Roast Beef in a Garlic Smear

I love to roast meats and veggies, especially as the weather grows cooler. Not that the weather is actually cool yet, but the temperatures have gone down enough from summer that I feel like I can turn the oven on again.

The local grocery chain had eye of round roasts on sale. The interior doesn't have a lot of fat, so the trick is to keep the roast from drying out. I opted for a relatively quick cooking time and a coated exterior to keep the juices in.

The coating didn't really form a crust and it wasn't a glaze, so I wasn't sure what to call it. I decided to settle on a smear.

Roast Beef in a Garlic Smear

1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 - 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 - 2-1/2 lb beef roast

Puree the olive oil, garlic, vinegar, and salt together.

Trim any excess fat from the outer layer of the meat.

Spread a couple of teaspoons of olive oil on the bottom of the roasting pan. This will keep the roast and smear from sticking to the pan.

Coat the roast with the puree and place in roasting pan. Roast at 450°F (232°C) until the internal temperature reaches the desired level of doneness. I cooked mine until 140°F (60°C), which took about two hours or so.

As garlic is roasted, it loses a lot of its pungency and increases its umami and sweet tones. The oil kept the smear from getting crusty, but also helped hold in the juiciness of the meat. My favorite part of the roast was the edges next to the carmelized crust. This would be a surprise to anyone who knows me because I tend to prefer my beef on the blue end of rare -- which was not how this edges of this roast were. But the meat was so sweet and succulent that I almost couldn't get enough of it.

I served the roast with baked mashed potatoes with horseradish and steamed broccoli.