Pot Roast

[JohnDB]

Today I'm making it in the traditional fashion.

I like using eye rounds to make it. It's a tough and dry bit of meat but makes beautiful slices once it's braised.

I've started out by searing the living daylights out of my eye round. Almost to the point of burnt on the outside.

Then comes three medium onions sliced up to brown.
Once these brown a bit (takes a while) then carrots and celery.
Then once the carrots begin to brown well (onions will be thoroughly caremelized) I add the chopped garlic and tomato paste.
Stirring constantly at this point to keep the tomato paste from just simply burning and really turning dark brown like a dark chocolate...
Then when you can't get too much farther without turning the tomato paste into bits of fried charcoal begin to add the wine....this is important to scrape all those stuck bits and tomato paste off the bottom. Add the wine in stages until it all comes off. Then add the rest and cook it down to syrup beginning to stick to the Bottom again.
I use a whole bottle of Bay Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon. It's about $3 a bottle but fit to drink enough to cook with.
Now all this scraping of burnt bits off the bottom of the pot will give you great color and won't taste burnt in the sauce. It also will drastically improve the flavor of the sauce. I can't stress enough about thoroughly cooking the wine down to lumpy syrup...this is pot roast and not Sauerbraten. Stir it from time to time to keep it from scorching. More as it gets closer.

Now when it's very lumpy thick syrup.... practically brownish purple sludge...add the beef stock. (Beef stock should be without salt...that's important)

At this point I'll add about 5 whole black peppercorns, a bay leaf, 2 whole dried clove, and some dried thyme.

Bring this all up to a boil. Notice the color seems a bit dark? Perfectly fine...good job!
Now while I'm waiting for this to boil I'm making "whitewash" or grabbing some roux.
Whitewash is simply an amount of flour and water mixed to a thin batter consistency. Great for making things thick.

When this stock/burnt stuff is boiling pour, while whisking, in the whitewash until it's gravy consistency... maybe a bit more.

**A word about whitewash:
2 parts water to one part all purpose flour is about right. I use a hand blender to mix mine...if you don't own one a whisk can be used but be sure to use a fine strainer to remove the lumps. And if you are gluten intolerant...use cornstarch slurry after the pot roast is tender.

Then remember that meat you seared?
Time to put it in the pot.

Cover the pot and simmer for at least two hours.

Slice this like you would a pork loin...

Now this gravy/sauce isn't quite ready yet for serving. And you must allow for extra gravy on everyone's plate. Pot roast is worthless without it. All the taste is in the sauce.

Strain this gravy through a fine mesh sieve. Use a ladle to help push it through.

Place the gravy in a clean pot and season it with salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, tobasco, and possibly whisk in a bit of butter.
You might even garnish the sauce with some mushrooms, pearl onions, and freshly chopped herbs like parsley or thyme. (All personal tastes at this point)
I tend to shy away from using herbs like rosemary or cilantro with this dish as I think the flavor will clash.

Then you can serve this with potatoes and carrots and other root vegetables...even butternut or acorn squash.

 

[GodsGrace]

Today I'm making it in the traditional fashion.

I like using eye rounds to make it. It's a tough and dry bit of meat but makes beautiful slices once it's braised.

I've started out by searing the living daylights out of my eye round. Almost to the point of burnt on the outside.

Then comes three medium onions sliced up to brown.
Once these brown a bit (takes a while) then carrots and celery.
Then once the carrots begin to brown well (onions will be thoroughly caremelized) I add the chopped garlic and tomato paste.
Stirring constantly at this point to keep the tomato paste from just simply burning and really turning dark brown like a dark chocolate...
Then when you can't get too much farther without turning the tomato paste into bits of fried charcoal begin to add the wine....this is important to scrape all those stuck bits and tomato paste off the bottom. Add the wine in stages until it all comes off. Then add the rest and cook it down to syrup beginning to stick to the Bottom again.
I use a whole bottle of Bay Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon. It's about $3 a bottle but fit to drink enough to cook with.
Now all this scraping of burnt bits off the bottom of the pot will give you great color and won't taste burnt in the sauce. It also will drastically improve the flavor of the sauce. I can't stress enough about thoroughly cooking the wine down to lumpy syrup...this is pot roast and not Sauerbraten. Stir it from time to time to keep it from scorching. More as it gets closer.

