My sweet, beautiful mom came to visit me earlier this week. She hates driving in Atlanta, but she braved the traffic to come see my apartment again and take me out to lunch. After we ate, I took her to the Decatur Square and one of my favorite coffee shops, the Cafe at Cakes & Ale. After coffee and snacking, she was ready to get going and beat the traffic to return home. She asked me if there was anywhere else I would like to go or show her, but I couldn't think of anything.
On our way back to my apartment, I suddenly had an inclination to take her to the Dekalb International Farmers Market. If you live around Atlanta and you've never been, you need to go check it out! It is massive. It's an indoor market with dry goods, wine, spices, dairy, and enormous meat, seafood, and produce sections. It has some really unique foods at very decent prices. You could spend hours just looking around. I was worried she wouldn't like it because of the crowd and noise, but she thought it was a neat place. As we were walking by the beef, she mentioned that she always loved when my grandma would make an eye of round roast.
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| This is my grandmother and grandfather with one of their first cars. |
Yesterday was my grandma's birthday, and I decided to try out this eye of round roast thing. Looking online, people seemed to have lots of complaints about this cut of meat. It's usually tough, chewy, and a gamble to cook with. But I knew if my mom and grandma loved it, there had to be a way to make it right. Plus, it is a very cheap cut of meat, which is essential for our newlywed budget.
As I did my research, I found quite a few praises for this unusual cooking method. The idea is that you cook the roast on very high heat for a short amount of time, which sears the outside and locks in the juices. Then you let it sit on little to no heat for a prolonged period (1-2.5 hours depending on the size of your cut). It sounded super sketch, but I couldn't ignore the positive reviews. I tried out this method, somewhat dubiously, and was very pleased with how it turned out. It was juicy, flavorful, and although not as tender as prime rib or another high quality beef, it was surprisingly easy to chew. We cooked ours to a good medium rare. Yum.
High-Heat Eye of Round Roast
Ingredients:
- eye of round (2-3 lbs is best)
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- seasoning rub of your choice (I recommend Borsari seasoned salt)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 500 F.
Take your beef out of the fridge. Rinse it and pat it dry with some paper towels. Lightly pat some olive oil over its surface, and then rub in your spices. I used cracked black pepper, minced garlic, and Borsari. Borsari is a seasoned salt you can get at Whole Foods by the meat section. It has a mix of sea salt, garlic, basil, rosemary, and nutmeg. It is awesome on beef, chicken, vegetables, or just about anything. They also make a ginger one that is good for seafood.
Allow your beef to rest on the counter for approximately 20-30 minutes, until it is closer to room temp
Place your beef in a roasting pan, baking dish, or cast iron. A roasting pan would make it easier to catch the drippings and make au jus, but the others work just fine, especially if you want to add in some potatoes or veggies. I surrounded mine with fingerling potatoes in olive oil, salt, and fresh rosemary.
Lower your oven temp to 475 F.
Put your beef into the oven and allow to cook at this high heat for approx. 7 minutes per pound. I had a tiny roast (1.3 lbs), just big enough for my husband and myself. I only left it at this temperature for about 8-9 minutes. 2 lbs = 14 minutes, 3 lbs = 21 minutes, etc.
This is the important part. Once your roast has been at the high heat for its designated time, turn down your temperature. Most would say to completely turn it off. It really depends on your stove. Electric tends to retain heat much better than gas, so for electrics like mine, I would just turn it off. You can play it safe and leave it on 170-200 F if you are nervous. For gas, I would definitely keep it at 200 F.
Now, even more important - do NOT open your stove during this time! You want it to keep the heat and slow cook your beef. Don't let that air escape!
Allow your beef to cook at the low temp for at least 30 minutes per pound. Most sites that supported this method said to leave it in for a total of 2.5 hours undisturbed. People have had really good results with this. However, if your roast is teensy like mine, that amount of time could very well overcook it. I ended up leaving mine in for about 40 minutes and it came out perfectly.
Check your internal temperature with an instant read thermometer. Here is a scale to help you decide if you need more time:
120 to 125 F = Rare
130 to 140 F = Medium Rare
145 to 150 F = Medium
Take your roast out and let it rest for 10 minutes. You can make an au jus during this time if you wish. I made some with the pan drippings, red wine, broth, and garlic.
Slice your beef. I think it would be awesome thin-sliced on a sandwich! You can also serve it with some hearty whole grain, like this amazing loaf of sprouted wheat from my favorite bakery, La Calavera:
Have fun!
Madi
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