The Wine and Food Corner

Eye of round—Method 1

ABC’s of cooking a great Eye of Round. A) Generous seasoning, B) No high heat except to sear on stove top. C)Don’t over cook.  Follow those rules and a potentially tough and dry piece of meat can be moist, tender and flavorful.

Eye of round is great Sunday supper while Tenderloin is an ideal Holiday dinner, each has its place. If you can cook a great eye of round then cooking a tenderloin is a piece of cake. Because eye of round is so very lean you need to generously season and avoid over cooking.

1) Season and/or Marinade: Here is your first chance to flavor the meat. Your recipe will tell you what seasonings and marinades to use. Check out a couple of the recipes listed below.

2) Sear for Flavor: Sear the meat in skillet on the stove to develop even more flavor and a crust–the high heat caramel flavors on the surface proteins and sugars. This searing take only a few minutes at high heat. If you wish, you could do this searing step ahead of time, even up to a day ahead, then return to the refrigerator. (The food police will be upset if I tell you that the searing basically killed any bacteria that you need to worry about. So I’m not going to tell you that you can safely set the seared roast aside on the counter for 30 minutes. In fact it would help to have the whole roast come up to room temperature before you roast it in the oven in next step.)

3) Oven Roasting: Preheat the oven to 300f. Transfer to seared meat to roasting pan and place in the pre-heated oven. By cooking at a lower oven temperature you’ll cook the roast more evenly and avoid drying it out and making it tough. The searing you did in step #2 will give you the flavor or high heat.

4) Internal temperature: A good meat thermometer is a good tool here. Cook to an internal temperature of 125f-130f for the rare, or 130-135 for medium rare, then remove from the oven. I would prefer a rare 125f myself, but most other people like it more toward medium rare so 130f is a good compromise. Don’t go over 135f for this cut, and 140 would THE max. At 130f to the meat is still tender and moist. After 130f the proteins start to tighten up which squeezes the juices out, dries out the meat, and toughens the roast.

5) Rest. Remove the roast from the oven and allow it to rest. The internal temp will continue to rise a few degrees after you pull it out of the oven. Rest for 10 -15 minutes before you slice and serve. If you cut before resting the juices will run out—you’d lose the flavorful juices and the meat would be drier. Save the flavor by allowing the roast to rest. The juices will be reabsorb into the meat as it rests.

6) Slice thinly!! Slice an eye of round thinly across the grain of the roast. Slicing thinly will make an eye of round taste more tender. (Note: A tenderloin can be cut thicker since it is such a tender piece of meat, but not an eye of round.)

See Recipes below:

Notes:

–Eye of Round needs a flavor boost so season generously and/or marinate.

–If you rub or season with a tiny bit of sugar then when you sear the sugar will caramelize and add to the seared flavor.  Steak house chefs use a touch of sugar in their steak seasoning. 

–I’m thinking an eye of round would be a good and inexpensive way to practice cooking a tenderloin.

–Eye of Round leftovers make great French Dip sandwiches.

Recipes:

–My recipe:  I would season with plenty of coarse kosher salt, lots of coarse black pepper,  and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.  Or try your favorite prime rib seasoning or favorite steak seasoning. Then sear and cook as directed above.

Since Jim Beam Bourbon  on sale this week here are two more recipes to try, especially the Bourbon Beef.

–Bourbon Beef by Paula Deen :  This recipe would work for an eye of round, too.  Her recipe doesn’t sear the meat but I would, as discussed above.  A 3 pound roast should take about 35 minutes or so to reach an internal temperature of 130f. 

–Paula Deen’s Party Eye-of_Round with Jim Beam Bourbon Marinade