One of our customers (who also happens to be one of my closest friends) told me the other day how she couldn’t stop thinking about the pot roast I had made for her a while ago and to teach her how to make it. So she is now armed with a Blustery Bovine roast and the following instructions that I will share with you also. Keep in mind that a specific recipe is not important with this kind of meal, rather the technique is what is important. If you want to use different spices or ingredients please do! Since I am not actually making a pot roast today, I included a picture of the packaged meat because we are asked about how the meat comes a lot. It doesn’t get freezer burned in this packaging and can be defrosted quickly in water. It’s even easier to handle than what you get in the store!
Pot Roast and Gravy
Use a metal frying pan that is slightly greased. Salt and pepper the roast (7-bone chuck is my favorite but any beef roast will do). Brown the pot roast in the pan. Make sure to brown the sides too. It's good if you get somewhat burned on stuff on the pan. Put your browned roast into the crock pot. Fill the pan with water and boil. Use a spatula to keep scraping all the burned on stuff off into the water. This can take 15-30 mins, your pan should be pretty clean. Dump the brown water from the pan over the roast in the crock pot. Add water to cover the roast if more water is needed. Add carrots, a quartered onion, garlic (powdered or fresh is good), and parsley. A splash of red wine can add a nice flavor if you have some. Cook on high for around 4 hours or low for around 6-8 hours. You'll know it's done when you stick a fork into it and you can easily pull off a chunk. Dump the liquid from the crock pot back into your pan. It looks like really good broth by now. Spoon some of the broth out into a separate bowl or jar and add flour, mix until smooth and add to the gravy. Keep adding more until it's the thickness you want. Make sure the flour gets cooked in there for at least 5 or 10 mins. When you think it's thick enough, taste it and add more salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, or whatever seasonings you'd like. The roast will have some bones and fat that you want to take out and the meat needs to be pulled into chunks, this is always Luke’s job since I'm busy making potatoes. :) Leave the meat in the crock pot on warm while you're making gravy and potatoes.
Mashed Potatoes
My favorite potatoes for mashed potatoes are yellow ones, but russet or red are good too. I often just leave the skins on but you can peel them if you want smoother potatoes. Quarter the potatoes and add them to a pot of cold water as you go. When you've added them all (make at least 5 lbs to go with the size roast you have) bring to a boil. Salt the water a bit, potatoes need a lot of salt. Depending on the size of the potatoes, the cooking time will vary a lot. Probably at least half an hour or 45 mins. When they are soft (but not falling apart) and you can stick a fork into them easily, strain out the water. Leave the burner on and start mashing them. It will steam as the water evaporates and the potatoes get more dried out. Before they start sticking to the bottom, turn off the heat and add a stick or 2 of butter. Keep mashing. For about 5 lbs of potatoes I will add about half a container of sour cream (8 oz) but there is a very wide range that will taste good. Taste it and keep adding salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley until it tastes good. If you want them thinner, add some milk, but I usually find that after the butter and sour cream I don't need it.
Some veggies that go perfectly with this are green beans, mushrooms and pearl onions. If I do these, I either steam them or cook them in the crock pot for an hour. We usually don't eat the big onion that was cooked in the crock pot, it's just for flavor. We definitely eat the carrots though. A side salad is nice too if you don't do green beans. We like to just pile all of it into a bowl, potatoes then meat and veggies, and pour gravy over the whole thing. Mmm, comfort food.
Quick Ingredient Checklist:
Blustery Bovine Beef Roast
Potatoes
Carrots
Onion
Mushrooms (optional)
Green Beans (optional)
Pearl Onions (optional)
Red Wine (optional)
Flour
Butter
Sour Cream
Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Parsley
“Love is tender like the pot roast I’m keeping warm in my shoes.”