Mankind has always sought to make its food not only tasty, but also as useful and economical as possible. This is especially true when cooking meat dishes. To preserve the juiciness of the product, all its nutrients, people first baked the carcasses of the animals they killed directly above the fire. At the same time, they did not remove the skin - even then they knew that it would be much tastier. A little later, the meat began to be coated with clay.
Many centuries passed before it was replaced by dough and various marinades, and modern kitchen devices did not come to replace the fire. Culinary experts began to experiment a lot. They drew attention to the foil, deciding to use it for baking various dishes. Nowadays, meat, fish, and even vegetables are wrapped in metal paper. Therefore, today every housewife knows how to cook beef in foil in the oven.
Pros of cooking meat in foil
This dish has many useful properties. Tasty beef in the oven in the foil, firstly, is prepared simply and easily. The process will be mastered even by an uninformed novice cook. Secondly, such meat is very dietary, it is cooked without the use of fat. Therefore, obese people and those who are on a specific therapeutic diet can safely use the product. The meat, baked in foil, smells like fried, while its taste is stewed. Boiled beef is inferior to our dish, which in the end is softer, more tender and juicy.
Beef in the oven in foil: which piece of carcass to use for the dish?
Today, this kind of meat is very popular in cooking. Mistresses cook various dishes from it, inventing new recipes, experimenting as much as possible. Different ways can be cooked beef in the oven in foil: a piece or portioned. The main thing is that it should melt in your mouth, surprising not only with exquisite taste, but also with aroma.
For baking, you can choose any part of the carcass. Typically, chefs prefer a loin or tenderloin. The shoulder blade and shoulder are also good relish. Before cooking a baked dish, meat must be thoroughly “matured”. At this time, a special acid softens the fibers in the piece.
How to choose meat?
Beef in the oven in the foil is necessarily made from fresh meat. When choosing the right piece, smell it: the smell should not be rotten and unpleasant. You need a piece that is distinguished by a strong composition of the fibers: they should not stick to the hands in places of cut. Push the beef. The meat will be good if the notch is restored quickly.
Pay attention to the color - rich red and pink shades are welcome. It all depends on the age of the animal. In old cows, the carcass is burgundy, the fat is yellowish. In this case, the fibers of such a piece will be flabby and sticky. The young individual fillet is pale pink. It is resilient and shiny. Of course, the second version of meat is more acceptable for cooking delicious and aromatic dishes.
Classic recipe
The most traditional dish is beef with vegetables. In the foil in the oven, such meat turns out to be especially tender and aromatic. For cooking you will need:
- a kilogram of meat;
- two carrots;
- small zucchini;
- one bell pepper;
- one eggplant;
- head of garlic;
- two tablespoons of salt;
- a teaspoon of ground black pepper;
- greens.
Meat should be cleaned of films, washed and wrapped in a clean towel. While it is drying, cut vegetables into cubes. Then with a sharp knife in several places we pierce the carcass: we stick garlic pieces into the holes formed. It is better if the teeth are cut into small slices. Rub the fillet with salt and pepper, put it in foil, sprinkled with vegetables, and tightly wrap.
The carcass in metal paper is placed on a baking sheet and sent to the preheated oven. Bake at 220 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat a little. The exact cooking time varies depending on the size of the piece and the capacity of the oven.
You can serve beef both hot and cold. Before you put it on the table, decorate the meat with herbs: dill, parsley, basil. Herbs add zest to meat, enhancing its flavor and improving taste.
Portion dish
Beef is cooked in a foil oven with various ingredients. With potatoes, the meat is especially tasty. You will need:
- one kilogram of beef and potato;
- 500 g of mushrooms;
- half a glass of cream;
- frying oil;
- spices to taste.
We cut the carcass along the fibers. We beat off the pieces, rub with spices and fry in a pan until a golden crust appears. Cut potatoes in circles and fry in the same oil. After 10 minutes, pour the chopped mushrooms into the pan. Fill the mass with cream and simmer until tender.
Each portion is laid out on a separate sheet of foil: first a piece of meat, then potatoes and mushrooms. Servings are wrapped and baked in the oven for 40 minutes. Such cooked beef in the oven in the foil is very aromatic and juicy.
Parmesan and arugula meat
This is another very delicious beef recipe. In the oven, the meat is baked in foil, then poured with dressing and sprinkled with cheese and herbs. For cooking, you need to have:
- 700 g of beef fillet;
- 200 g parmesan;
- 100 g of arugula;
- one lemon;
- olive oil;
- mustard;
- balsamic vinegar;
- spice.
Beef should be cut into slices and baked in the oven until a light golden crust appears. Then the meat is cooled, rubbed with spices and sent to the freezer for an hour. During this time, we are preparing a dressing: mix a teaspoon of mustard, two tablespoons of olive oil, one tablespoon of vinegar and lemon juice.
Put the beef into slices on the foil. Cover with another metal sheet and roll it with a rolling pin. We put the meat on a plate and fill it with the finished dressing. Garnish with grated cheese and arugula leaves.