Now when it's very lumpy thick syrup.... practically brownish purple sludge...add the beef stock. (Beef stock should be without salt...that's important)

At this point I'll add about 5 whole black peppercorns, a bay leaf, 2 whole dried clove, and some dried thyme.

Bring this all up to a boil. Notice the color seems a bit dark? Perfectly fine...good job!
Now while I'm waiting for this to boil I'm making "whitewash" or grabbing some roux.
Whitewash is simply an amount of flour and water mixed to a thin batter consistency. Great for making things thick.

When this stock/burnt stuff is boiling pour, while whisking, in the whitewash until it's gravy consistency... maybe a bit more.

**A word about whitewash:
2 parts water to one part all purpose flour is about right. I use a hand blender to mix mine...if you don't own one a whisk can be used but be sure to use a fine strainer to remove the lumps. And if you are gluten intolerant...use cornstarch slurry after the pot roast is tender.

Then remember that meat you seared?
Time to put it in the pot.

Cover the pot and simmer for at least two hours.

Slice this like you would a pork loin...

Now this gravy/sauce isn't quite ready yet for serving. And you must allow for extra gravy on everyone's plate. Pot roast is worthless without it. All the taste is in the sauce.

Strain this gravy through a fine mesh sieve. Use a ladle to help push it through.

Place the gravy in a clean pot and season it with salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, tobasco, and possibly whisk in a bit of butter.
You might even garnish the sauce with some mushrooms, pearl onions, and freshly chopped herbs like parsley or thyme. (All personal tastes at this point)
I tend to shy away from using herbs like rosemary or cilantro with this dish as I think the flavor will clash.

Then you can serve this with potatoes and carrots and other root vegetables...even butternut or acorn squash.

John,,,
you didn't make pot roast with gravy.
You made gravy with pot roast!

It sounds yummy...but my gravy is soooo easy to make
and it's good enough.

 

[JohnDB]

John,,,
you didn't make pot roast with gravy.
You made gravy with pot roast!

It sounds yummy...but my gravy is soooo easy to make
and it's good enough.

I understand...
But try it my way...
The gravy has many used afterwards.
Like beef and noodles...throw in a few veggies and viola...
You can serve it with a steak and garnish and flavor it with wine, mushrooms, herbs or whatever...it's a very fine substitute for Demi glace. And the flavor is so rich and wonderful. Makes you wonder why you are the other stuff.

 

[GodsGrace]

I understand...
But try it my way...
The gravy has many used afterwards.
Like beef and noodles...throw in a few veggies and viola...
You can serve it with a steak and garnish and flavor it with wine, mushrooms, herbs or whatever...it's a very fine substitute for Demi glace. And the flavor is so rich and wonderful. Makes you wonder why you are the other stuff.

I will try it.

I copied it and will try it next time.
Something I've never understood about making gravy....

If you sear the meat it locks in all the juices.
I NEED the juices to make the gravy.
I've stopped searing the meat, but I use meat with some fat on it.
Then with the drippings, I clean the pan with a little water, white wine,
pepper, mustard (I think that's it) and I also use the whitewash.
Oh... I drain the gravy after cleaning the bottom and adding all the stuff.
Oh. And I also add butter after taking out most of the oil.

It's only enough for that one time and it tastes good.
Will let you know how yours turns out.

What do you think?

 

[JohnDB]

The juices do cook out...the searing is for appearance and adding just a touch of roasted meat flavor to the gravy.
Now the inclusion of meat fat...hey it's great stuff for making the gravy taste good.

The addition of butter to finish the sauce?
I usually don't do that for pot roast...but if using a bit of the leftover gravy to serve with a steak or with beef tips you can rely on me doing the same.

