Mocha Crusted Beef Roast

Today I learned an awesome lesson in allergy awareness. I made this beef roast for dinner last night and it was amazing. I didn't want to cook another potato for lunch - too heavy - so I decide to hit Wendy's for a little side salad action with their pomegranate vinaigrette dressing. Sounds yum, right? A nice salad alongside some beef with onions, how could I go wrong?

I get back to my office, toss the roast in the microwave, pull the salad out of the bag and stop, staring at it in horror: The salad I just purchased is loaded with shredded carrots, 5 or 6 grape tomatoes, and garlic croutons. So basically I just paid $1.70 for lettuce and dressing. I quickly read the dressing ingredients - whew! I'm safe there. It never occurred to me that a side salad would be off limits. I then got talking to a co-worker about all of the foods eliminated and that, basically, I can't eat out. Ever. I have to know exactly what's in my food, so I have to make it all from scratch.

That's not so bad, though, right? Especially when you can get awesome recipes like this Mocha Crusted Beef Roast with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Sauce. Sounds fancy, I suppose, but it's ultra easy and tastes yummy.

Ingredients (for the rub):
1 T. ground coffee
1/2 T. ground black pepper
1 T. dehydrated onion flakes
1 1/2 T. smoked paprika
1 t. chili powder (contains a little garlic, but I seem to be okay with it)
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. sea salt

For the Roast:
1 beef roast, about 2 pounds, slightly fatty (or it will be dry)
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp beef bullion granules
1 cup brewed coffee
3 T. balsamic vinegar

Put the coffee grinds, pepper and onion flakes in a coffee grinder, and whir until it forms a soft powder. Put into a small bowl and combine the paprika, chili powder, ginger and sea salt. Stir with a fork until no lumps remain.

Rinse roast, pat dry and set on a cutting board or large plate. Sprinkle half of the seasoning mix on the roast, smushing the seasoning in to the meat with your fingers. Turn the roast over and do the same on the other side. Don't neglect the sides! Get them coated, too.

Arrange onion slices in the bottom of crock pot. Combine hot water and beef bullion in a 4-cup measuring cup, whisking until dissolved. Add coffee and balsamic vinegar and whisk together. Pour coffee mixture on top of onions. Set roast gently in liquid - I say gently because it will splash all over and make a mess. I know this from experience.

Set on low for about 6 hours.

When roast is done, transfer to a serving plate. Remove onions with a slotted spoon, arrange on top of roast, and cover with foil to keep warm.

After pulling the roast out of the crock pot I realized I'd let it go too long (mine was in for closer to 8 hours), and it was slightly dry. Now, I'd never made a reduction sauce before. It sounded too complicated and fancy, but I decided to give it a whirl in hopes of saving the dear beast who gave his life for us to eat. Turns out, a reduction sauce is quite simple - and tasty!

Pour the liquid from your crock pot into a medium sized sauce pan. Bring to a rolling boil and just let it go - stirring frequently, of course - until the liquid is reduced by about half. It took about 15 minutes. You could probably reduce it further, but we were starving and wanted to eat. Spoon just a little of the reduction sauce over the meat (after cutting it) for added flavor and moisture.

We had this with baked potatoes and green beans. Voila! Dinner. By the way, the reduction sauce would be just as delicious even if your roast is plenty moist. Just sayin'.