Grandma's Famous Rump Roast

My grandmother's roasts for Jewish holidays are legendary. Last March, she kindly trained Owen and I in the fine art of Rump Roast. Grandma has left us in charge of the roast this year (egads!) so it seemed like the right moment to finally write up her recipe. It's very simple, but also complicated, I guess? I will share two different lists of ingredients, based on the amount of meat you are making.

For 2½ pounds of meat, you will need:
5 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
paprika
garlic powder
safflower or other mild oil for frying
skewers for testing doneness

And in a cheesecloth sachet: 
15 peppercorns
2 bay leaves, crushed
5 whole allspice

However, for a 5 pound roast (our usual holiday roast), increase this to:
5 large onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
paprika
garlic powder
safflower or other mild oil for frying
skewers for testing doneness

And in your sachet:
20 peppercorns
3 bay leaves
7 whole allspice

Start by washing (if you want to) and drying the meat. Coat the meat with salt, freshly grated pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.

Heat oil in a heavy pot and cook the onions and garlic for ten minutes.

While the onions are cooking, if you haven't already, prepare your sachet. Place all the ingredients in the middle (note: my grandma mistakenly had me make this with cloves instead of allspice - I'll replace this picture soon).

Tie one set of corners together.

And then the other.

Clear the onions from the center of the pot. In the center, sear the meat on all sides.

When it is fully seared, place the sachet alongside it. Cover the pot and cook it on a low flame.

Cook until there is no liquid left in the pan, then gradually add water little by little, as necessary.

It will take more than four hours to cook. The meat is done when a skewer inserted deep into the meat goes in "like into butter."

When the meat is done, take the meat out of the pot and process the sauce with a hand blender. Adjust the salt to taste.

Our family secret is making the meat quite a few days in advance and freezing it - the meat wrapped in foil and the sauce in a separate container. The evening before your feast, let the meat start to defrost in your fridge. The cold, dense meat will be far easier to cut into paper-thin slices (about a quarter-inch thick). Make sure to cut again the grain. See those striations in the texture of your meat? Cut at a 90 degree angle from that. This ensures that the meat will melt in your mouth when it's time to eat it! You can gently place the slices of meat into the bottom of your heavy pot, pour the sauce over it, and slowly heat it back up. We love serving this with a delicious cauliflower kugel for passover. It's like the Thanksgiving of springtime. L'shanah haba'ah b'yerushalayim!

And while we are on the topic of roasted meat, Grandma's other famous specialty is a veal roast. The recipe is similar to what you see above, but with a few changes:

• If your roast is a roll of meat, ask the butcher to tie it tightly with twine so it holds together. 
• You don't need a spice sachet at all.
• Use more chopped garlic with your onions. Use one onion and one clove garlic per pound of meat.
• Put more salt and pepper and garlic powder on the meat, but no paprika.
• One the onions are cooked and the meat is seared, this roast is cooked in the oven, not on the stovetop. Grandma likes cooking it in cornishware, but a dutch oven is fine.
• Once in the oven, cover it for the first hour, then cook the rest of the time uncovered (especially if it releases a lot of water in the first hour).
• It will take less time to cook than the beef. Have your skewers ready!
• Finally, never process the sauce after. It will be oily, oniony, and delicious.