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Cayman Christmas Beef Roast Recipe
Serves 4 – 8
The key to success for the perfect Christmas beef is marinating the meat well ahead of time, so be prepared to start this dish a day or two before you want to serve it.
Please note: seasoning amounts are approximations. Caymanian Christmas beef cooks tend to go by taste, sight and time, so it’s best to season to taste.
Seasoning blend:
8 cloves fresh garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 large sprigs fresh thyme
4 large scallions, white and green parts
1/2 deseeded Scotch Bonnet pepper or 3 mutton peppers, including seeds
4 seasoning peppers
1 teaspoon kosher or table salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon original Pickapeppa Sauce
For the beef:
4 or 5-pound bottom round roast or sirloin tip roast
1/4 cup Olive oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher or table salt
1 tablespoon Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash seasoning blend
1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon browning or Kitchen Bouquet sauce
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large carrot, sliced1 hot pepper or season pepper (depending on how spicy you like your food, season pepper being the milder choice)
Directions: Rinse the beef in cold water and vinegar and pat dry. Trim off any thick sections of excess fat, but leave a nice layer on one side. Pierce beef all over with a sharp (paring) knife, making cuts deep enough to hold seasoning. Combine the garlic, thyme scallions and peppers in a small chopper or food processor and chop fine, or chop by hand. Use a rubber spatula to scrape this into a small bowl. Add the salt, ground pepper, and Worcestershire and Pickapeppa sauce and mix well. Before you begin seasoning the meat, put on disposable vinyl gloves if you have them—-the hot pepper will irritate your skin or if rubbed in eyes. (If you don’t use gloves, then remember to wash your hands immediately after handling the beef, and get underneath your fingernails also for sanitary reasons as well)
Put the meat on a platter and using your fingertips, stuff some seasoning into each cut in the beef. This takes time to do properly, and be sure to push the seasoning in deep enough so the flavors will penetrate the meat. Spread any remaining rub over the surface, top, and bottom and ends. Cover the beef tightly with plastic wrap (not foil!) Refrigerate overnight, or even better, a day or two.
When ready to cook the meat, remove roast from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove wrap and heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat until hot. Place the beef in the hot oil and use a large heavy fork to turn the meat, browning well on all sides, turning as each side browns. Turn off the heat and remove the roast from the pot to a clean platter and sprinkle with Worcestershire Sauce, salt, Mrs. Dash and pepper. Now sprinkle the browning and smooth evenly with a knife over the roast.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Add the onion and carrots to the pot, stirring so any browned bits stuck to the bottom are loosened and mixed with the vegetables. Return the roast to the pot and heat over medium-high heat for 3 minutes until vegetables being to soften. Add the broth, to make a half-inch, and stir again— I throw in a few more sliced seasoning peppers too.
Cover beef with foil and bake about 2-1/2 hours. The vegetables and broth should provide enough cooking liquid (and gravy base). However, you should check the roast from time to time to make sure it isn’t drying out, and turn it as well. This is very important if you aren’t sure of your exact oven temperature.
Remove foil cover during the last 30 minutes of roasting. Beef is well done when you can pierce easily with a fork—some prefer even “falling apart” for shredding. Remove from the oven pan and transfer the roast to a serving platter. Recover with aluminum foil and let stand for 20 minutes before carving. Make gravy if desired from the cooking liquid or taste. Adjust seasonings if desired, and spoon over beef when served or as is. Enjoy!
Want to add roasted white, Irish or sweet potatoes? Scrub and rinse the desired amount of potatoes, cut in half and place around beef roast in the pan and bake the last 30 mins.
Please Google the desired oven temperature for your preferred temperature on the beef if it will be Rare, Medium-Rare, Medium, Medium well or Well done.
