My Mother's Cooking - Beef Pot Roast
Beef Pot Roast
My Mother's Cooking
What is a Pot Roast?
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Beef Pot Roast
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One of my mother’s most frequent meals was her beef pot roast. Everyone in our family loved beef and this dish could be made with relatively inexpensive cuts.
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I am not quite certain the exact cut that she used but I seem to remember a round bone in the middle in the early years. Later on, her roasts were mostly boneless so she may have changed due to availability or cost.
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My mother would brown the meat on both sides in a large cast iron frying pan. Then she would add some quartered onions and some water and continue cooking it in the oven, turning it over from time to time.
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About an hour before the meat was done, she would add carrots and potatoes to cook with the meat. Just before serving, she would remove the meat and potatoes and thicken the sauce with flour to make rich, brown gravy.
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I was a little too young to remember exactly which seasonings she used but I will make my best guess based on how I remember that it tasted. You can finish the cooking in a covered roasting pan if you wish. That will keep the meat from drying out.
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Difficulty:
Easy
Preparation Time:
60 Minutes
Cooking Time:
2-1/2 Hours
Cooking Temperature:
300 F
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Ingredients:
3 Lbs Boneless Beef Chuck or Bottom Round Roast
4 Medium Onions peeled and quartered
1 Lb. of Carrots scrapped and cut into one inch rounds
1 Lb. of Red Skin Potatoes, peeled and cut into one inch cubes
2 Garlic Cloves coarsely chopped
1/4 Cup of Cooking Oil
1/4 Cup of Flour
2 Oz. of Butter
2 Teaspoons Thyme
2 Teaspoons Salt
½ Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
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Cooking Instructions:
1. Sprinkle the beef on all sides with salt and pepper and brown it in the oil in a Dutch Oven or a large cast iron frying pan.
2. Add about six cups of water, the garlic, the thyme and the quartered onions.
3. Cook covered for about 1-1/2 hours in a 300 F oven until the meat is fork tender . Turn the meat over every 30 minutes so that both sides are submerged in the liquid evenly.
4. Distribute the cut up carrots and potatoes evenly around the roast and continue cooking for about 60 minutes until they are fork tender. Halfway through, flip them over with a slotted spoon so that they cook evenly on all sides.
5. Remove the meat and vegetables to a serving platter
6. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour to make a roux.
7. Gradually stir in the sauce from the roast while mixing with a whisk or a wooden spoon. Taste the gravy and adjust the salt level if necessary.
8. Cut the beef into serving sized pieces and pour the sauce into a gravy bowl.
9. Serve with a small tossed salad and a nice glass of red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Cooking a Perfect Pot Roast
Links to more of my mother's recipes
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North Central Wisconsin where I learned how to cook from my mother
