What A Hunk: Herb-Crusted Roast Beef

I know what you're thinking:

"Roast beef? but that's so expensive!"

Nay, say I, friends...it doesn't have to be. Tonight we're talking about taking a less expensive, but no less delicious, cut of beef and putting it where it belongs- Eye of round roast. The key here is to NOT OVERCOOK it. This recipe may exclude a few parties based on their meat done-ness preference. I say to you now: if you like your beef cooked beyond medium, then don't try this with eye of round roast.

Actually, if you like your beef cooked beyond medium you have issues I cannot address, and you should seek help and/or therapy. But I digress...

In a mostly-related aside, the holiday issue of Food and Wine magazine had an article on intuitive cooking, and I highly recommend it. Mostly because that's how this roast came about and I'm not offering a lot of precise measurements. Don't panic. The seasonings here are pretty classic and fool-proof, so you should be fine working in "handfuls" and "pinches." A certain manic, bubbly, raspy voiced TV cook does it all the time - and this is way better than Rachael's that person's food.


The seasonings here would work on a pricier roast as well, so feel free to experiment.

One other important note - you need a probe thermometer. They're about ten bucks at most mega marts. It's a digital display with a probe on a long wire. Simply insert probe into the meat and set the digital display  to the preferred temperature of done-ness. The beast goes in the oven and the display (usually magnetized) can hang out on your oven door. It will beep when the meat is ready. (I always back it up with an instant read meat thermometer though, just to be safe and double check the temp after cooking)

Okay - here we go!

Herb-Crusted Roast Beef

1- 2 1/2 to 3 pound eye of round roast. (This smallish size cooks quickly, and easily feeds 3-4 people if you have a nice hearty side dish or two)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

a handful of fresh sage leaves, torn

leaves from 3 or 4 sprogs of rosemary, roughly chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

2 cloves garlic

about a palmful of fresh ground black pepper (coarse grind)


First things first - crank the oven up to 500 degrees and have a roasting pan with a rack handy.

This is what the roast looks like. Well, it should, at least:

yep - that's a roast

If you flip it over it will have a slab of fat. Don't panic - we like that sort of thing around here. Turn the roast fat-side up and score the fat in a nice diamond pattern, being careful not to cut all the way into the meat. It helps to have an incredibly sharp, fabulous knife like mine:

8-inch Shun Ken Onion series Chef's knife. Merry Christmas to me.

(For those who don't speak chef, this is an awesome knife and my husband gets SERIOUS brownie points for getting it for me)

Moving on - Brush the scored surface generously with the Dijon mustard. Get it all in the nooks and crannies.

Brush the sides too. Apparently I did...

Now toss the herbs, garlic, salt, pepper, and oil into a mini-prep or food processor and pulse to form a paste. Or you can use your awesome Christmas knife to chop and smush it into submission. Slather the herb paste all over the roast and place it in the roasting pan. Or put it in the pan and then slather it. Whatever tickles your fancy.

If I weren't such a pansy I'd just eat that raw. It looks so good...

Now place your thermometer probe in the roast and set it to 130 (medium rare), and pop it in the screaming hot 500 degree oven for 12 minutes. This will sear the outside and get a nice crust going. After 12 minutes, lower the heat to 375 and roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 130. This took my roast about 30 more minutes, but the time can vary. That's why your little probe thermometer comes in handy :)

When it gets to the magical temp, remove it from the oven and let it rest 10minutes before you carve it up. The temperature will go up a bit and the meat should be medium in the center. And now you have time to set the table...

After the meat is done resting take it to a cutting board and slice it nice and thin with your best carving knife. The ends may be a little more well done, but it should be rosy in the middle.

And the leftovers make FANTASTIC sandwiches!

Pictured with yesterday's risotto recipe

And in case you were wondering, I got my roast at Costco. It was a pack of 2 roasts for something like 12 dollars. Well worth it!

This and yesterday's risotto are nice to trot out for company when you want to impress but aren't made of money. If you are made of money, though, use truffles in the risotto and a standing rib roast. And call me for dinner...I'll bring the wine.

Hope you like it!

Comfort Food: Southern Style Meatballs

Another title for this could be "Do as I say, Not as I Do", but we'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

How much do you love a meatball? I love them a LOT.  I could easily eat them at least once a week, if only they didn't seem so limited. Most meatball recipes I've come across are either italian or meatloaf-like, and I was wanting something different. I thought, "what could go wrong with a southern-style meatball"? You'd be suprised. My first attempt at developing this recipe ended in Epic Meatball Fail, but it was an easily solved problem and I can now share with you the more successful and delicious version. Make no mistake, this is some full-fat, get cozy on a cold night, comfort food. (You may want to follow it with the fiber-rich Pumpkin Oat Muffins as atonement for such a dietary sin.)

Time to get out grandma's cast iron skillet kids! (And preheat your oven to 400)

Southern Style Meatballs with Smoky Country Gravy

1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound pork sausage (like the log of breakfast sausage)
1 teaspoon Sylvia's Seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
1 egg
1/4 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the gravy:
1/3 cup fat from pan (you'll get this browning the meatballs)
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (or to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well. The best tool for this is your clean hands, so get in there and get dirty. I'm not going to put up a picture, because quite frankly smushed up raw meat is just not that attractive.

You know how I'm always telling you to taste your food as you're cooking? Well you have to do it with meatballs too, but obviously you don't want to go munching on a raw beef/pork mixture. So what do you do? How do you know if they are seasoned well? You make a test patty.

