After staring at miles and miles of cattle and spending some time in the Lone Star state, I decided there was only one recipe that I really needed to blog about.
Down home pot roast.
Do you ever get that *sniff* "ahhhh" feeling when you walk through the front door after a long day of sitting on your ass and staring at the computer when you take that first whiff of stewing meat and veggies?
Yeah. You know that moment.
That moment -- there's nothing sweeter. Or savory-er?
Nothing quite says welcome to the Midwest like beef and fresh vegetables thrown together in Madame Crockpot. And at the same time, the Midwest would not be complete without the love and grace of its people to craft the perfect pot roast.
Down Home Pot Roast
You'll need...
3 potatoes
4 carrots
1 package of white mushrooms
2 lb. chuck roast
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix
2 tbs. of butter
1/3 cup of flour
2 tsp. of meat tenderizer
Salt and pepper
Madame Crockpot never fails me. She is a hand-me-down from my Nana. I like to think she is watching over me whenever I pull out the crockpot. It only has two real settings: happy and warm or spit-fire hot. Just like Nana.
Take your chuck roast and generously sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
Add your favorite meat seasoning. I just used meat tendorizer, but garlic salt, onion powder or even a BBQ blend will work.
Sprinkle some flour...
And work it into the meat with your hands. Yeah, you and chuck roast sort of bond through this process.
Strike that. Brown that butter, baby.
Brown the meat on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Aww yeah. See that butter crust? Think of the possibilities. It's just like when you get a little butter crust on a cheese quesadilla. Your hips and taste buds won't lie.
Grab a pair of tongs and carefully lift the roast into your crockpot. No, I didn't throw this away. Although the plastic liner I use for easy cleanup could be easily mistaken for a waste basket. Just get past the plastic...
Dump one packet of Lipton's French onion soup mix on top of the meat.
Pour about 1 1/2 cups of water, just enough so that the water is covering half of the meat.
Like dis. Cover on low for 4 hours. Or, if you have a touchy Madame Crockpot, crank it to high. It'll be falling apart before you know it!
Go take a nap or listen to some old school Maxwell or watch Robin Hood.
All of these things are good.
In the mean time, peel and cut the carrots and potatoes into 2 inch pieces or 1 inch or half inch. Hell, it's your pot roast so you can do whatcha wanna do! Throw in some celery for all I care!
This is about 4 hours into cooking time and I decided that the veggies were ready to join the party. You can also boil the carrots and potatoes in a pot of water and dump it in the crockpot during the last half hour of cooking time. Or you can start the veggies at the same time as the meat, I just didn't want the potatoes and carrots to be too mushy.
Match made in beef heaven if you ask me. Cover and keep on low for another 4 hours.
Then go do something else.
And then go looking inside the fridge for a snack because the fumes from cooking meat are starting to get to you. Then find some mushrooms that were hiding behind the milk jug.
I decided these just had to go in with the roast. So I cut them in quarters and threw them in the mix in the last 2 hours of cooking time. It just felt like the right thing to do.
After 8 hours, I couldn't take it any more. I grabbed the tongs and the meat was just falllllling apart. Tell me that's not a pretty sight to see! I served this up with a side salad and some warm sourdough bread.
Get down home and make this pot roast. Make your inner Texan howl out loud and all that shit. Your Midwestern mates would be proud.
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