The Briny Lemon: Coffee-Rubbed Roast Beef Sandwiches with Wasabi Cream Spread

Take roast beef sandwiches to a new level with a simple, rich, and aromatic rub—and an overnight rest in the fridge. Ground coffee beans impart depth and richness to a dry rub. Add chile, mustard, and onion powders to the coffee for an especially flavorful crust on a lean eye-of-round beef roast.

Three key tips for this dish:

1) Don’t overcook. A meat thermometer is a very useful tool for cooking the roast. If you don’t have one, you can trust the cooking time as long as you have a two-pound eye-of-round roast, about four inches in diameter (and provided you know the quirks of your oven inside and out).

Eye-of-Round Roast

Either way, don’t be alarmed by the juices flowing from the cooked roast while it’s resting. When you remove it from the oven at 125°, the juices will appear very bloody at first. Within 15-20 minutes, the juices will darken as the internal temperature continues to rise.

The bottom line here is that you want the roast to be very pink in the middle. A medium-rare finish assures maximum flavor and tenderness.

2) Chill. We’re making sandwiches here, so cold roast beef is okay. An overnight stay in the fridge allows the rub to penetrate the meat even more for deeper flavor.

3) Slice very thinly. Think shavings. But unless you have a deli meat slicer, you won’t be able to go that thin—just get as close to it as possible with a very sharp knife. The slices should fold easily and be very tender.

Slice the Roast Very Thinly

I made a simple spread of sour cream and wasabi paste to top the beef. A good grainy mustard would work well too.

And for another coffee-rub dish, check out Skillet-Seared, Coffee-Rubbed Lamb Chops with Honey-Butter.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 tbsp finely ground coffee granules
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt, plus more
2-lb eye-of-round beef roast
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tsp wasabi paste
freshly ground black pepper
12 slices thin, light rye bread
tomato and red onion slices, and lettuce leaves (optional)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line a small baking pan with foil.
Combine the coffee, chile, mustard, and onion powders and salt in a small bowl. Massage the coffee mixture evenly all over the roast.
Place the beef in the pan and roast 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300° F. Continue roasting the beef until a thermometer registers 125° F, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the roast to a plate or work surface and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
Wrap the roast in parchment paper, then tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.