Mustard?
I wouldn't for pot roast or beef in general.
Same thing with white wine...won't use white but instead use a red.

 

[Truthfrees]

Today I'm making it in the traditional fashion.

I like using eye rounds to make it. It's a tough and dry bit of meat but makes beautiful slices once it's braised.

I've started out by searing the living daylights out of my eye round. Almost to the point of burnt on the outside.

Then comes three medium onions sliced up to brown.
Once these brown a bit (takes a while) then carrots and celery.
Then once the carrots begin to brown well (onions will be thoroughly caremelized) I add the chopped garlic and tomato paste.
Stirring constantly at this point to keep the tomato paste from just simply burning and really turning dark brown like a dark chocolate...
Then when you can't get too much farther without turning the tomato paste into bits of fried charcoal begin to add the wine....this is important to scrape all those stuck bits and tomato paste off the bottom. Add the wine in stages until it all comes off. Then add the rest and cook it down to syrup beginning to stick to the Bottom again.
I use a whole bottle of Bay Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon. It's about $3 a bottle but fit to drink enough to cook with.
Now all this scraping of burnt bits off the bottom of the pot will give you great color and won't taste burnt in the sauce. It also will drastically improve the flavor of the sauce. I can't stress enough about thoroughly cooking the wine down to lumpy syrup...this is pot roast and not Sauerbraten. Stir it from time to time to keep it from scorching. More as it gets closer.

Now when it's very lumpy thick syrup.... practically brownish purple sludge...add the beef stock. (Beef stock should be without salt...that's important)

At this point I'll add about 5 whole black peppercorns, a bay leaf, 2 whole dried clove, and some dried thyme.

Bring this all up to a boil. Notice the color seems a bit dark? Perfectly fine...good job!
Now while I'm waiting for this to boil I'm making "whitewash" or grabbing some roux.
Whitewash is simply an amount of flour and water mixed to a thin batter consistency. Great for making things thick.

When this stock/burnt stuff is boiling pour, while whisking, in the whitewash until it's gravy consistency... maybe a bit more.

**A word about whitewash:
2 parts water to one part all purpose flour is about right. I use a hand blender to mix mine...if you don't own one a whisk can be used but be sure to use a fine strainer to remove the lumps. And if you are gluten intolerant...use cornstarch slurry after the pot roast is tender.

Then remember that meat you seared?
Time to put it in the pot.

Cover the pot and simmer for at least two hours.

Slice this like you would a pork loin...

Now this gravy/sauce isn't quite ready yet for serving. And you must allow for extra gravy on everyone's plate. Pot roast is worthless without it. All the taste is in the sauce.

Strain this gravy through a fine mesh sieve. Use a ladle to help push it through.

Place the gravy in a clean pot and season it with salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, tobasco, and possibly whisk in a bit of butter.
You might even garnish the sauce with some mushrooms, pearl onions, and freshly chopped herbs like parsley or thyme. (All personal tastes at this point)
I tend to shy away from using herbs like rosemary or cilantro with this dish as I think the flavor will clash.

Then you can serve this with potatoes and carrots and other root vegetables...even butternut or acorn squash.

wood working - cooking - wow you are quite the diversely talented guy - great thread - thanks

 

[WIP]

Yesterday I decided to try grilling a pot roast on the charcoal grill. Don't know why but I've never tried cooking a roast on the grill before. I've done chicken, turkey, steaks, burgers, brats, hot dogs, venison back strap steaks, pork chops, pork steaks, ribs, walleye, northern pike, salmon, tuna, raw vegetables, etc. but never a roast.

I started out by thawing the roast and bringing it to room temperature. Then I placed it into a bowl and brushed it with a little liquid steak seasoning called "Dale's Steak Seasoning" and let it marinade for about 1-1/2 hours at room temperature, turning it over from time to time.

If you've never tried Dale's, I highly recommend it. I use it on everything including beef, pork, wild venison, chicken, fish, whatever. Just brush it on and let it set for an hour or two before cooking. I even use it to make my beef and venison jerky. I can share my jerky recipe if interested.

