I did my weekly shopping at the Acme, today, because I needed to get Nonna’s Apple Strudel Bites and Mini Corn Muffins. They’re the only store around that sells them – and she’s definitely hooked on them. She gets an apple strudel bite and a mini corn muffin every morning with her juice (summer) or tea (winter) after she gets up for the second time. The first time she gets up is at 0-dark-thirty for her morning meds, coffee, and potato bread toast.

I’m not a huge Acme fan because they really are the most expensive grocery chain in the area. But… you go where you need to go – and since I had just switched out tanks last week, I filled up the spare propane canister while I was there. Always have a full spare, says I!

I had called yesterday to make sure I could pick up two packs of the strudel bites because they are often out of them when I go looking for them. They were at the Bakery with my name on them!  That put me in a jolly mood so I meandered through the aisles looking for things I normally don’t buy.  At Wegmans, I use their shopping list and phone app. It tells me exactly where and in what aisle in their 70,000+ sq ft store the things are that I want. I don’t do a lot of meandering there. It just takes too long. I try and plan my trips to Acme around days I don’t need a lot of groceries and paper goods so I can either take a look and see if something catches my eye – or just grab what I know I need and bolt.

Today was a meander.

One thing that caught my eye was an eye of the round roast. On sale. I will sometimes buy a whole eye and cut it into steaks, stew meat, and maybe a roast. It is not the most tender cut of meat, so it needs TLC when cooking. This was inexpensive. Into the cart it went.

When I got home, I thought I’d see what ideas Chef Google had, and the very first thing I saw was a method of cooking at 500°F! I thought that was downright strange, and looked at several others – all with a 500°F start time. The concept is season your roast and then into a 500°F oven for 5 minutes per pound, turn off the oven and let the roast sit in there  – without opening the oven door – for two hours. No liquid, no covering. Hot oven, turn off. Guaranteed tender. It sounded so easy I had to try it!

I did have mixed results – the beef was definitely medium and not the medium rare I was promised – but a bit of time adjustment can remedy that. It was tender, juicy, and lots of pan juices that weren’t burnt! It made a really rich, dark gravy – my favorite part of a roast beef dinner!

Old dog learned new trick, today! Where have I been that I never knew of this cooking method?

I rubbed the roast with olive oil, sprinkled it liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and into the oven it went. For the gravy, I just added some red wine to the drippings, cooked it down a bit, added flour and then beef broth, and let it cook until thickened. No need for anything else.

Fresh peas, mashed potatoes, and slices of yesterday’s bread made for a great dinner. And there’s plenty left over for dinner tomorrow!

I like learning new tricks…