic bowl (I recommend this Pyrex 4 quart bowl). The key is to use a bowl that conducts heat. You will have a lot of trouble if you use a plastic bowl; take it from my difficult experience in grad school. A bowl that retains the heat will allow you to stir everything and get them nice and coated before the bark starts to solidify again.

Please forgive my fail of purchasing normal peanut M&Ms instead of holiday ones. I do not know where my head was... For a Christmas effect, just use green and red M&Ms.

Also, please forgive my lack of "amounts" in the directions. This is really a pour, mix and observe type of a recipe. This year I used two 24-oz packages of white almond bark, a full 8-oz box of cheerios, almost a full 12.8-oz box of rice chex, almost a full 15-oz bag of pretzels and two 12.6-oz bags of peanut M&Ms. It made lots. I filled up the 10 bags above with about 3 cups each plus a larger tin and two quart sized ziploc bags (not including everything I stuffed in my mouth while I was making it ;)).

White Almond Bark Chex Mix
Ingredients:
Rice Chex
Cheerios
Pretzels
Peanut M&Ms
White Almond Bark

Directions:
Working with half of the brick of almond bark at a time (if you have a really big bowl you could probably use it all), heat in microwave for 90 seconds in a glass bowl. Remove and stir. If it is not completely melted, microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir and repeat if necessary.

Add 1-2 cups of chex, 1 cup cheerios, 1-2 cups pretzels and 1 cup M&Ms. Gently mix using a large spoon trying not to crush the cereal or pretzels. Add additional chex, cheerios, pretzels and M&Ms if you have still have melted bark that has not coated everything.

Spread out on wax paper and allow to cool.

Break into pieces and devour. Or package into pretty bags or tins to hand out. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Mint Oreo Truffles

Do as I say, not as I do.

For example, if you are spending the weekend baking for a holiday party make sure you eat something other than the sweets you are cooking. And whatever you do, do not eat sweets accompanied by wine on Friday night followed by more sweets on Saturday morning alongside your coffee. Your tummy will not like you very much.

You should, however, add Oreo truffles to your Christmas candies and cookies this year. FOR CERTAIN. You will love them (and inevitably consume too many). Everyone you share them with will love them too. They don't really take any extra prep time than cut-out cookies so you can definitely fit them in. They are super adaptable if you don't like mint, just use regular Oreos or I bet the peanut butter ones would be delicious too. You could totally use the golden ones and coat them with chocolate. Wowsers.

So what are you waiting for? Get out to the store and get the supplies and get rolling and dipping. Turn up some "All I want for Christmas is You" and the time will fly by.

Get in there and take a nice big bite!

Mint Oreo Truffles (I cannot even give this one source because they are all over the internet)
Ingredients:
1 package mint stuffed Oreos
8 oz block of cream cheese (it is okay to use 1/3 less fat), cut into 1-2 inch cubes
White almond bark, approximately 2/3 of a 24 oz package
crushed candy canes
Christmas colored sprinkles

Directions:
Place the Oreos into your food processor and pulse until they are finely ground. Place the cubes of cream cheese into the food processor and pulse again until mixed completely. Make sure you do not have any streaks of cream cheese left. It should form a nice black ball.

Place the Oreo mix into the fridge until you are ready to start rolling (it helps if it is slightly cold). Cover a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Roll the Oreo mixture into balls of about 1 inch diameter. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Freeze the baking sheet with the balls for at least 1 hour.

Melt the white almond bark in the microwave in a glass bowl according to the package (usually zap for 90 seconds first, then stir and microwave for 10-15 seconds again until completely melted).

Roll each Oreo ball in the white almond bark and place back on the parchment. Top with candy canes or sprinkles, as desired (make sure you do this as soon as you finish coating in each one before the bark hardens again). If the uncoated balls begin to soften, place them back into the freezer for another 15 minutes to harden again before you finish up coating. Once you are all done with the coating, store the balls in the freezer or fridge until ready to serve.