Prune Beef
The dish will decorate the festive table. Usually in this case one piece of beef is cooked in a foil oven. You will need the following ingredients:
- a kilogram of meat;
- 300 g pitted prunes;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- a tablespoon of olive oil;
- two teaspoons of coriander beans;
- bay leaf and spices to taste.
Make small holes in the carcass and stuff them with finely chopped garlic. Mash bay leaves, coriander and spices in a mortar. Add oil there and spread the beef with this mixture. Fry the meat quickly in a pan, pressing it on all sides with a spatula. By the way, this technique will help you maintain the richness of the meat.
We spread two-thirds of the prunes on the foil, then the meat. Sprinkle up the carcass with the remnants of dried fruit and tightly wrap the metal sheet. Pour some water on a baking sheet and put our dish in the oven. We bake it an hour at 220 degrees. Then we reduce the temperature to 200 and simmer another 15 minutes. You can serve ratatouille, salad or potatoes to the side dish for this dish.
Beef in a Wine Marinade
This is another beef recipe in the oven in baked foil. Essential Ingredients:
- a kilogram of meat;
- ginger root;
- 4 onions;
- a bottle of red wine;
- 5-6 pcs. bay leaf and cloves;
- spices to taste.
In a stewpan we mix spices, bay leaf, cloves, ginger. Pour them with wine and heat for 5 minutes over low heat, not bringing to a boil. Then we fill in two-thirds of this dressing with meat, and pickle it for 3 hours. Over time, we wrap the carcass in foil and bake for an hour and a half at a temperature of 200 degrees.
From the remaining marinade, prepare the sauce. We warm the wine again. In hot vegetable oil, fry four onions, sliced in half rings. Add there 4 tablespoons of flour and 150 g of butter. Cook the mixture for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Then pour the wine and simmer on fire until the volume decreases by a factor of three. Serve the dish with risotto or stewed vegetables.
Cooking secrets
Every hostess, no matter what recipe she chooses, should know several life hacks:
- Before cooking meat, be sure to rub it with olive oil and spices. Choose the latter to your liking. Use salt and pepper without fail. Also, cloves, turmeric, thyme, tarragon, caraway seeds, basil, oregano, coriander, marjoram, rosemary are often used for cooking beef.
- Before baking the main meat, it is best to quickly fry in a pan on both sides. So it’s as if you “seal” it, preventing the juices from evaporating during the cooking process. If the beef was marinated before this, then it is not worth frying it.
- How much to cook beef in the oven in foil? Usually the process takes 1-1.5 hours. The temperature should be 220 degrees. The time is adjusted depending on the size of the carcass.
- Be sure to wrap the foil tightly. If during coagulation you accidentally pierced a metal sheet, pack the meat in one more. Otherwise, all the juice will drain onto the baking sheet - the dish will turn out to be dry, tasteless.
- They say that before cooking, it is better not to salt the meat - so all the juices leave it. But this statement is true only for frying. If the filet is baked, feel free to salt it.
- To make the meat more juicy, stuff it with slices of bacon or slices of bacon. But in this case, bake the dish at 180 degrees, otherwise it will burn.
Some more useful tips
Soft and juicy beef is obtained, baked in foil in the oven. All thanks to a tightly wrapped sheet that preserves not only juice, but also the aroma of meat. If there is no foil, then you can just bake the beef, marinating it for two to three hours. If the carcass is served at the festive table, it is better to stuff it with vegetables. So the dish will turn out more vivid and solemn.
As for the calorie content of beef baked in the oven, it is relatively low. Firstly, the meat itself is dietary. Secondly, fat is not used in its preparation. Therefore, this dish is considered lean. And it can be safely consumed not only by women on a diet, but also by overweight people. The calorie content of one serving does not exceed 300 kcal. And this is relatively little when it comes to goodies.
Ideally, beef appears on the table at least twice a week. Meat is very useful, as it helps to preserve muscle mass, enriches the body with iron, zinc, as well as other trace elements and vitamins.
How to store the finished dish?
How to cook beef in foil in the oven, we already know. Finally, let's figure out how to store the finished dish. If you want it to stand for 2-3 days, then put it in the refrigerator, without removing the foil from the carcass. This will preserve the aroma of the dish, protect it from dryness. The sheet can be used the one in which baked, or fresh. The main thing is not to cut the carcass into many pieces at once: thin slices quickly lose their taste.
What side dish to serve with beef?
If the meat was baked in the oven, then stewed cabbage with prunes or apples, carrots in sour cream, mashed beets or zucchini are perfectly combined with it. Feel free to add eggplant, green peas and bell pepper. Other side dishes include baked potatoes, pasta (preferably pasta), cereals.
Remember: for cooking beef in foil in the oven, various culinary techniques and life hacks are used. But no matter what the recipe you choose, the output in any case will receive a fragrant, juicy, satisfying, dietary and healthy dish for the whole family.