Days 271-273: Pot Roast & Other News...

So this past weekend I had another catering job, on a smaller scale.  You can see pictures from it here. So while I was preparing the food Friday and Saturday, not much dinner cooking happened.  Friday night (Day 271) was "ladies' night" among a few of my friends.  Hello, hibachi!  Randy and his friend watched our kids together and I made the hubbies and kids my stromboli.  Saturday night Randy and I had a birthday party to go to and then met up with some friends at Southside Bar & Grille in Gardner.  But Sunday (Day 273) was pot roast day!

Ahh, pot roast.  It honestly doesn't get much better than that on a fall or winter day.  This is another recipe I posted back in February.  But I realized the other day that professional cooks and bloggers write about the same thing more than once, so I can do the same.  ;) The recipe is pretty much the same every time, but I took new pictures.  So you can click the "February" link above to see the original, or just follow along here.  Either way, this is a great recipe to share with family and friends in this season!

Pot Roast
Some people call it "beef stew", others just refer to the meal as a whole as "pot roast."  Whatever you call it, it's delicious!  This recipe includes extremely flavorful seasonings and will probably be the best pot roast you've ever had...

3-5 lb roasting meat
5-6 carrots + 1 more (depending on size and desired meat/vegetable ratio)
3-4 large potatoes (6 small)
14 oz beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
1-2 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
5-6 sprigs of rosemary (leaves only, roughly chopped)
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB onion flakes
salt, pepper
extra virgin olive oil
3 TB butter
2 TB flour

Place 1 carrot (peeled and roughly chopped), the onion, and the garlic in a slow-cooker on low.  Drizzle with olive oil and add 1 TB of butter.  Put about half of the thyme and rosemary in, too. 

Heat a cast iron skillet on high heat and sear the beef on all sides--sprinkled with salt and pepper. 

When the meat is seared, deglaze the skillet with the red wine and then add the beef and the wine and pan drippings to the slow-cooker.  Drizzle in the Worcestershire sauce and pour in the beef broth.  Season everything with salt and pepper and a little bit of dried oregano.  Let cook for 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low.

If this is your thing, go ahead and pour yourself a glass of wine, too--you've got time to kill!  Of course, if you're preparing this in the morning for a Sunday noon-time meal, I'd skip the glass of wine for yourself. ;)

About 45 minutes before the meat is done, heat the oven to 400*.  On a baking sheet, place the peeled and chopped potatoes and carrots.  Drizzle them with olive oil and season with the rest of the herbs, the garlic powder, and the onion flakes, and salt and pepper.  Roast for about 30-40 minutes.
When the vegetables are about done, remove the meat from the slow-cooker and let rest on a cutting board.  Pour half of the sauce and vegetables from the slow-cooker into a blender.  Add 1 TB of butter and 1 TB of flour.  Blend until smooth.  Repeat with the remaining sauce.  (Do it in 2 batches rather than 1 big batch so the blender won't explode!--Yep, speaking from experience!)  Check seasonings and adjust with salt and pepper.  Pour all of the gravy back into the slow-cooker once blended and thick.  Cut up the beef and add it and the roasted veggies back into the slow-cooker, toss altogether and let sit on low or warm until ready to serve.