Pot Roast and Rainy Days

December 28, 2009

 Whew!  Somewhere between Thanksgiving and this week, things started moving too fast!  We had a wonderful and Blessed Christmas surrounded by family and friends…exactly as you want it to be.  But if I am going to be completely honest, I’m just a touch glad to have all the busyness behind me.  This “week between” is always a great week,  - quiet and calm compared to the past month. We did a ton of eating and I apologize for the lack of blog posts….I’m going to try and catch up over the next couple of weeks, so please check back often.

The first catch up is a wonderful pot roast that I made on a very cold and rainy day.  Really one of those days where you hope you can do everything to avoid leaving the house.  In a moment of brilliance (those are few and far between), I remembered I had a pot roast in the freezer and a crock-pot that was probably lonely!

I don’t remember a lot of pot roast dinners growing up.  My Mom  probably knew the title “Yankee Pot Roast” and that was enough to deter her from making them.  I love a good pot roast, but I prefer to NOT have all of the vegetables you normally find in the pot roast cook with it.  I find that by the end of the cooking, the carrots, onions potatoes and whatever you put in tastes just like the roast and has lost all flavor and texture.  So I like this Southern Living recipe (from a wonderful cookbook called “Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook” which is actually titled, Beef with Red Wine Sauce.

Beef with Red Wine Sauce; Roasted Vegetables

3 lb boneless chuck roast, cut into one-inch pieces (I left it whole)

1 medium onion, sliced

1 lb fresh mushrooms, halved

1 package brown gravy mix (1.61 oz)

1 can beef broth (10.5 oz)

1 cup red wine

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 bay leaf

Hot cooked noodles or rice

Place the first 3 ingredients into a slow cooker.  Whisk together the gravy mix and next 3 ingredients; pour evenly over beef and vegetables.  Add bay leaf.  Cover and cook on High for 6 hours; Discard bay leave and serve.

For the vegetables, I went back to my favorite method of roasting.  I took whatever I had on hand, chopped them into evenly sized pieces and drizzled a nice bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and in this case McCormick Steak Seasoning (I love this spice mix and it is absolutely great on many things besides steak).  The veggies then went into a hot oven (375-400) for about 20-25 minutes.    I just shake the pan around once in the middle to make sure all of the vegetables get nicely browned.  These have a wonderful crunch on the outside and keep their delicious flavor.  I then plate them along with the roast.