Sunday Roast

One of my New Year resolutions is to cook more. Over the Christmas holidays, I realized how much I enjoy being in the kitchen. I baked a truckload of cookies (as the waistline can prove) and made a few family dinners. I took personal delight and pride seeing how much my family enjoyed what I made.

I am married to a professional chef turned real estate agent. As he has become busier in real estate (just busier, not yet quit the second job busy) our delicious home-cooked meals have become fewer and far between. I have decided to cook at least 3 dinners (REAL dinners) a week, with a new tradition of the Sunday roast. The Sunday roast, of course, is nothing new. In our house, however, the only think I've roasted were chickens. I believe I have perfected the roasted chicken with fresh herbs. Even ventured into making homemade gravy. My husband says that my gravy is perfect... I take that as a huge complement coming from a chef.

Last Sunday, I started my roast tradition with a pork roast. I like pork and I think a good pork roast tends to be forgotten amongst it's more popular siblings; pork chops, tenderloin and ham. We had a real family dinner with my parents, my brother and his family joining us.

Today I shall attempt to conquer the roast beef. Growing up, I HATED roast beef. It always seemed too dry (gravy was too "icky" for me as a child) and didn't have too much flavor. It wasn't very appetizing being served next to boxed mashed potatoes and canned string beans. Don't get me wrong, my mom was and still is an excellent cook--she just had a small army to feed and for ease of execution used prepared foods. I grew up in the era when the microwave was the most important tool in the kitchen.

Gotta go. It's time to take the roast out of the refrigerator and let it sit for an hour at room temperature, just as the recipe says. I'm going to roast it directly on the oven rack and make gravy from the drippings. I'll let you know how it turns out...