In our family, the true comfort food is a roast beef served with wedges of cabbage, potatoes and carrots.  

This meal was served once a week at my grandmama’s house when I was growing up.  Of course, dinner was great, but it’s what happened later that will forever be my comfort… my memories.

After dinner we’d wrap the leftover roast in plastic wrap then place it in the cheese drawer for safe keeping.   Each day, grandpa would walk to our school, meet The Brother and me, then we’d all walk home and prepare our after school snack.  Grandpa would plop two slices of bread into the toaster, slice the leftover roast beef paper thin, then schmeer the toasted bread with the faintest brush of mayonnaise, top with a few paper-thin slices of grandmama’s roast and finish with a light dusting of salt.

The Brother and I shared this sandwich almost daily, often times with homemade pickles and an apple split down the middle.  The only argument was which direction to slice the sandwich, which almost always was butchered into quarters.  Never knowing who would end up with which plate taught us to always slice fairly.

Back at home, my mom would prepare the roast the same way, but we’d eat it as an open face sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy… but that’a different story for a different day.

Family Roast Beef with Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Delta Whiskey

Roast:
2 1/2 to 3 lb eye of round beef roast
Dried Thyme, to taste (about 1 tablespoon for the entire roast)
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Vegetables:
4-5 white potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 lb carrots, peeled (or baby carrots)
1 medium head green cabbage, quartered

Horseradish Sauce:

1/4 cup (or less) prepared horseradish sauce
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper (go light on salt, horseradish can be salty)

Prepare the Roast:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the roast in the roasting pan that is large enough to hold the meat and all of the vegetables, then massage the garlic, salt, pepper and thyme into the meat.  Bake, uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Drop the temperature to 325 degrees, start with the potatoes, place the potatoes, carrots and cabbage around the meat, season with salt and pepper.  Pour in about 1/4 cup water, cover the roaster and continue cooking for and hour and half to two hours.  The inside temperature of the roast should be 165 degrees, the potatoes and carrots should also be fork tender and have taken on a slight flavor from the roast with the cooking juices.

Scoop the vegetables into a serving bowl, remove the roast to a cutting board and let cool 15 minutes before slicing.

While the roast is cooking, prepare the horseradish sauce.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients until well incorporated.  Make sure to taste this, as horseradish can be quite spicy.  If it’s too spicy, add a little more sour cream and mayonnaise.  If it’s not spicy enough for your liking, by all means, add more horseradish.  Store in the refrigerator until chilled through.

Slice the roast and serve.

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