Pot Roast Redux

I had planned on having leftovers when I made pot roast the other day. I wanted to make a Darke County, Ohio favorite with those leftovers.

I first pulled the congealed fat off the top of the pot roast. We won't be needing that fat, so off into the trash it goes.

Then I pulled the meat apart and made sure that any other fat or gristle was removed. I set aside the meat and much of the jellied sauce for tonight's dinner. The remaining potatoes, carrots and beef will make a nice lunch this weekend for my husband.

And now it's time to cook. I cooked some noodles in a bit of boiling water before adding the beef and sauce.

A sprinkling of fresh Italian parsley added the finishing touch.

I must admit that I Semi-Ho'd the rest of the meal. I bought a package of pre-made mashed potatoes and dolled that up with butter, Half-and-Half, salt and black pepper. Please don't think any less of me.

Now, I know you are saying "what makes this a Darke County dish?" Peculiar to this area is the practice of placing the mashed potatoes on the plate and then dumping the noodles on top of the mashed potatoes. You wouldn't believe the odd looks you get from strangers when you plate your meal this in this manner.

Hmph. I am calling out my husband and daughter, both of whom were born in Darke County, because they did not plate their food 'correctly'.

I also understand that this meal is also plated this way in other parts of the country, but it still seems to be a rather rare thing.

Ah, this is comfort food.






As a special treat, I bought strawberries and cut them before adding 1/2 cup sugar to the berries. The bowl went back into the refrigerator so that the strawberries could macerate.

Meanwhile, I made another Honey and Vanilla Pound Cake to go with the strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

I'm a happy blogger tonight. This might even be enough to help me forget that it got down to -11 degrees last night.

A Cold Winter's Day

It is cold, snowy and windy outside. Sounds like a good day for some old-fashioned comfort food.

For my readers who love snow, I present - snow.

Here is a rare visitor to my bird feeders. This is a Rufus Sided Towhee.


My husband loves pot roast, so I decided to make that for him today. Beef chuck roast requires long and slow cooking, so I start this dish early in the day - before I'd even had my coffee. So if I messed up, you'll understand why.

Here I have the chuck roast, red wine (Shiraz), olive oil, dried Herbes de Provence, black pepper, kosher salt, carrot, bacon, mushrooms, garlic, red-skinned potatoes and onion. Tomato paste also joined the party later on.




I first chopped the bacon and cooked it over medium-high heat. Once the bacon was cooked, I removed it from the pan and set aside. The heat was turned up a bit so that I could then sear the chuck roast.




I liberally seasoned the meat with salt and pepper and placed it in the pan with the bacon grease. Now, don't be alarmed by the amount of salt and pepper coating the roast. This is all the salt and pepper that will be added to the entire dish.

Once the meat released easily from the pan, I turned it over and seared the other side. This searing results in the Maillard Reaction. Please note that searing does not seal in juices, but it does lend a great deal of flavor to the meat.

After both sides of the roast were seared, I placed the meat in my slow cooker along with a cup of frozen homemade beef consomme. I then place the chopped onion, carrot and mushrooms in the pan along with some olive oil. I also added two tablespoons of tomato paste to the pan. I even added a bit of the herbs to the pan so that the essential oils could be released, adding another layer of flavor. The veggies caramelized for a bit before I added them to the slow cooker.

I added a cup of frozen beef consomme and a healthy splash of red wine so I could deglaze the pan.

Then I scraped the pan with a spatula to get the fond off the bottom. The liquid was then poured over the roast and veggies in the slow cooker.

See how the pan has been cleaned of all the flavorful little bits of goodness?

Thinly sliced garlic and the bacon went into the pot. This then cooked on medium for ten hours.

I cleaned, diced and added the potatoes to the pot about four hours before we ate.

Following Michael Ruhlman's suggestion on dealing with tomato paste, I opened both ends of the can and pushed the paste out. After taking what I needed for the recipe, I wrapped the remaining paste in plastic wrap.

The wrapped tomato paste then went into a zipper top bag and that went into the freezer for later use.

The pot roast was ready and waiting for us when we finally were able to sit down and eat.

Despite the fact that the roast needed to be cut apart for serving, the meat was tender and succulent. Now, I won't claim that this is my favorite dish, but since my husband loves it and I can do all the prep work in the morning, I don't really mind making this meal.

The best part? Tomorrow I can make noodles and mashed potatoes for yet another take on this versatile meat.