Budget constraints steered us away from the standing rib roast and toward a hunk of USDA Choice bovine beastie whose name tag read "Beef Round Tip, Cap Off." It weighed in at 6-1/2 lbs. and cost about $18.00. It was fairly well marbled, but there was no slab of fat on the outside. (Maybe this missing slab is the cap which was off?) I'm guessing this was sirloin tip, but have yet to sort out exactly what cut this was, although I know generally that it comes from the part of the cow which goes through the barn door last ... provided the cow isn't backing in.
The carcass slept peacefully in the bottom of my fridge for about 48 hours, although I prefer to dry age for 72 hours or more. I allowed the meat to come to room temperature, massaged it with Wesson oil just until it glistened like a bikini-clad starlet at poolside, and then rubbed in a very liberal amount of kosher salt and freshly crushed pepper ... pulverized with my own little mortar and pestle. (And, no, I don't pronounce the "t" in "pestle.")
I positioned it on a rack in a pan which had some chunky mirepoix in it, placed it in an oven preheated to 250º F, and then dropped the heat to 200º F. This is where I left it for five hours until the temperature probe read 140º F. (I guessed this would give me about 10.º F of carryover for a medium roast.)
What was interesting was that a wonderful peppery, black crust had formed on the outside of the meat. I imagine slow roasting like this eliminates the need for searing or a high heat blast. The inside was medium rare and there was almost no carryover cooking. Perhaps this is another result of slow roasting. The actual taste of the meat was just OK, function of the cheap cut, but it wasn't bad and will make some tasty sandwiches this week. Suprisingly, it was as tender as butter.
In any event, what could have been a real disappointment due to our niggardliness turned out to be a fairly tasty treat. And, I think, all I did was follow the rules.
