Herbed Roast Beef

Before I head to the grocery store, I plan out what meals I'm going to make. I make a list of what sounds good and which ingredients I'll need to buy. I can usually rule out any that are going to need a ton of ingredients. More ingredients = more money. Not good when I'm trying to save for the wedding (Gah! Only 5 more months!). My last post was a recipe from Cooks Country. I seriously love this magazine!! I browsed through my first issue (January) and came across the recipe for "Affordable Herbed Roast Beef". I'm quite sure this is the best title to attract that person who loves to cook, but can't spend much money on groceries (ME). A quick glance at the ingredients and I'm quickly scribbling it down on my list of recipes to make.

The meat department didn't have any top sirloin roasts, but did have a top round roast on sale. The butcher suggested I try that instead (and it was on sale... score!). The only beef roast I've ever prepared was in the crock pot, so this was really fun. I made the herb spreads, butterflied the meat and spread the herb-mustard mixture on the inner meat. (The recipe tester wrote about his decision to use mustard to hold the herbs together inside the meat. I guess the butter would melt and run all over. He uses the butter mix on the outside after cooking) I tied it up nice and tight, and set the big guy in the fridge while I went to work. When I got home I was able to quickly brown the meat (again, the key is drying it first!) and pop it in the oven to start cooking. I roasted it for around an hour and 40 minutes and it had the perfect amount of pink and was so tender! I served it with garlic mashed potatoes, buttered peas, and a loaf of sourdough that you finish baking yourself. Our friend Aaron came over for dinner, so we enjoyed good company, good food, and the Academy Awards! Dale and I had print-offs of the different nominations and had each voted on who we thought was going to win. It came down to the best picture... and he beat me. Hurt Locker did deserve the win.


Herbed Roast Beef
Serves: 6 to 8
*For even deeper seasoning, refrigerate the roast overnight after filling it with the herb mixture in step 2

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter *softened*
1 (4-lb.) top sirloin roast, fat trimmed to 1/4-inch thick (I used top round roast)
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pepper

1. Prep Herbs: Combine parsley, thyme, and shallot in bowl. Transfer 2 tablespoons herb mixture to another bowl and stir in the mustard and 1 tablespoon oil until combined. Add butter to remaining herb mixture and mash with fork until combined.



2. Prep Beef: Butterfly the roast; slice horizontally through the middle of the meat (along a long side), leaving about 1/2-inch intact. Open like a book. Rub inside and out with salt and pepper. Spread herb-mustard mixture over interior of meat and tie securely with kitchen twine at 1-inch intervals. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.



3. Brown and Roast: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275-degrees. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown roast all over, 8 to 12 minutes, then arrange on V-rack set inside roasting pan. Transfer to oven and roast until meat registers 125-degrees (for medium-rare), 1.5 to 2 hours (I did an hour and 40 minutes, for a little less pink than med-rare).


4. Butter and Rest: Transfer roast to carving board, spread with herb-butter mixture, tent with foil, and let rest 20 minutes. Remove kitchen twine. Slice roast crosswise against grain into 1/4-inch slices. Serve.