Notes

At my local grocery store, eye round roasts are relatively cheap and plentiful in the cold weather months. They are all cut to just over 2 lbs, as well, so this recipe works pretty well for me. If your roast is larger, set the oven’s “on” time to 5 minutes per pound.

The exact measurements of the spice rub are not important, but it should consist of mostly salt. It is important to heavily salt the roast and to let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour prior to putting it in the oven. If the roast is too cold, it will not cook through properly.

I have found that these roasts leave enough fat in the pan to allow me to make a pan gravy with just a bit of flour (about 1 tbsp) and 1 cup of liquid (often just beef broth). (It there isn’t enough fat left over to make a roux, add butter to the flour.)

Ingredients

• 1 eye round roast, 2 1/4 lbs
• 4 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Dry off roast with paper towels.

Create a spice rub by mixing the kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Coat the roast on all sides with the spice rub. (You will likely not use all the spice rub.) Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Set an oven rack to the middle or upper middle position. Heat the oven to 500º F.

Coat the roast with a thin layer of olive oil and place it on a pan. A 12-inch cast iron or stainless steel skillet works fine. A rack is optional.

Put the pan in the oven and roast it for 10 minutes, or about 5 minutes per pound. Then, shut off the oven, and do not open it for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the internal temperature of the roast should be about 145° F. Set the roast aside and, optionally, make a pan sauce from the drippings.

I’m posting this for the benefit of Traci on Micro.blog.

This is a simple, lazy recipe for the Instant Pot. It isn’t entirely original, but it is extremely useful, and produces a result that everyone in my family will eat, which is no small feat.

I don’t measure anything. If I don’t have salsa, I dump in tomato sauce or even just water; the result is more bland, but still edible, and it can be shredded and mixed with barbecue sauce if desired. I make this in the morning or at lunchtime and let it stay on Warm for hours and hours until dinnertime. I find the taste of chicken thighs improves after a couple hours on the Instant Pot’s Warm setting.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs
• 1 cup mild or medium salsa (eyeballed)
• 1/4 cup water (eyeballed)
• 2 large pinches kosher salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. Oil bottom of Instant Pot.
2. Coat bottom of Instant Pot with 1 pinch of kosher salt.
3. Add chicken thighs in one layer
4. Season top of chicken thighs with 1 pinch of kosher salt.
5. Cover with salsa. Add water if salsa is not very liquid.
6. Lid the Instant Pot and cook under high pressure for 20 minutes.
7. Allow pressure to release naturally. The Instant Pot will automatically switch to its Warm setting. Keep the chicken thighs on the Warm setting as long as you would like. The chicken tastes better after several hours on Warm.