My soul is omnivorous, but when I belly up to an eye round roast, all I am really interested in is the meat. And the horseradish aioli ( a fancy way of saying super hot horseradish mellowed with a bit of mayo).
Since it is officially winter (HOORAY!) and since I like a warm kitchen for the colder days, I think roast and while prime rib is usually what I am craving, a more affordable cut is the eye round. To me, the best rule of thumb for an eye round is to cook it fairly rare to medium rare and slice it thinnnnnnn. Then drape those delectable little folds over a baked potato or a Gorgonzola mash. Liberally apply the above referenced horseradish aioli and you have a winner dinner.
I used coarse Hawaiian Black Salt as part of the rub and it was so good, I could not IMAGINE why I have not done that before! Smokey black salt, garlic, sea salt, and pepper = YESYESYES.
The roast was enhanced totally by this eye round recipe from The Domestic Man and I love … love … love his process. It seems crazy, but it worked and the outside of the roast was reminiscent of the beloved rib roast. Watch your times on this to ensure the level of doneness or rarity that you prefer. For my next eye round roast, I would take it out sooner and have it a bit more rare.
I would recommend trying this roast before serving for guests to know how your oven will cook it. This is a great holiday roast too!
Add some Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Kale Pesto or Brussels Sprouts as the side dish.
Happy Roasting!
From The Domestic Man with my notes on ingredients – and please make sure you pop over and read his whole recipe post!
Ingredients:
Eye of Round Roast (2-8 lbs. preferred, I did a 5 lb. roast)
2-3 tsps sea salt or black salt!
2 tsps black pepper
6-8 cloves garlic, chopped finely or in your chopper
Directions:
Mix together your seasonings and set them aside.
Take out your roast, rinse it and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the seasonings all over the roast, and let it sit out on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. This allows the roast to reach room temperature, plus it lets the seasonings settle onto the roast. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
Place the roast in a roasting pan or dutch oven and put it in the oven, fatty side up. Roast at 500 degrees, uncovered, for 7 minutes per pound. Our roast was a little over three pounds, so I cooked it for 25 minutes.
Now comes the part that goes against everything I’ve ever done in the kitchen – turn off the oven completely and leave the roast in there for 2 1/2 hours. Don’t open the oven door at all during this time! Go watch a movie or something.
After 2 1/2 hours, take the roast out and check its internal temp with an instant read thermometer. The temperature should be between 130-150 degrees. Put the finished roast on a plate and cover it with tin foil, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Carve it into 1/2″ slices and enjoy!
As a quick reference, here are the standard temperature/doneness levels for roasts:
120°F to 125°F, (49°C to 52°C) = Rare
130°F to 140°F (55°C to 60°C) = Medium Rare
145°F to 150°F (63°C to 66°C) = MediumUPDATE:
– Gas ovens sometimes don’t retain heat well, so to be safe, during the 2.5-hour “off” period, maybe keep your heat at the oven’s lowest setting (probably 170) and check it after one hour (and every 30 minutes after that) for doneness. Because you have the heat going, I give you permission to open your oven door!
– If this is your first time making this dish, consider doing the 170-degree method above just to be safe.
Look at that crust!
