The Taste of Comfort

Food, that is.  Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes on a chilly fall day.  Halloween to be exact.

It has been a crazy week since I last wrote and with trick or treating approaching, I decided it would be a good time to pull out the crock pot, pick up a roast, mash up some potatoes and get a little warmth in our tummies. 

There are so many variations of pot roast that you almost can’t get this one wrong.  Worst case scenario, it is not cooked enough - just cook it a little longer – or it is overcooked and a bit dry – add more gravy and time it a little better for next time.

Here is what you need:

Boneless bottom round beef roast

Salt & Pepper

Flour

Red wine  - whatever you are drinking

32 oz container of beef broth – get the good stuff, it makes a difference

1-2 onions

4-5 cloves of garlic

Carrots – depending on size and how many you want – I used 8

Here is what I did:

Take a bottom round roast.  You don’t want any super lean cuts of meat here.  You want one that has some fat on it to keep it nice and moist for the long slow cooking time.

Season it well with salt and pepper and then dredge it in flour.  The seasoning, obviously, will make it taste better and the flour will help with the searing process and to thicken the gravy.

Heat some olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan) in a skillet large enough to hold your roast.  When the oil is hot enough, sear the roast on all sides until it’s nice and brown.  Searing will help hold in the juices and keep the meat moist.

While the roast is browning, cut up an onion or two (depending on how much you like and how big the onion is).  I also like to include garlic.  Smash the garlic cloves with the back of your knife and peel them.  Leave them whole.  The smaller you chop the garlic, the stronger the flavor.  I’m a huge fan of garlic but you don’t want it to overtake the dish.

Once the roast is nicely browned on all sides, take it out of the pan and place into the bowl of your slow cooker.  To the same skillet, add the onions, garlic, 1 Tbsp butter and 3 Tbsp flour.  Sauté for 1-2 minutes until the onions start to get soft.  Add 3 glugs of red wine.  Count it out 1…….2…….3.  Whisk the wine in with the flour/onion mixture until all the flour is incorporated.  You don’t want any flour lumps in your gravy.  Add ½ the beef broth and cook until bubbly.  Pour this into the Crockpot.  Add a bit more beef broth if needed to almost cover the roast.

Put the lid on and set on low.  Doing it this way, the roast will take approximately 6 hours.  If you want to do it in less time, set it to high and it will be done in about 4 hours.

But, what about the carrots?  I was getting to that.  ½ way through your cooking time, peel and chop the carrots and add to the Crockpot.  I don’t like to add them in the beginning because they get too mushy.

But wait, what do I do if I don’t have a Crockpot?  Well, you can borrow one or you can do the whole thing on the stove top.  Follow the directions I listed above, but when you would pour the liquid on top of the roast in the Crockpot, put the roast back into the pot you are cooking with.  Instead of using a skillet for searing, use a stockpot or a dutch oven.  Keep the heat on a low simmer and depending again on the size, the roast should be done in approximately four hours.

When the roast is finished, serve over your favorite mashed potatoes with biscuits on the side to help soak up that good gravy.  Wait – what biscuits? 

These biscuits:

2 cups all purpose flour – plus more for dusting surface of the board

1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

9 Tbsp cold butter, cut into cubes

2 Tbsp honey

¾ cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in butter until it is incorporated.  It should resemble a coarse cornmeal.

Combine milk and honey and add to the dry mixture.  Mix in bowl until it starts coming together. 

Place dough on a floured surface and knead dough.  Add more flour when necessary.  If mixture becomes too dry, it’s okay to add a little milk. 

Roll dough to desired thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. (I didn’t feel like digging out my cutters so I used the top of a drinking glass to cut into circles.) 

Butter the bottom of a skillet or pan (I used my 12” skillet) and place biscuits in pan.  Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness.  Bake until golden brown.

*To give you an example, I was able to get 15 biscuits out of the dough and baked them for approximately 19 minutes.

Pour yourself a glass of red wine and enjoy. Does it get any better than this?

Yes, actually it does.  As I am writing this, I am thoroughly enjoying the leftovers which taste even better the next day.