Black Pepper-Crusted Roast Beef

In a blender, combine the minced garlic with the olive oil, soy sauce, kosher salt, peppercorns and rosemary and process to a paste. Make fifteen 1-inch-deep cuts in the top and bottom of the roast and insert a thin slice of garlic in each cut. Set the roast on a rack in a roasting pan and rub it all over with the salt-and-pepper paste. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Roast the meat for about 10 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook the roast for about 1 1/4 hours longer, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 125 degrees F for medium-rare.

Transfer the roast to a carving board and let rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Carve the roast into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

WINE RECOMMENDATION:
Peppery, garlicky and meaty, this dish requires a similarly meaty California Syrah with some spice of its own, such as the 1997 Qup or the 1995 Preston Vineyard Select.

SERVE WITH:
Roasted shallots and mixed baby vegetables, such as potatoes, beets and carrots.