What to do with a dry aged rump?

This is an interesting question as while we as Aussies love rump (or top sirloins as the Yanks call it) but we only really love it off the small and young domestic beef we do for the supermarket and butcher trade here.

We don't love big rumps as they have a small problem which is due to the fact that as the animal gets older the connective tissue "calcifys" which means gets harder and gristlier.

Now the rump consists of 4 muscles (see pic) all of which are covered in silverskin and there is a little bit of gristle around the place as well. So as a piece of meat it can suffer from the impression of being tough despite it not being the meat but the connective tissue that has caused the problem.




Now there is 2 ways to deal with this problem

1) trim every skerrick of connective tissue off

and

2) get the temperature of the connective tissue above 65 deg C at which point it will go soft so long as the cut in question is from a well fed and reared beef animal not some broken down old cow.

On the weekend I used both methods

Firstly and simply I made a version of steak tartare with completely denuded rump tri tip and eye of rump side. I made a spice blend with cinnamon, allspice, black and white pepper and salt. I then got some fine bulgur and washed it then pulsed it in a blender with a dash of olive oil till it was a fine paste. I pulped a few slices of red onion then blended my rump again to a paste like consistency.

I then worked the bulgur, red onion and meat paste together by hand adding the spice mixture as well. This was served with oven toasted pita bread



The remainder of the rump once trimmed was liberally doused in olive oil, scored and had salt rubbed into the fat. This was placed in a weber well stocked with real charcoal.

Set and forget and 3.5 hours later - it doesn't get any better than this

Wine Underground Chefs Table

Another chance to see the amazing stuff that a great chef can create with secondary cuts of beef and lamb.

The use of these cuts is a passion of mine and I strongly subscribe to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's philosophy of eat less, eat better and eat it all when it comes to meat production. The full thought process behind this is something for another day but in this instance all I can say is that if you don't eat lamb breast or beef brisket or neck or shin you really are missing out.

The lunch consisted of 5 entree portions all featuring cuts you do not see routinely on fine dining menus (at least here in Adelaide)

We began with a traditional steak tartare which used dry aged rump for the meat instead of the traditional cut used in this dish of fillet. The rump had oddles of flavour and more than held it's own with the accompaniments which were chopped through the beef including, anchovy, worcestershire sauce, cornichons, capers, brandy and shallots. The chopped up mixture cocooned a quail egg yolk and was served with french fries on the side

The next dish was breast of lamb that had been slow cooked in a gastrome for 6 hours. The breast was rubbed in a complex mix of 11 spices then laid on a bed of onions and carrots with verjiuce poured over the meat and vegetables to provide the cooking moisture. The lamb was weighted after this while it cooled to enable a continuation of the fat rendering process. This dish was topped by a single pice of smoked tomato that left me wishing I had a little more as the combination of the smokey sweetness of the tomato with the rich earthiness of the lamb was a well thought out match.

The lamb breast came out at the same time as my highlight of the lunch which featured poached beef shin. A whole shin was again slow cooked for hours once cooled the individual muscle bundles were seperated out and fried in a tempura batter. This was then serves on a radiccio salad with crumbled roquefort cheese and crispy fried duck crackling. A truly surprising and delicious take on beef shin which is so often served as a rich and gelatinous type of dish this was crisp, bitey yet still had the fullness of flavour than shin delivers so well.

With no rest for the wicked the next two entrees soon joined us as did some 3 Rings Barossa Shiraz which complemented the fantastic flavours we had beef experiencing.

The 4th of our cohort of dishes was a dish that the Wine Underground had served at the Clare Gourmet weekend just the day before our lunch. It was described on our menu as Slow Beef Neck cooked in shiraz juice served with parsley dumplings. This was much closer to the traditional take on a secondary cut with rich luxurious beef flavour from the beef neck coupled with a light fluffy mash in the dumplings. the shiraz jus left from the cooking process was rich, sticky and full flavoured - this was the perfect winters dish.

The team at the wine underground humoured my inner chef with the last dish which is one that I invented though I have to say they did improve it somewhat from the version I passed on. The description is Slow roasted Coorong Angus beef belly with mung bean salad and is a combination of asian flavours with a hint of Texan bbq brisket. The belly was marinated for 12 hours in a mix of thai influences seasonings then slow roasted under light weights for 6 hours in a low oven. It was then topped with a mung bean salad with some sliced shallot, coriander and mint leaves. The dish was then dressed with a chilli spiked vinegar which cut through the richness of the beef and lifted up the cripy herbal salad. Not bad if I do say so myself

To complete a great lunch we had a selection of cheese from The Bruny Island Cheese Co which is owned and operated by Nick Haddow who I went to school with many moons ago. To me the 1792 washed rind was a highlight and something I had not tried before but will definately be on future cheese plates served at the gunner house

Bon Appetite

By the by NEXT time I will remember to bring a camera so you can all see these wonderful dishes in the flesh so to speak!