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Monday, January 18, 2010

Not Your Mama's Pot Roast

This is like the pan that my son got me for Christmas. Natural Stone by Haegar Here is the meal after I added the potatoes and more carrots.
And now the finished product. The beef was fork tender and as you can see the potatoes, parsnips and carrots crispy on the edges.




Joe and I are aficionados of pot roasts. We literally grew up on them. Both of our Sunday dinners at home were pot roasts...or chicken occasionally. Joe used to go to his first wife's family Sunday dinners. His mother-in-law would invariably fix a pot roast to feed the big crowd of children. The weekend before my marriage, my Mom said, "Well, you'd better learn to cook...have Clyde over for dinner...I'll teach you how to fix a pot roast." Little did she know that Clyde didn't like her pot roasts. He politely ate his portion. The first years of our 50's marriage found us eating hamburgers and fried chicken. Our spouses have both passed away and here I was marrying this man who used to be a meat cutter. Pot roast is still one of his favorites. I love cooking for him. He has tried to diet, but with me around it's hard to do.
Yesterday, I fixed his favorite Sunday meal...with a few little tweaks of my own. The top picture is the pan that my son got me for Christmas this year. It is a Haegar Pottery product. It's called Natural Stone by Haegar. I love this heavy pan. I have cooked lasagna in it, a ham, and now a pot roast. Things really taste so much better, when cooked in this pan. Here is the recipe for my version of the old fashioned pot roast...dolled up a bit.
Not Your Mama's Pot Roast....exactly as I did it...
I seasoned a 3 1/2 -4 lb. pot roast with sea salt and coarse black pepper.
Put it in a hot non stick skillet with 2 Tbs olive oil and browned it.
Put it in a 13 by 9 heavy casserole.
Put 1 sliced red onion and 6 med carrots cut in one inch pieces on top and around the sides.
Pour 2 cups red wine over it along with 2 cups of a good beef broth. Liquid should cover meat...if not add water.
Add 2 Tbs parsley and a dash of Thyme and 6 chopped cloves of garlic.
Cover with heavy foil.
Put in a pre- heated 375 oven and bake for 2 hours. No peaking!
While it is baking I cut up more carrots.. cutting them in quarters lengthwise and doing the same with parsnips (4). I put them in the fry pan and added a bit more beef stock to the pan along with salt and pepper. I put the top on and just cooked them till al dente.
When the two hours are up...you turn the oven up to 400 and peel and quarter 6 potatoes. I put the potatoes along with some olive oil and salt and pepper in a bowl and tossed them to cover them all with the seasonings and oil.
Put the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes all over the top and season with salt and pepper and parsley. Leave uncovered now. Put in the 400 oven and then turn the roast every 15 minutes for another hour. Watch the roast now...so it doesn't get too brown. The veggies will fall to the bottom, when you turn the roast over and get all brown and the ones touching the sides of the pan will be crispy.
Now the roast and veggies are done. Take them out and arrange on a hot platter. Make gravy with the juices. The best gravy, because of the natural juices and that wine....really not fatty. This was such a hit at our table...I thought that I would share and also keep it on my blog, so I can refer to the recipe again. Now that's a lot of food for the two of us. I put the leftovers away carefully and tomorrow we can have leftovers. Any meat remaining...I will make a couple of barbeque sandwiches.
I have a love for cooking. I like to cook things that sit on the stove or in the oven and simmer for hours. The house smells so good all day and a meal with leftovers is a bonus. I am a fan of Ina Garten. I watched her, when she ran the Barefoot Contessa and was a guest on the Martha Stewart Show...years ago. I watch her now on the food network. She has such an easy going manner in her kitchen and she takes the difficulties out of cooking and makes it seem easy. I am inspired by her...I'm a big fan.
Balisha

12 comments:

Roses and Lilacs said...

My absolute favorite meal. When I was a kid, we could choose our favorite meal on our birthday and this was always my choice. Now I make it to mark small celebrations in my life.
Marnie

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! This looks just wonderful, Balisha. It makes me want to go out and buy a roast right now and cook it your way. I will try it. I know it is good and your dish is so nice. Next time I go to the grocery, pot roast will be on my list! I am enjoying our weather being in the 40s and 50s. I am waiting on my son now and we are going to the bookstore.

Balisha said...

I could choose what I wanted for my birthday dinner too...It was always what my Mom called "boiled dinner." It was corned beef, cabbage,& potatoes like we have on St Patrick's Day. A lemon meringue pie for dessert or a maraschino cherry cake.
Judy...have fun at the bookstore.What book are you looking for? If you buy a book let us know.
Balisha

Noelle Johnson said...

Sounds delicious. Do you think the red wine makes the difference? I bet your lasagna was wonderful too.

Lona said...

OMG! Pot roast. Balisha girl you really are making my mouth water now. LOL! Looks soooo good.

Balisha said...

I do think that the wine gives it more flavor. I use it in so many dishes that cook a long time. For things cooked for a short time...you just taste the wine. It also works as a tenderizer and this pot roast can be cut with a fork.I used Livingston Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. It has a hint of cherry flavor...very fruity. I like it with beef and pork too.I used to make a cherry glaze for pork roast...this would be a good addition to that glaze. Now my mouth is watering...gotta go.
Balisha

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

This looks delicious! Sunday dinners at home as a teen were pot roast and we always looked forward to it. Your recipe sounds very good.

FlowerLady

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

THAT looks delicious! You make yours like Grandma taught me to make mine! And I love it! Makes me miss her every time I make one! Pot roast is my favorite meal I think!

You are doing well? I think we both slid by in 2009! :) I think you slid better than I did!
Hugs and love,
Mona

Gram said...

Love pot roast - my mother cooked it almost every week. I make it 3 or 4 times a year. We try not to eat red meat too often. Love Ina!

Amber Star said...

Your roast looks very tasty. I made pot roast one weekend recently and we enjoyed it a lot. Good thing...we had enough for several meals.

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Oh, this looks wonderful and I can almost smell it throughout this home. Nothing over the last few days has sound appealing. This sure does. Next time family visits I will try your recipe.

Balisha said...

We just had the leftovers. Warmed it all up and ate all but a piece of meat. I think that winter has made some very hungry bloggers.Don't you have bigger appetites in the cold weather?