Recipe - Herbed Roast Beef In Salt Crust

1/3 cup Olive oil
One fourth cup Grated onion
1 teaspoon Garlic salt
1 teaspoon Basil
One half teaspoon Marjoram
One half teaspoon Thyme
One fourth teaspoon Pepper
1 Beef rib or eye of round
roast; (46 lbs)
1 Box; (3#) Morton Kosher Salt
1 One fourth cup Water

Combine oil, onion, garlic salt, basil, marjoram, thyme and pepper in a
heavy plastic bag. Mix well. Add roast; coat well with marinade. Marinate
in refrigerator 2 hours or overnight. Line roasting pan with foil. Combine
kosher salt and water to form a thick slush. Pat 1 cup of mixture into a
1/2inch thick rectangle in pan. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Insert
meat thermometer. Place roast on salt layer. Pack remaining salt mixture
around roast to seal well. Place roast in 425F oven and roast 1618 minutes
per pound for rare (140 degrees), 2022 minutes per pound for medium (160
degrees) or 2530 minutes for well done (170 degrees). Remove roast when
thermometer registers 5 degrees below desired doneness. Let roast stand
510 minutes in salt crust. To remove crust you may need to use a hammer.
After removing crust, whisk away any remaining salt crystals with a pastry
brush.

NOTES : Use prime rib, eye of round, or any beef roast that is at least 4
pounds. Smaller roasts will cook before the crust hardens. For larger
roasts, cooking time will not be much longer than for smaller roasts. Use a
meat thermometer. Use only coarse kosher salt, not table salt or rock salt.

More tips from the ABJ:

Buy an extra box of salt if cooking a roast larger than 6 pounds.

Insert meat thermometer before putting the meat in the oven. When the crust
hardens, the thermometer may be difficult to insert. Wiggle the thermometer
so the salt iisn't packed against the stem, which could produce a false
temperature reading.

Don't pack the roast in salt ahead of time, or the salt will fall off.
Don't moisten the salt with more water than the recipe calls for, or the
salt will fall off.

Sprinkle a thin layer of salt slush over the roast first, then add a
thicker layer. The salt will cling to the meat better. But if the salt
still falls off in a few places, don't worry.

Recipe by: Akron Beacon Journal December 17. 1997

Posted to recipeludigest Volume 01 Number 377 by Nancy Pallotta
nancee@neo.lrun.com on Dec 17, 1997