Sunday, November 26, 2006

Easy New England Pot Roast

We woke up this morning to a hard frost, clear blue skies and temperatures in the 20's. It's a day that calls for our first pot roast of the winter.

When I make a pot roast, I get a roast large enough that we'll have leftover beef. I can then make homemade veggie soup or if there's enough beef left, Amish beef and noodles. But first to the pot roast. I'm for easy so long as it doesn't mean sacrificing taste, so baby carrots and canned green beans are part of the ingredients

NEW ENGLAND POT ROAST RECIPE
I start with a good cut roast--chuck or tender chuck. It's a little more expensive then a traditional pot roast, but if your cooking time needs to be shortened, the better cut means it will still be tender. We always cook the roast in a 6 quart slow cooker.

3-4 pound top round roast
4-5 potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters
2 or 3 cloves garlic (optional and to taste--I use three)
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 lb baby carrots
1 can french cut green beans

For easy clean up, spray the crock with Mazola Olive Oil Spray (a healthier alternative to some of the other sprays). Place the pot roast in the pan fat side down, add the beef broth, wine, and garlic. Arrange the onion pieces around the roast and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook on high for an hour. Add the potato pieces and take this opportunity to spoon the liquid over the beef and potatoes.

Continue cooking on high for two hours. Add the carrots and turn cooker to low. Cook for another two hours or until ready to serve. Add the green beans one half hour before serving.


Some recipes call for onion soup or Worchesterchire Sauce. While this adds more flavor, when I'm planning to reuse the beef, we let the garlic and onion add the flavor. With a good cut of meat, it's just right.

For a workday pot roast, I follow this recipe, but I turn the slow cooker on low, add the potatoes and carrots before I leave for work and let the concoction cook all day. The first person home adds the green beans, as they only need about half an hour.

1 comment:

Marie said...

OH MY GOD! I missed you SOOOOO much. I knew you would return. yes, all the caps are a one time female squeal of delight.. so enjoy.