Then, just before grilling I sprinkled all sides generously with Tone's Canadian Steak Seasoning. This seasoning is similar to Montreal Steak Seasoning, only I think it is better.

I setup the grill for indirect heat and added maple wood chunks and kept the grill at about 300 degrees F. according to the Weber lid thermometer for about three hours until it felt tender when I pushed in my temperature probe.

I didn't take a photo of it but my wife even liked it and she doesn't usually care for smoked meat, which is why I didn't tell her that I smoked it with maple wood.

I will do this again. This was kind of a precursor to my first attempt at grilling a beef brisket sometime in the not so distant future. After this turned out so well, I feel more confident now about taking on the brisket.

 

[JohnDB]

Yesterday I decided to try grilling a pot roast on the charcoal grill. Don't know why but I've never tried cooking a roast on the grill before. I've done chicken, turkey, steaks, burgers, brats, hot dogs, venison back strap steaks, pork chops, pork steaks, ribs, walleye, northern pike, salmon, tuna, raw vegetables, etc. but never a roast.

I started out by thawing the roast and bringing it to room temperature. Then I placed it into a bowl and brushed it with a little liquid steak seasoning called "Dale's Steak Seasoning" and let it marinade for about 1-1/2 hours at room temperature, turning it over from time to time.

If you've never tried Dale's, I highly recommend it. I use it on everything including beef, pork, wild venison, chicken, fish, whatever. Just brush it on and let it set for an hour or two before cooking. I even use it to make my beef and venison jerky. I can share my jerky recipe if interested.

Then, just before grilling I sprinkled all sides generously with Tone's Canadian Steak Seasoning. This seasoning is similar to Montreal Steak Seasoning, only I think it is better.

I setup the grill for indirect heat and added maple wood chunks and kept the grill at about 300 degrees F. according to the Weber lid thermometer for about three hours until it felt tender when I pushed in my temperature probe.

I didn't take a photo of it but my wife even liked it and she doesn't usually care for smoked meat, which is why I didn't tell her that I smoked it with maple wood.

I will do this again. This was kind of a precursor to my first attempt at grilling a beef brisket sometime in the not so distant future. After this turned out so well, I feel more confident now about taking on the brisket.

Brisket has a large fat Sean that really helps with the flavor most of your Chuck roasts don't have. I think that if you repeat what you did you will be very happy with the results.

 

[WIP]

Brisket has a large fat Sean that really helps with the flavor most of your Chuck roasts don't have. I think that if you repeat what you did you will be very happy with the results.

Every recipe I've looked at and anyone I've talked to all seem to agree that brisket will probably have to be slow cooked for about 8 hours or possibly more. What do you think?

 

[WIP]

One thing I forgot to mention. After I smoked the roast for the first 1-1/2 hours, I wrapped it in foil for the remainder of the cooking time. Captured so much liquid that we were able to make a gravy.

 

[JohnDB]

Every recipe I've looked at and anyone I've talked to all seem to agree that brisket will probably have to be slow cooked for about 8 hours or possibly more. What do you think?

It's going to depend upon the temp and size/thickness of the cut.

A whole brisket is a huge chunk of meat...it definitely will take some time to get tender. 8 hours is probably a good guess. It can take more time than that.

There's BBQ competitions that includes such things as burnt ends and ringed slices. As well as shredded beef brisket.
BBQ is such a free wheeling "whatever goes" type deal.
It's a method of braising with dry heat and adding smoke flavor at the same time. The meat's own juices provide the braising liquid.

It's definitely a "guy thing" to do. I've seen some great smoke/grills with thermostat controlled air intakes and rotisserie shelving inside of the thing to get a better even smoke and cook. These things are expensive though... around $1500 to start and they go up from there. But they specialize in brisket too. I can't see the attraction myself in spending that kind of money to do brisket when one tenth of the money will get you really really close to a similar product.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

I'm 69 years old.
I've just recently learned to bake my own bread, bake pizza, and make my own Italian red sauce.
Next I'm gonna try to turn water into wine.....