Beef Anyone?

One of my favorite offerings at Luby's is roast beef. So, I finally bit the bullet and made it at home. A local grocery store, HEB, published the recipe some time ago:

2 tbls course ground black pepper
6 cloves garlic, chopped (I pressed mine)
1 tbls kosher salt
1/3 cup light olive oil
5-7 lbs beef bottom round rump roast
1/2 cup red wine

1. Set oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 450. Line a roasting pan with foil.

2. Combine pepper, garlic, salt, and olive oil in a small bowl.

3. Make several slits in the fat of the roast; insert some of the mixture in step 2. Rub the remaining mixture on all sides of the roast. Place the roast, fat side up, in the roasting pan. Place in oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 300. Roast for 30 minutes per pound.

4. Remove roast from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

5. Place roast on a cutting board or serving platter. Add wine to the roasting pan and stir well. Return the pan to the 300 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Serve the sliced roast along side the au jus.

The positives: The recipe was easy and the result was every bit as tasty as the Luby's version.

The drawbacks: The beef was pretty costly and, as it cooked, the scent of garlic was overwhelming. Even though I allowed the roast to rest as instructed, juices were plentiful as it was sliced - - making clean up a nightmare. Finally, the volume of leftovers could feed a small army.

In summary, this will not be a regular item at my house. I'll opt for the LuAnn plate the next time I have a hankering for roast beef!   ~Jennifer