My earliest recollection of Sunday dinner was Pot Roast. It was cooked low and slow and on the stove-top, not in the oven, like many of my friend's moms did. I was dark and delicious, served with carrots and potatoes cooked right in the pot until they too were dark and delicious. Sometimes the veggies would stick to the bottom of the roasting pan and caramelize, and that was better than candy. It was usually the cheapest cut of roast, but it didn't matter. Time and seasoning would add what nature didn't give it. It came out of the pan fork tender with the fat rendered, and then my mom would remove everything and make gravy from the pan drippings. It was always perfect in both my mind and my mouth. even though there must have been times when it didn't quite achieve perfection. No steak or prime rib I ever had in a restaurant as a kid could match our Sunday Roasts.
Fast forward to not long after I came home from 2 years in Mexico. My sister, 2½ years my junior tried making a roast. To this day, I'm not certain what went wrong, but the pan was black and the roast was toast!
But enough background. Let's cook! I start with my enameled cast iron dutch oven. I heat it on medium to medium-high, adding bacon grease, olive oil, seasoned salt and seasoned pepper for the browning phase. I can't express how important the browning is in the overall flavor development. Without it, you are just boiling the roast and taking away flavor rather than adding it. I brown each side for 4 to 5 minutes. You may want to season the roast or add more seasoning to the pan as it browns. You should see the pan darken in the bottom. This is "fond" and I could give you a long definition, but you are on the Internet...look it up! Don't skip browning the ends, they want your attention too!
Next, remove the roast to a plate for just a minute. Add your mirepoix to the fond and stir. Mirepoix you say? Sounds like a fancy French word for celery, onions & carrots diced small, because it is! After adding and stirring it, add the roast back to the pot. Now add 32 oz. of beef broth and cover with lid, reducing heat to medium. Cook for 1-2 hours checking periodically and adjusting heat if needed. This step is really braising, but it is what brings the tenderness to an otherwise tough piece of meat.
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Simmering Roast w/Umami Paste
added on top |
The stock should be bubbling now. Check for seasoning. I added a new product I found at Trader Joe's called Umami paste. It comes in a tube like many herbs and tomato paste and you just squeeze it on. If you don't have it, Worcestershire Sauce works great and is what I would normally use. Umami is just the savory taste and is considered one of the 5 tastes your mouth senses, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Now let's move on to the root vegetables, their preparation, and cooking. For my roast this time, I selected golden beets which I washed and quartered. One parsnip which I peeled and cut into sticks. Carrots, cut into sticks similar to the parsnip, and fingerling potatoes. These I add to the pot, nestling around so they are in contact with, and surrounding the roast. I think this is the best way to get them to take on the toasty goodness you have been developing. Place them in the pot in order of the lengthiest time to cook. Leave the lid off and continue to simmer, reducing the liquid and cooking the vegetables. You want the liquid to cook almost away, leaving the flavor on the veggies. You can make a gravy with the pan drippings but my wife just likes it spooned over the whole plate!
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| Roast & Root Vegetables Cooked and Plated with a bit of butter |
One of my favorite stops for Groceries is a local chain called Macey's. They have some of the nicest people I have ever met in retail and will go out of their way to help you. They also have a GREAT butcher section and their meat has never failed me. When I stopped by for a few things the other night they had a good deal on what I call the perfect portion for the two of us. It was a small roast, only 2-3 lbs., and I grabbed it up! Usually, I put potatoes and carrots with the pot roasts, but I felt like a weeknight meal should be a bit lighter. I had some frozen riced veggies I could use that would be perfect.
After the browning, I add one 15 oz. can of beef stock and then a package of generic onion soup mix, which is much like the Lipton Recipe Secrets. Now the flavor components are all in place for the roast, and I cover it, and lower the temperature to medium.
Once the roast is MOSTLY cooked through, remove cover and allow the juices to cook down and thicken.
While doing this, prepare your side dish(s). As I mentioned, I was going to use some riced vegetables as our only side dish making it a nice light meal. The one I pulled out of the freezer was Green Giant Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Riced Veggies. They are quick and easy, but next time I need to season them more!
It is hard to go wrong with a nice hunk of beef on your plate. It was tender and juicy. I will need to work on the riced veggies to perk them up a bit. Cheese is good and some bolder seasoning would make them much tastier.
Until I was married, I had never had nor do I remember ever hearing of Shepherd's Pie. But my wife introduced me to it and I developed an affinity for it. She has never much cared for green peas, and until a few years ago, I didn't care for green beans, a common substitute for peas. So what I remember her using is broccoli. I like broccoli. I like it raw, I like it cooked and I even like it riced, but according to recipes I looked at nobody considers it Shepherd's Pie with broccoli. This got me to wondering "what exactly is shepherd's pie and what are the traditional ingredients"? Rachel Ray says one thing, Gordon Ramsay another. So I dug deeper into its history and found that originally it was designed to use up leftovers, particularly roast! Well I just happen to have a bit of leftover roast and the veggies I used cooked with it. Here is what I did and what I will never do again!
Next, remove the roast to a plate for just a minute. Add your mirepoix to the fond and stir. Mirepoix you say? Sounds like a fancy French word for celery, onions & carrots diced small, because it is! After adding and stirring it, add the roast back to the pot. Now add 32 oz. of beef broth and cover with lid, reducing heat to medium. Cook for 1-2 hours checking periodically and adjusting heat if needed. This step is really braising, but it is what brings the tenderness to an otherwise tough piece of meat.
The stock should be bubbling now. Check for seasoning. I added a new product I found at Trader Joe's called Umami paste. It comes in a tube like many herbs and tomato paste and you just squeeze it on. If you don't have it, Worcestershire Sauce works great and is what I would normally use. Umami is just the savory taste and is considered one of the 5 tastes your mouth senses, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Now let's move on to the root vegetables, their preparation, and cooking. For my roast this time, I selected golden beets which I washed and quartered. One parsnip which I peeled and cut into sticks. Carrots, cut into sticks similar to the parsnip, and fingerling potatoes. These I add to the pot, nestling around so they are in contact with, and surrounding the roast. I think this is the best way to get them to take on the toasty goodness you have been developing. Place them in the pot in order of the lengthiest time to cook. Leave the lid off and continue to simmer, reducing the liquid and cooking the vegetables. You want the liquid to cook almost away, leaving the flavor on the veggies. You can make a gravy with the pan drippings but my wife just likes it spooned over the whole plate!
