THE “BUSY-AF-BUT-I-STILL-NOURISH-MY-PEOPLE…

 Homemade Cured Deli-Style Roast Beef

This is 100% grass fed beef bottom round, which is an affordable cut from the leg of a beef animal that is typically used for slow cooked roasts, or ground beef. This recipe is done with some pretty enjoyable and nonchalant style over the course of 5-7 days, depending on the size of your cut of meat. It fits really beautifully into a very full life, and allows you to feed your beloved people pure and nutritious food that they love without any of the additives, colorants, and other funny business that you find in a lot of store-bought deli meats.

For best results, do all these steps as you find time, even a little absent-mindedly, and be sure to enjoy yourself. Otherwise it won’t taste the same. (Kids will love it regardless).

Ingredients:

1 grass-fed beef bottom round roast, approx 4.5-5 pounds

1.5 oz. kosher or sea salt

0.6 oz. organic cane sugar

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

plenty of fresh ground black pepper

dried herbs and spices such as fennel, parsley, basil, red pepper flake, and/or chives

Equipment:

Zip top bag or Pyrex container that will hold the meat in the fridge

sous vide immersion circulator set up (OPTIONAL, but will produce best results)

vacuum bag for the sous vide, if using

baking sheet lined with parchment

Process:

Pat the meat as dry as possible once you get it home from the butcher, and lay it out on a cutting baord. Trim off any connective tissue left on the surface, using a boning knife. Combine the salt, sugar, herbs, and spices and massage over the meat thoroughly. Place meat into the zip top back or glass dish, and place it in the fridge. Label it with the date, so you remember when you started. Now, the meat will cure for approximately 3-5 days. If you’re feeling on top of it, flip the meat over daily in the cure, so it takes the cure more evenly.

When the curing time is up, remove the meat from the fridge and rinse it as well as possible of the curing mix, then get it nice and dry and set it aside to come to room temperature. Prepare the water bath and sous vide (if you are not sous vide cooking, skip to next paragraph), setting the temperature to 110 degrees F, for 8 hours. While you are waiting for the temperature to rise, vacuum seal the meat to prepare it for sous vide cooking. When the water is up to temperature, submerge the vaccum sealed meat into the water bath and ensure that it is not floating to the top. If it is weight it down with something, like a bowl, or clip it to the pot with a clothespin. Go about your lovely life until you hear the sous vide machine timer.

Once the meat is done in the sous vide, it’s time to roast. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. If you’re not sous vide cooking it at all, you’ll skip to this step just after curing. Make sure the meat is as dry as you can get it. If you’ve sous vide cooked it there will be a lot of jus in the bag that you’ll want to decant (don’t toss it! Throw it in a soup or make a sauce!). Place the dried meat onto the parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle it with plenty of black pepper, and any other favorite herbs and spices you want. Roast for 35 minutes or so if you’ve already partially cooked in sous vide. You’re aiming for an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. If you have not already partially cooked the roast in sous vide, you will want to oven roast for longer, aiming for that same internal temperature of 135F. If you are long roasting, you may want to tent the roast with foil or parchment to prevent overcooking on the outside.

When the desired internal temperature is reached, let the roast rest and cool completely. Wrap and transfer to fridge overnight, then slice thinly with a meat slicer or sharp knife for better-than-deli-quality deliciousness.

For more ideas and skills around recipes like this, check out my Dry Curing Meats online course!