Weekend Roast Beef and Potatoes

This dish is really really easy, but because of the cooking time, it's probably best for weekends. I grew up eating this roast beef. I suppose some readers of Bon Appetite will be offended by my use of dried french onion soup as a spice, but given the choice between hanging out with those folks and hanging out with the woman who birthed me, raised me, and continues to give me emotional support, I'll go with my mom a good 58% of the time.

I'm not really sure what to call the cut of meat you want to get for this dish: in Wisconsin, where I grew up, you just went to the meat counter and asked for a "beef roast." Down in Virginia, where I am now, there's top shoulder roasts and round roasts and beef butts and bottom round shoulder beef butts. Basically what you want is a nice hunk of meat (3-4 lbs.) that's got some fairly serious marbling to it. Too lean a hunk or too skinny of a piece will lead to a dried out roast.

Speaking of dry, one key here is to make sure the tinfoil wrapped around the roast is air-tight. Crimp and double-crimp all of the seams, and if you poke a hole in the foil by mistake, either start over or double wrap with another sheet. Seriously: miss this step and your roast will have the taste and texture of dried dog food.

Just in case, I've included a recipe for "gravy" here that uses the juice from the roast. I know it's not true gravy, and that if I'd read more cook books and cooking magazines I could put together a really fantastic concoction that would make even Julia Childs happy. But you know what? I drive 100 miles a day to and from work, have three kids ten and under, and just don't have the time or patience. And besides, this au jus stuff that I make tastes pretty good . . .

Finally, feel free to just make the roast and skip the potatoes, or just make the roast and the potatoes and skip the gravy. Whatever works for you.

And my apologies to the vegetarians in the crowd: I've yet to find a suitable soy-based substitute for a 3 lb. lump of meat. Coming soon though: a chick-pea pasta that'll knock your socks of.

The Roast Beef

1 3-4 lb beef roast with good marbling

1 envelope dried onion soup (I usually go with Lipton)

A really big sheet of tin foil, large enough to wrap around and tent over the roast

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Rinse the roast and pat dry with paper towels
3. In a baking pan with lay out the sheet of tinfoil
4. Pour half the envelope of dried onion soup onto the foil
5. Situate the roast onto the foil
6. Pour the rest of the soup mix on top of the roast
7. Very very very carefully seal the roast in the tin foil. Be sure all seams are air-tight, and that the foil tents over the top of the roast. If possible, also leave a little space on the sides of the roast as well.
8. Cook for 2.5 hours.
9. Remove from oven. Carefully open the foil from the top, avoiding the steam and preserving the juices if you wish to make the "gravy" (below).
10. Cut and serve.

The Roasted Potatoes

1-1.5 lbs small potatoes (new or red are fine)

Salt to taste

Olive oil or Olive-Oil Cooking Spray (e.g., Pam)

1. Clean the potatoes and cut in half (or quarters, if they're large)
2. Throw into a pot of water.
3. Heat to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Test with a fork. If your fork can go in easily, they're ready for the next step. If not, let them go for another 5 minutes and test again.
5. Drain the water from the potatoes. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil.
6. Arrange potatoes, cut face down, on sheet.
7. Spray very lightly with olive oil. Or don't, if you don't feel like it.
8. Sprinkle with salt.
9. Roast for 45 minutes, turning once if you think of it.
10. Remove and serve, slathered in butter.

The "Gravy"

The juice from roast beef from above.

2-3 Tablespoons of flour

A large pinch of dried rosemary, crumbled between your fingers

Fresh-ground pepper to taste

1. Pour the beef/onion juice from the tin-foil into a frying pan
2. Spoon maybe half a cup of juice into a small bowl and mix with the flour until pasty and smooth.
3. Pour the mix back into the frying pan and whisk. If it's still a bit thin, repeat step 2 with another 1-2 tablespoons of flower.
4. Turn heat to medium-high.
5. Crumble the rosemary into the sauce.
6. Add pepper.
7. Heat until it begins to thicken.
8. Serve with potatoes and roast.

Family Ratings

Lucy, who loves potatoes, loves roast beef, and loooooves onions: 10

Will, who often leaves the table to get a toothpick: 8

Jamie, who also loves potatoes, but only if you let him have as much butter as he wants: 10

Ellen, who grew up eating roast beef and roasted potatoes in England and isn't a fan of beef: 6

Paul, who grew up eating this stuff: 10