Hot Roast Sunday Dinner

After nearly 50 days of road travel (and road food) it's good not only to be home, but cooking in our own kitchen again. Last week, there was a sale on beef eye round at the local supermarket, perfect for an at-home Sunday dinner on a fall weekend as Grenville watched a late afternoon football game.

Outside it was more summer-like than autumn with daytime temperatures in the mid-80s. Regardless, we craved a Sunday dinner at home, and a roast was on the dinner menu.

A traditional cooking method, and one I used for years, would have been 350℉ for about 20 minutes per pound, so a 3 lb. roast would take about an hour or so. Since dinner would be later due to the game, I wanted a recipe with a longer cooking time and found one.

The method below took nearly 3 times longer. But the results were deliciously amazing; it's now my go-to beef roasting recipe. YES, the oven was set at 500℉ degrees (at first).
The roast was taken out a half hour earlier and warmed to room temperature. While the oven was heating, it was seasoned with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, rosemary, and crushed garlic. Seasoning with garlic powder, salt and pepper would work too.

Another addition was the use of Gravy Master seasoning. It was brushed on the roast first with a basting brush. It was was a bit messy when brushed on. Here's the seasoned roast ready for the oven (fat side up). Use a metal pan and not a glass roasting dish at this high oven temperature. Do not cover or add water to the pan. 

NOW, lower the oven temperature to 475℉ and set a timer for  7 minutes per pound, which for this 3 lb. was 21 minutes for medium-rare roast. If you prefer it more cooked, set the timer for 8-9 minutes per pound.

When the timer goes off, DO NOT OPEN the oven door. Turn OFF the oven and let the roast sit in the hot oven for 2-1/2 hours. (Yes, I was skeptical too, but trust me on this.)

Remove the roast from the oven. The internal temp should be at least 145℉. Tent with foil and let it sit tented for 20 minutes, before carving to serve with your meal. Our Sunday dinner menu included steamed vegetables and oven-roasted potatoes.

Cooking the beef this way left time for doing other things, and it was ready when the football game ended. (Unfortunately, the New England Patriots lost this week.) But, Grenville declared this meal a winner and gave it two forks up. Best of all, there were leftovers for a couple of meals this week.

The high temperature cooking method really worked out well for this cut of beef. Has anyone else used a similar cooking method — if so, were the results good?