Coffee-Rubbed Roast Beef with Wasabi Cream Spread

Take roast beef sandwiches to a new level with a simple,

rich, and aromatic rub—and an overnight rest in the fridge. Freshly ground

coffee beans impart depth and richness to a dry rub, and, paired with chile,

mustard, and onion powders, it makes an especially flavorful crust for a lean

eye-of-round beef roast.

Three key tips for

this dish:

1) Don’t overcook.

A meat thermometer is a very useful tool for cooking the roast. If you don’t

have one, you can trust the cooking time as long as you have a two-pound

eye-of-round roast, about four inches in diameter (and provided you know the

quirks of your oven inside and out).

Eye-of-Round Roast

Either way, don’t be alarmed by the juices flowing from the

cooked roast while it’s resting. When you remove it from the oven at 125°, the

juices will appear very bloody at first. Within 15-20 minutes, the juices will

darken as the internal temperature continues to rise.

The bottom line here is that you want the roast to be very

pink in the middle. A medium-rare finish assures maximum flavor and tenderness.

If you don’t like the pink, skip this recipe.

2) Chill. We’re

making sandwiches here, so cold roast beef is okay. An overnight stay in the

fridge allows the rub to penetrate the meat even more for deeper flavor.

3) Slice very thinly.

Think shavings. Only without a deli meat slicer, you won’t be able to go that

thin—just get as close to it as possible with a very sharp knife. The slices

should fold easily and be very tender.

Slice the Roast Very Thinly

I made a simple spread of sour cream and wasabi paste to top

the beef. A good grainy mustard would work well too.

• 1 tbsp finely ground coffee granules
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp sea salt, plus more
• 2-lb eye-of-round beef roast
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp wasabi paste
• freshly ground black pepper
• 12 slices thin, light rye bread
• tomato and red onion slices, and lettuce leaves (optional)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line

a small baking pan with foil.

Combine the coffee, chile,

mustard, and onion powders and salt in a small bowl. Massage the coffee

mixture evenly all over the roast.

Place the beef in the pan and

roast 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to

300° F. Continue roasting the beef until a thermometer registers 125° F, about 30 minutes.

Remove the roast to a plate or work surface and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Wrap the roast in parchment paper, then tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Rub MixtureRubbed Roast Roast after TurningRoasted Eye-of-Round Chilled Roast About 30 minutes before serving,

combine the sour cream and wasabi paste in a bowl and season with salt and

pepper.

Sour Cream and WasabiWasabi CreamSlice the roast as thinly

as possible and stack on slices of rye bread. Spread with wasabi cream and top

with tomato, onion, and lettuce, if desired.

Sliced BeefBeef and Wasabi SpreadCoffee-Rubbed Roast Beef with Wasabi Cream Spread