Mastering a Top Round Roast Colombian Style

Since I moved to State College, I have been buying every year a fourth of a cow from my husband’s technician and we are delighted with the flavor. The man raises the cow on his farm and by the time it is ready, he asks which parts of the cow I want.

In the beginning I used to order just the cuts I knew how to cook or the less complicated ones like filet mignon. However, as I have been living outside of my country for almost a decade, I crave more often the Caribbean meals, the seasoning, and the cuts of meat I grew up with.

Last year, I asked my mother her recipe to prepare the top round roast, what we call “meat of monkey” because of its appearance. She taught me her secret to getting a juicy meat of monkey along with coconut rice and payaso (clown) salad, the side dishes for that meal in the Caribbean Coast of Colombia.

By now, I have mastered the top round roast, to the point where my oldest sister calls me to give her instructions every time she is going to cook it. So, I will leave my notes for you to give it a try and challenge yourself to cook other cuts of meat for your family.

Ingredients:

15 cherry tomatoes (or 2 big ones) 1 red pepper 1 yellow pepper (or green) salt + pepper 2 knorr meat stock 1 teaspoon of oregano in powder Onion and garlic (optional)

Preparation:

Cut the meat in slices of about ½ inch. Then seared them on a Teflon pan with oil until darkened. Once the only thing left on the pan is the leftover oil and the meat, add it to a pressure cooker along with the other ingredients for 30 minutes.

Move the meat to a deep pot. All the rest of the cooked ingredients must be blended and added to the deep pot. Then, let it cook in slow cook for about an hour.

See the video for a better understanding of the instructions.

Follow my journey on Instagram: @culozunga