The Sunday Roast Beef Dinner

Ahhh, Sunday Dinner.... Growing up my Mom always made a yummy Sunday Dinner. We probably had roast 50% of the time. It was always one of my favorites, and it still is. The good thing is all my kids love it too! So, that makes it a perfect meal to make for Sunday dinner. I don't make it too often, but this is how I do it. I know people probably do it differently, but this is how we make it!

Pick a good piece of meat. I always buy my roasts at Costco. My dad always said push on it with your finger, if it is squishy and marbled with a little fat it is probably good. If it is hard, don't bother with it. You will get a tough, dry roast. Yuck! 

This time I went with a Beef Round Top. Sprinkle it liberally with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Get a pan screaming hot and sear each side of the meat. Don't rush it, you want nice color. This is where you will get a lot of flavor for your gravy. 

Once all the sides are browned, remove from pan. 

I usually use 1 or 2 onions. Or in this case the onions were teeny tiny so I used three. Cut the onions in half, but leave the root end attached so that the onions stay together when they are cooked. At this point I get the Au Jus gravy mix together. Add like 3-4 tablespoons (or 2-3 packets) of McCormick au jus to 2-3 cups of water. Sorry but it has to be McCormick!!! If you buy the cheap store brands it will turn out super yucky. Believe me!

Next add the onions to the pan and brown them a bit. Make sure you pull up all the brown bits from the pan. This makes everything delicious.

Next I add a couple tablespoons for Worchestershire Sauce. I prefer the Lea & Perrins brand. You can purchase a large bottle of this stuff from Costco. 

Then add the roast, onions, au jus mixture and Worchestershire Sauce to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook until very tender. Usually between 4-6 hours depending on the size of your roast. This time I cooked both so we could made shredded beef tacos later in the week. 

After you slice or shred your meat, make sure you reserve like 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

I slowly pour this hot liquid over the meat. This ensures that your meat does not turn out too dry. (A tip I learned from my mom)

To make the gravy, add 1/4 cup of flour to about a 1/2 cup of water. Whisk until smooth. Slowly add the flour mixture to your cooking liquid. Make sure you whisk the gravy the whole time you are pouring. Bring gravy to a low boil and adjust the seasoning and thickness as needed. Remember that gravy will always get thicker as it cools, so try not to make it too thick in the beginning. 

Then enjoy! Yum!