1/3 cup olive oil
¼ cup grated onion
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 boneless beef roast, between 4
to 6 pounds (see note)
1 3-pound box Morton Coarse Kosher
Salt (see note)
1¼- cups water
Combine oil, onion, garlic salt, basil, marjoram, thyme and pepper in heavy plastic bag. Mix well. Add roast; coat well with marinade. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours or overnight.
Line roasting pan with aluminum foil. Combine coarse kosher salt and water to form a thick paste. Pat 1 cup paste into a ½-inch thick rectangle in pan. Pat roast dry with paper towels. Insert meat thermometer. Place roast on salt layer. Pack remaining salt paste around meat to seal well.
Place roast in a 425-degree oven and roast 16 to 18 minutes per pound for rare (140 degrees), 20 to 22 minutes per pound for medium (160 degrees), or 25 to 30 minutes per pound for well done (170 degrees).
Remove roast when thermometer registers 5 degrees below desired doneness. Let roast stand 5 to 10 minutes in salt crust before carving.
If using an instant-read thermometer (the kind that isn't inserted before roasting), check the estimated cooking time. Take roast out of the oven 10 to 15 minutes before it should be done. You may have to poke a hole in the salt crust first before inserting thermometer. Continue roasting, if needed, and test temperature again in 5 minutes.
To remove roast from salt, you may need to use a hammer. After removing crust with a stiff pastry or vegetable brush, whisk away any remaining crystals.
Note: Use prime rib, eye of round, tenderloin - any beef roast that is at least 4 pounds. Smaller roasts will not be in the oven long enough for crust to become hard. For roast larger than 6 pounds cooking will not take as long as the above time guidelines. (In other words, a 15-pound roast will not need 5 hours to cook to medium.) Bigger roasts are not necessarily larger around, just longer. A meat thermometer is absolutely essential to judge per-fect cooking times.
Note: Be sure
to use coarse kosher salt, not rock salt, regular table salt, or pickling
and canning salt. Rock salt may have impurities; table salt and pickling
and canning salt are too fine.
Coarse kosher
salt may not be available at all stores. Check shelves not only where salt
is stocked, but with ethnic/kosher ingredients. Makes 8 to 12 servings.