I actually forgot to take a pic of the test patty before I cooked the meatballs,
so I got an extra snack :)

Heat up a pan, form a tiny hamburger and cook it - it will only take a couple minutes. Then enjoy your snack and decide if you need to add anything.

Once you're happy with the seasoning, heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium high heat. Barely film the bottom of the pan with oil (you won't need much, the meatballs will render out fat while they brown, which is what you want). Form the mixture into 1 1/2 to 2-inch balls - you'll get about 12 - and drop into the hot pan in batches, turning every few minutes to brown evenly. You'll know when to turn them when they release from the pan - they won't want to stick when they are ready.

Aren't they cute? How do you not love meatballs?

As they finish browning, transfer them to an ovenproof dish. Place the meatballs in a 400 degree oven to finish cooking through while you make the gravy. They'll need about 20 minutes - just cut one in half to see if they are no longer pink inside.

(This is where the Meatball Fail came in. Instead of putting them in the oven, I made the gravy then finished the meatballs in the sauce. The long cooking time turned the gravy from creamy delight to grainy, gloppy mess. I cried, took out the meatballs, whisked the daylights out of the gravy and it was better, but not perfect. So I cried some more and decided I would instruct you all to bake the meatballs instead of simmer them like I did.)

For the gravy you want about 1/3 cup of fat in the pan, along with all the crusty brown goodness stuck to it. If you have more than that, remove a couple tablespoons. If you have less for some reason, add a little vegetable oil (or for huge bonus points, reserved bacon grease). Sprinkle the flour over the hot fat in the pan and start whisking like crazy till smooth. You don't want color here, so as soon as it's smooth start slowly adding the milk, whisking the entire time. Add The liquid smoke, salt, and pepper to taste. When it starts to come to a bit of a simmer and is thickened, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and keep warm until the meatballs are ready. Whisk occasionally to keep a skin from forming.

This is a lot of pepper, but I like it that way.

Pull the meatballs out of the oven and drop them into the gravy, rolling them around to coat, and serve.Your family will fall into a coma shortly after this meal.

oh yeah...

I took this over the edge and served it with equally sinful mashed potatoes loaded with cream cheese and bacon. I mean, if you're going to do this thing, do it all the way. Would you want this with a salad? I didn't think so. I DO think this would be fun as breakfast with some biscuits, though. Which is exactly what I'll be doing the next time I make this. Enjoy!

Chilly? Chili!

(Clearly I had writers' block when I came up with that lame title... Lucky for me my unofficial but impartial taste-testers like the recipe)

It is no secret to those who know me that I LOVE Fall. As soon as cool breezes start to blow, my excitement is borderline inappropriate. As much as I love the bounty of a summer garden on my dinner table, there's something immensely satisfying about fall and winter cooking. It is the ultimate comfort food - anything stewed, roasted, or braised warms your kitchen and your heart (OK, OK, cheesy line, but true!). It would be safe to assume that there will be a significant increase in blog posts and recipes shared during this season.

So when It got too chilly to leave the windows open the other night, the only thing that would satisfy me and my apparently psychic husband was, naturally, Chili. I say apparently psychic because I had planned a nice sausage and potato gratin for dinner that night, but threw the idea out while I was wrapped up in a sweater on the porch drinking my coffee that morning and decided to have chili instead (holy run-on sentence, batman). Within moments, he called and asked if we were having chili for dinner. Sometimes I wonder if we share a brain...

So today, I share with you my chili recipe. It's delicious, it's spicy, and it makes enough to share with friends and show off your mad chili skills. Coming up with my own chili recipe was sort of a facepalm moment - I was using the Carroll Shelby mix forever. And one day, I almost bought it and said "why am I doing this? I can cook. I don't need no stinking mix!" And from that moment in the spice aisle of Super Bi-Lo, was born:

Spicy 2-Bean Chili (about 8 servings)

2 lbs Ground Beef
1 sm. white onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (feel free to use less if you don't like it so hot)
1/4 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon Stubbs' brand liquid smoke
1/4 cup masa mixed with 1/4 cup cold water (in a pinch you can use cornmeal- that's what I had on hand this time)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans, drained

And here's how you make it:

Crumble the ground beef into a large pot and add the onion and garlic. Heat over medium high, breaking up the meat and browning well. I drain off the excess fat with a turkey baster. My husband would dump it into a colander. Do what you feel is right here.

Then add the spices- chili powder, oregano, cumin, cayenne, and Lawry's

at another point in my life, these little plastic cups would house jello-shots. Now they are prep bowls.

Mix those in really well. It should smell fantastic! Then stir in the crushed tomatoes and water. Bring that to a low boil,

Check me out, I caught the bubbles!

 Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it dries out too much, feel free to add a little more water.

Can we take a break for a minute? I need to share:

The source of my powers

Everyone should own one. It's a large Le Cruset Dutch oven. Goes from Stove top to oven. Cooks beautifully. Keeps food hot for hours, it seems. In cold weather, it rarely gets put away because I really use it that much. If I were independently wealthy I would give away one a week. They are a worthwhile investment if you cook a lot. I've made soups, roasts, and even bread in this baby. I really should name her...

Back to the Chili! after 30 minutes of simmering, add your masa-water mixture. This will thicken it up nicely and add a little extra flavor. Simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, then stir in your beans. Simmer another five minutes, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt to your liking.

I'm actually eating leftovers of this as I write about it. It's even better the next day.

Top it with whatever you like - Frito's, cheese, sour cream, etc. I like cheese and oyster crackers on mine. The leftovers are killer on a baked potato, by the way.

Hope you like!