Saturday, June 09, 2007

This Post Is Not for Vegetarians*

Meat eaters, gourmands, foodies, etc.: Please tell me what the hell to do with this 2.36-lb eye of round roast that the boyfriend brought home to annoy me with because apparently when I said "and a London broil would be nice if it's cheap, or see if they have another one of those bargain tri-tips," he heard "buy an expensive, USDA-choice eye of round roast."

It's 90-something degrees here, I have to work tonight, and everything I've been able to Google on this roast so far indicates that long oven-cooking is involved in its preparation. I did not want to have to turn on the oven today, which is why I specified cuts of meat that can be grilled, but since when does what I want matter?

HELP.


*I'm not kidding. Comments lecturing me on the evils of meat will be deleted. I've had my fill of the blogosphere playing judge, jury, and executioner lately, thanks.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best thing for that is an Italian style pot roast- sear the outside all around throw it in a pot with some red wine, garlic, onions toss a lid on, and then into the oven. Find one from Marcella Hazan- the thing is the meat will seem like it might be tasteless until the last minute when you serve it with the cooked down wine that has been turned into a sauce with the addition of some herbs and what not. It goes from meh to wow in 10 seconds.

A tri-tip would have been the way to go, seared outside on the grill, then finished on the grill over lower heat with some smoke. Slice against the grain for wonderful steak sammies- on some ciabatta or something. CRAP! I would have totally had a million recipes for you if I had read this earlier.

ilyka said...

Oh, bless you, bless you, PP! That sounds like just my kind of thing.

A tri-tip would have been the way to go

Yes, do not even start me on my love affair with the tri-tip. The method you describe is exactly what we did a few weeks ago when we found one on sale and--YUM. Since then, they haven't really had it at Grocery Chain again, and I am too shy to ask the butcher.

But we will be reunited one day, tri-tip roast. Oh, yes, my sweet. Yes, we will.

Anonymous said...

Tri-tip is a California cut so if you aren't in Cali, you might have to ask- totally ask- they should have it- or call and ask, and they can set one aside. We did one this week and it was great (and I trimmed it too, so there is no prob if they trim it or not).

I was going to get a brisket at Costco once and all the ones out there were trimmed, and I had to do the dreaded ask the butcher thing, and he hooked me up with a fat-on one. Once you break the seal with the butcher, you'll never go back. The butcher is your friend!!

Anonymous said...

Something like this, but I remember a bay leaf being key:

(I'm at work, otherwise I'd type the real deal in from the cookbook!)

Stracoto with Porcini Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 (4-pound) boneless beef chuck roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 3/4 cups canned beef broth
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy 6-quart roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total cooking time. Transfer the beef to a bowl. Add remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, add the onions and saute until tender, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Add the wine and boil 1 minute. Stir in the broth and mushrooms. Return the beef to the pan. Bring the liquids to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Braise until the beef is fork-tender, turning the beef over halfway through cooking, about 3 hours.

Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Tent the beef with foil and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, spoon any excess fat off the top of the pan juices. Transfer the pan juices and vegetables to a blender and puree until smooth. Combine the sauce and rosemary sprig in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Cut the beef across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange the sliced beef on a platter and garnish with rosemary. Spoon the sauce over and serve, passing the remaining sauce in a sauce boat.

Amy said...

If you haven't already cooked it, I think you can do this in the crockpot too. Then you don't have to turn the oven on.

It is f-ing hot here, ain't it? Just rained here though. Nice.

Jenna said...

Yesss, do it in the slow-cooker/crock pot. My boyfriend just did a roast for us in it and it was fantabulous, unfortunately I don't have the recipe on hand at the moment. I'm sure you can find lots all over the internet though.

Chris Clarke said...

As a member of the Judge, Jury and Executioner Blogging Community, this post offends me deeply.

Anonymous said...

Ilyka,

I don't know much about cooking meat, just wanted to thank you for posting something that elicited a delicious-sounding recipe (and thanks to pinko punko for the recipe itself).

Also, for whatever it's worth, I don't know anything about anything regarding the two posts above this one, but I do know that as someone who has only recently started reading your blog, I am really glad you haven't completely abandoned it at this point. It does seem like a lot of the people whose writing moves me the most have been feeling like "fuck this noise, I'm outta here," lately. I wish that whatever is going on that's making people feel like it's not worth it anymore would be what fucks off, instead of the actual people. You are some of the best writers, saying some of the most necessary things, in the most relatable (if that's a word) ways. You're also in a new-ish medium that people are still learning to navigate - technologically, emotionally, communally, etc. The traditional publishing industry is pretty sucky and pretty useless for the majority of writers in it these days. Nobody can keep you out of the blogosphere at present, and I'm sorry if this is nauseatingly pollyanna-ish of me to say, but it's also true that you have effects in the world that you don't even know about. I'm not saying that to nag you or anyone else into continuing if you don't want to. I mainly just want to say - I am glad for what I've gotten to read of you so far, and I wish there were a way to transfer back to you, and others, what your words have done for me in the last couple of weeks. Especially while some apparent lameness is going on and making it feel not worth it anymore.

Kevin Andre Elliott said...

I was all ready to leave a snarky-ass comment about eating meat and you ruined it for me. It would have been funny too. Maybe even funnier than Chris Clarke.

Ok, who am I kidding?