It’s good to be back! For those of you who didn’t hear (and if you didn’t, why don’t you go ahead and follow me on twitter?) my laptop decided to kill itself last week. After much needed therapy, it’s hdd has been reformatted and it’s more alive than ever!
This past weekend, there was a great sale in our local grocery store: BOGO eye-round roasts! …wait, what’s an eye-round roast? Meet your Meat is a series to help you (and me) learn about different cuts of meat (where they come from, and how best to cook them.). There are a lot of names for the same cuts of meat, and it can get overwhelming and frustrating to keep track of them all. So I’m going to make it as easy as I possibly can, so that you will be a meat expert. A meat-pert? … I’ll work on that later …
Eye round roasts are from the back hip of the cow. Eye round roasts are NOT rib eye roasts. Rib eye roasts come from the RIB section. Eye round roasts come from the ROUND (or hip) section. Yeah I know, the name-guy must’ve been lazy on the day he named all of these cuts of meat. Psh. Anyway, the eye round roast is said to be “tough,” but on the bright side, a very lean piece of meat. Being that the BF and I don’t exactly dine on filet mignon on a regular basis, we didn’t shy away upon discovering that this beef could be a bit chewy. It was buy-one-get-one, and it was beef. As far as we were concerned, it was a culinary jackpot of beefy heaven.
There are a couple of ways I’ve seen this cooked up: crock pot, braise, or roast. I don’t own a crock pot, and I don’t have a vessel in which to braise properly, so, I guess I’ll be roasting this sucker! Looking around for recipes, I noticed that this method had two schools of thought: fast and hot, or slow and low. I’m a fast-and-hot personality, so I thought I’d change it up and try out low-and-slow. Unfortunately, I also do not own a wire rack (to place on a baking sheet) nor do I own a roasting pan w/ roasting rack. So this was my version of a “rack,” and it worked just fine.
The point is to make sure the meat is able to allow the hot air in the oven to hit it from all sides, including underneath.
I like a lot of spices and herbs on my meat, so my combination was just my throwing together of random things I had on hand. Please feel free to do your own spice rub with your favorites!
Oh, and a moment to preach about cast iron skillets. I had been told so many times by friends that I needed to purchase one; I had heard the tales of the awesome powers of cast iron and how my life would never be the same without one. So I caved, and I bought one. First of all, they’re inexpensive. I’m not talking Ina Garten’s version of inexpensive: “Oh hey, 10lbs of pre-cooked lobster is so affordable. How easy is that?” I really mean it: CHEAP. 8″ skillet for (around)$10! Secondly, do you know of any other kitchen tool that gets better and better the more and more bacon you cook in it? Cast iron! C’mon now.. go get one!
The best way to serve this, is sliced thin; maybe over a nice salad, or in between pieces of warm crusty sourdough with the onions and potatoes… or with a fork. 
It’s absolutely appropriate to serve for the holidays as well!
So now you know: An eye-round roast is from the hip of the cow, is extremely lean, affordable, but can be tough if cooked improperly! Stay tuned for the next episode Meeeeet Yooouuurrrr Meeeeaaaattt!
