Top Rump Barbecue

barbecue beef

June 11th, 2011

I went to Amaia’s yesterday for a barbecue. She has a little private street of workshops at the back of her house and it’s ideal for a barbecue with a large wooden picnic table conveniently situated by her back gate.

top rump

Amaia had a beautifully tender, 5lb piece of top rump and I brought a large hake and two squid (I got a very good deal from Angel Fisheries).

salsa

I did some cooking, but Amaia made all the accompaniments. She made two fantastic salsas – the red one, above, with tomato, garlic, chilli, coriander (cilantro) and onion and another, thick green one, which somehow I neglected to photograph.

cucumber salad

The, above, cucumber salad was made by thickly grating the cucumber, julienne style.

roast beef

I added some salt and pepper then roasted the beef on the barbecue for about 10 minute per side (I decided there were 4 sides). When a side looks done, turn it over. We wanted rare beef, but you can cook it for longer or cut bits off the edges and put the joint back on the barbecue. This method of cooking meat is the original form of roasting – roasting in the oven is in reality baking the meat. Please note that you should not do this with chicken or pork, both of which should always be cooked until the juices run clear. I let the beef rest for about 15 minutes after cooking.

tortilla

When the beef was done I cut it up into  small strips which Amaia placed onto corn tortillas (gently warmed on the barbecue) along with the guacamole plus red and green salsa. We rolled the beef and salsa up in the tortillas to form burritos. They were so delicious I wish I could eat them again.

merluza

I sliced the hake up into 7 steaks and put it into a fish grilling rack for barbecuing. The cooking time depends on the temperature of the barbecue, so it could vary from 10 to 20 minutes. The best way to know it’s done is to cut open a steak and see if it’s cooked all the way through. The fish was served very simply with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

squid marinade

Amaia cleaned the squid, removing the head, skin and internal pen. They were marinaded with their tentacles in fresh chilli, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper for a couple of hours.

barbecue squid

We cooked the hake and squid after the beef, when the heat had dropped a bit. Don’t let the fish burn. You just need to cook squid for a few minutes per side. These were very tender – not rubbery in the least.

fish head

Amaia kept the hake head to add flavour to boiled potatoes, which I’m sure would taste great with allioli.