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Sirloin of Beef Roasted

A roasted sirloin with a stuffing of beef fat, bread crumbs, lemon peel, thyme, shallot, and port wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 376 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Sirloin of Beef Roasted

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the sirloin

  1. Break the upper part of the chine bones and cut them out.

  2. Cut through the strong gristle on top about an inch apart and skewer it in place.

  3. Run the spit just under the tail at the thin end and bring it out between the joints.

Make the stuffing

  1. For stuffing, mince the fat from inside the sirloin and mix with chopped beef fat, bread crumbs, lemon peel, thyme, and minced shallot.

  2. Combine with port wine and put back into the sirloin, covering it with skin and fat.

  3. Skewer it down neatly and cover with paper.

Roast and serve

  1. Cover the meat with a sheet of buttered paper and roast gently for 3 to 4 hours, depending on size.

  2. Do not remove the paper until the joint is on the serving dish.

  3. Serve with scraped horseradish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Shallot + horseradishtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together376 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Lemon + shallottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,523 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sirloin of beef
Forms the main roast, providing the meat that is cooked slowly and carved for service.
Beef fat
Adds richness and moisture to the stuffing and keeps the lean meat from drying out.
Bread crumbs
Absorb fat and juices in the stuffing, giving it body and a soft texture.
Port wine
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the stuffing as it combines with the fat and crumbs.
Shallot
Contributes a mild sharp aroma that softens and sweetens as it is mixed into the stuffing.

The step that matters

Roast gently and keep the paper on. Slow, gentle heat cooks the beef evenly without drying the outer layer, and the buttered paper shields the surface so moisture stays in the joint while it roasts.

Swap the horseradish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, bread, lemon, thyme, shallot, port wine, butter):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Arrowrootfits better
  4. Horseradishthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, bread, lemon, thyme, shallot, port wine, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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