Roast Beef for Sammiches

I don't know what it is, but putting something between two slices of bread makes something delicious, one bit closer to gastro-intesntinal heaven. As such, I decided to find a way of making roast beef at home so I didn't have to pay the 5-10 dollars a pound for the stuff from the deli. I don't particularly care for oscar mayer meat, though Carl Buddig holds a special place in my heart - paradox in preference is a key tenant of my culinary outlook on life.

I have tried using the brisket, but found it to be a little too chewy, though I probably just don't have the right recipe. You could spend lots of money on a standing rib roast, but that almost defeats the purpose. Shopping at the commissary, I can get bottom round roasts for about $2.50 per pound, which I find a perfectly acceptable amount, though I wasn't sure what the quality of the sandwich meat would be. I looked on the internet for bottom round roast and came across this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/high-temperature-eye-of-round-roast/Detail.aspx

I followed the recipe almost exactly, except that I made a roasting pan with a rack out of a cookie sheet and a cooling rack. One of my failed attempts at using brisket resulted in crock-pot style beef when I put it in a pan and covered with foil and slow roasted.

Here is my version:

Select a round roast that has a fairly even shape -- you don't want one that is really skinny at one end and large on the other, because you'll end up with one end being dry and the other bloody.

Preheat the oven to 500°F.

If the roast has a fatty side, try and trim it away in one sheet. If you don't remove the fat, only the fat will get seasoned and you'll have some gristle making the meat harder to chew. Flip the roast bottom side up, season liberally with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. You can modify the seasonings with whatever you prefer, but I like the simplicity of salt and pepper. Place the roast on the rack and season the top and sides -- I do it this way rather than seasoning on a plate because I seem to leave half the seasoning on the plate. Finally, take the piece of fat you trimmed off and place it on top of the roast so as it cooks, that fat can drip down the roast and flavor itself.

Place the roast in the oven and turn on the exhaust fan above your oven (hopefully you have one) because you will get some smoke. Set the timer for about 7 minutes a pound. Ex: 21 minutes for a 3 lb roast.

Once the time is up, turn off the oven and leave it alone for 2.5 hours. Good luck.

The real challenge comes in carving the meat. I like to slice mine as thin as possible. These are the times that I wish I had a deli meat slicer, but that would bring my aspirations of thriftiness to a grinding halt.

If you're feeling saucy (pun intended), you can deglaze the pan with some beef broth to make a nice dipping juice.

Getting the meat sliced thin is a nice goal, but the whole point of this is to have meat for sandwiches at a particular meal or for lunches throughout the week. As you slice the meat, you will find it nearly impossible to keep the people in your house away, as they have been forced to smell it for the past 2.5 hours. The truly insurmountable task is keeping yourself from snitching as you slice. Hopefully some of it makes it to the table, and maybe even a little to the refrigerator.

BTW it goes great with the french bread recipe I posted yesterday.