Roast Beef 101

Or maybe the title should be "Roast Beef 102", as I am not really a roast beef aficionado?  I found when I first started making roast that it was much easier to make a bad roast than I thought.  I have since perfected my roast recipe and eliminated many of the typical roast ingredients. No bags, packets or cans.  No fancy pans or cooking methods.  Just a simple recipe yielding a simple meal. 

* This recipe contains a small amount of white flour.  It can be omitted but it makes a much better "gravy" with it.

List of ingredients:

Eye of Round Roast cut - pick a roast with a modest amount of fat down the side. This cut is tender if cooked properly but can become tough and dry, especially if all the fat is trimmed.

1/2 cup organic all-purpose flour

salt and pepper grinders

1/2 cup minced dried onion

water

veggies for roast- I used red potatoes and carrots

Heat a 6qt pot on high heat to sear meat while prepping roast.  Dry the roast with paper towels and place on cookie sheet.  Pierce roast with knife on all sides.  Cover roast with liberal amounts of salt and pepper.  Rub spices into meat.  Sprinkle flour on roast and rub until entire roast is covered.  Dust off any excess.  You may need more or less flour depending on size of roast.  Next sear the roast fat side down first, then rotating until all sides are brown.  Once roast is seared on all sides, place the roast fat side up in the center of the pan.  Pour water over roast until it is 1/2 covered.  Bring water to a boil then turn heat to low and cover.  Simmer until tender.  For an average size roast, about 3 hours.  Check roast periodically.  Make sure water level doesn't drop.  If so, add more water.  About an hour into cooking add the onion to the pan, flip the roast and recover.  Add your veggies the last 30 mins of cooking.  If there is not enough room in your pot for all the veg and meat, remove the roast, let it rest in the oven and cook veggies in the roast gravy.  When veggies are fork tender, slice the roast  and return it to the pan.  Spoon the gravy over the meat to moisten the roast and serve at once.  

*The key to this roast is the sear.  Make sure you render the fat first so that the roast doesn't stick to the pan when you sear the other sides. You can also sear the meat on the stovetop and then finish cooking it in the Crock-pot.  It is not the preferred method but it does work if you need to make it that way.