Colm O'Gorman's Sunday Roast: Baharat Roast Beef with Chermoula

This week’s recipe is a Middle Eastern-inspired take on traditional roast beef. I serve this beautiful spice-crusted joint of beef with roast potatoes and roasted whole cauliflower and it is fabulous for a special Sunday lunch. You will find the recipe for the cauliflower on ieFood, but you can of course use whatever side dishes you fancy. Roast carrots and parsnips would be lovely too.

Beef works so well with Middle Eastern spices like cumin, coriander, paprika, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice blend made with all these spices and a few others. It is not a ‘spicy’ spice blend; it is more earthy and warming than fiery. You can buy it ready-made in some Asian supermarkets or speciality food stores, but it is very easy to make at home. 

The recipe below will give you more than you need for this dish, but it stores well. Just pop the baharat in a dry clean glass jar with a sealed lid and store it in your spice drawer. It will easily keep for a few months.

I love baharat and I use it a lot. For example, I often make super quick chicken kebabs by tossing some chicken mini fillets in a few teaspoons of baharat, olive oil, salt and a little lemon juice and cooking them in my air fryer. Some toasted pitta bread, salad, chopped mint mixed into Greek yoghurt and some chilli sauce and you have a lovely meal in about twenty minutes.

I use a sirloin joint of Irish Angus beef for this recipe. I like my roast beef on the rare side, so a good quality joint is a must. You could use other cuts such as striploin or even a rib of beef if you prefer. If you have leftovers, this makes beautiful sandwiches. Thin slices of this roast beef, some crispy lettuce, and tomatoes, on good bread with mayonnaise and a drizzle of the chermoula makes for a very nice lunch or supper.

Baharat Roast Beef with Chermoula

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

"I serve this beautiful spice-crusted joint of beef with roast potatoes and roasted whole cauliflower and it is fabulous for a special Sunday lunch."

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 40 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Middle Eastern

Ingredients

• Baharat Spice Blend

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 tbsp ground cumin

• 1 ½ tsp ground coriander

• 1 ½ tsp ground black pepper

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp ground cardamon

• ½ tsp ground cloves

• Roast Beef

• 1 – 1.5kg Irish Angus beef sirloin joint

• 3 tbsp Baharat spice blend

• 1 tbsp flaky sea salt

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• Chermoula

• 20g fresh flat leaf parsley

• 20g fresh coriander

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• ½ tsp ground ginger powder

• 1 lemon

• ½ tsp flaky sea salt

Method

1. Remove the beef from the fridge about thirty minutes before you are ready to start cooking it. To make your Baharat spice blend, simply add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine them thoroughly.

2. Heat your oven to 180 Celsius. Next, heat an oven proof heavy based pan or a roasting tray over a high heat. Add just a little olive oil and sear the joint for a minute or two on all sides until it is browned all over.

3. Combine three tablespoons of baharat, one tablespoon of flaky sea salt and three tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl. Spread this spice paste over the top of the seared joint of beef and pop it into the oven.

4. For medium-rare roast beef, roast the joint for 13 minutes per 500g. The best way to get perfectly cooked roast beef is to use a probe meat thermometer. Once the beef has had its cooking time in the oven, insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the joint. Once it reads 38 Celsius, remove the joint from the oven and cover it loosely with some tin foil and rest it for thirty minutes. As it rests the internal temperature will continue to rise to about 51 Celsius which is perfect for medium rare beef. For medium-well done beef, roast the joint for 16 minutes per 500g until the internal temperature hits 48 Celsius. Again, let it rest for thirty minutes and the temperature will rise to about 65 Celsius.

5. If you are having roast potatoes with your beef, and you really should, pop those in at the same time as the beef. They will be well on their way to perfectly golden and crispy by the time you take the beef out of the oven, likely only needing another ten to fifteen minutes to be perfect. I usually blanch my potatoes in boiling water for ten minutes, and then toss them in some duck fat before roasting them for fifty to sixty minutes and that always gives me perfect results.

6. While the beef is resting, make the chermoula. Pop the herbs, garlic, spices, the zest of half a lemon and the juice of the whole lemon into a food processor. Pulse a few times to finely chop the garlic and herbs, and then pour the olive oil into the food processor as it runs briefly at medium speed. Do not over blitz the chermoula. It should retain a little texture, and not be super smooth. Taste and add more lemon juice of seasoning if required. This is not a hot sauce, instead the spice profile is warm and earthy which complements the baharat roast beef perfectly.

7. When the beef has rested, transfer it to a platter or carving board. Serve and serve at the table and spoon the chermoula over thin slices of this beautifully roasted spiced beef accompanied by your favourite sides.