Instead, I rolled over and looked at the clock and realized that I am still a flu-ridden portly grey haired spinster who can't make a proper roast beef to save her pitiful little life.
Boiled...blech.
Every roast I've attempted in the last several years has positively sucked. I follow directions and hope for the best, but somehow end up with an awful lump of beef that is boiled, tasteless, and headed for the garbage bin.
Even the vegetable betrayed me this time. The carrots tasted like soap and the potatoes were still a bit raw after a full eight hours of cooking.
So I threw a big pout, scraped it all into a Tupperware, and headed back to the Happy Chair for pretzels and ginger ale.
Damn flu.
Don't cry for me, Argentina. I will go soak my head in a hot bath, put on some freshly laundered jams, and will keep pushing the fluids and happy thoughts until this runs its course. I promise to behave myself and won't channel my inner Ina until the proper authorities have released me to do so, but if any of you have tips on making perfect pot roast...I'm all ears!
My crock pot roasts don't come out very well either. Put the roast in a roasting pan @ 325 degrees. Throw some carrots & sliced / chunked potatoes in the pan, along with some mushrooms. Poor a can of onion soup (Progressive is less salty tasting) over everything and bake covered with vented foil about 90 minutes for a chuck roast, a bit longer for a thicker cut. A jar of gravy works well if you don't like onion soup. Leftovers can be frozen and reheated in the microwave. Hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteI do a cross between pot roast and stew in the crock pot. First, sear the roast using a bit of oil in a pan on the stove top. Then lay out the carrots in two layers so they create a grid. Then put in the roast. Add a bit of flour (to thicken the gravy) and salt and pepper. Add potatoes, mushrooms, and garlic around the roast. Cover everything with cream of mushroom soup. Cook on low for 8 hours or so.
ReplyDeleteMy mother, OTOH, always made hers in the oven, and I thought they were a bit dry. She probably never really liked mine, so I suppose it all came out in the proverbial wash.
I am always impressed that you cook for one. I can't get excited about cooking for four and cooking just for myself wouldn't happen.
Oops. I forgot to mention the onions (they go in with the potatoes and mushrooms). I also add Liquid Smoke and Worchestershire sauce to taste.
DeleteMine's even easier (and will help with your congestion): Pop the veggies in first (lots of onion), roast on top, add a little water (not too much unless you like gravy), add the roast, add a bunch of black pepper and some cayenne)...you might want to experiment with that - I like it hot!
ReplyDeleteAfter many years of cooking I have a couple of tips that have helped my finished product. First: Sear the meat; you don't want to cook, that is for the crock pot. Second: Add a couple of squirts of tomato past from a tube, how much is a personal thing. Third: let the roast cook for a while before adding the vegetables. For me onions, potatoes(usually I avoid the redskinned ones), carrots. Fourth: A little red wine and a little beef broth. I cook it on high to get things going and then turn the crockpot down to low. It takes longer but the flavor seems better. With cooking a roast patience is a key as it is with any kind of flu, cold.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about crock pots but I do know how to make a good pot roast. Start with chuck roast, salt and pepper it then brown well on both sides, include an onion cut in chunks, a couple of stems of thyme and a bay leaf. Then rub a couple spoonfuls of flour on meat, pour in 1/2 to 1 cup red wine, then water to just cover.
ReplyDeleteSimmer on low stove top or 300 degree oven for 4 hours, then add carrots and potatoes, maybe more onions and cook another hour.
If you don't cook with red wine I don't know how you make it through the winter.
But you could substitute tomato, part of a can or juice or a couple of spoons of paste and a sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce.
Where the tin foil etc is in my store, there are bags that you cook a turkey in. I discovered this year while reading the ENTIRE little booklet enclosed you can also use it for other meats. Duh! So we tried pork roast for Sunday dinner yesterday (my nemesis). Wow!! So tender it fell apart with a fork and had such awesome flavor. Shows several beef roast types too.
ReplyDeleteIn the morning I brown roast in butter on stove then plop into crock pot on high add Lipton onion soup mix, extra chopped onions, garlic, rosemary, potatoes & beef broth. I HATE carrots so I don't add them. Cover it leave it alone until 5-6 pm. It's tender & tastes good & the house smells good too. I have 2 sons never had complaints or leftovers.
ReplyDeleteMaking 15 bean soup in crock pot today soaked beans over nite drain put back in pot add beef or chicken broth can of chunk tomatoes,onions,garlic,smoked pork neck bones & seasoning from pkt a little water put on high cover cook all day till 6 pm serve with hot crusty cheese bread, it smells good in here!
My prayers are for plenty of rest & healing I hope your back on track soon- Blessings Baa
This is my Beef and Noodles recipe, but it works for just a beef roast also:
ReplyDeleteBeef and Noodles
One chuck roast
One package Reame’s Frozen Noodles
One onion
Two cloves—not garlic, these are real cloves
Beef flavoring (use something like Orrington’s, not boullion cubes);
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Pour a couple tablespoons of oil into Dutch oven and heat to medium high on the stove top.
Flour both sides of the chuck roast, and sear in the hot oil (about 45 seconds on each side). Once both sides are seared, remove from heat and add an inch of water to the Dutch oven.
Peel and quarter the onion. Stick the cloves in two quarters of the onion, and add all of the onion to the Dutch oven.
Cover the Dutch oven, and place in the oven. Cook for about 2 ½ - 3 hours. Meat should be tender so that you can shred it with a fork.
Remove meat from Dutch oven. Add enough water to boil noodles, and add a couple of tablespoons of Orrington’s (beef boullion). Cook noodles—do not drain..
Shred or cut up beef. Salt as needed. Mix with the noodles. Serve. Eat.
Sometimes I use more than one chuck roast. To cook two or more chuck roasts, after the roasts are browned in the oil, I put them in a roasting pan with the onions and water, cover with aluminum foil. After they are cooked, I pour the broth back into the Dutch oven to cook the noodles.
Had to add my two cents. Always use a 7 bone roast, it's the center cut. Brown the meat before placing in crock pot. Add one can of stewed tomatoes, the acid from the tomatoes softens the meat. Add potatoes, yellow onion, carrots and enough beef stock to cover the roast. Salt and pepper to taste. I leave it in crock pot all day. I've never had leftovers. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteMy crock pot (not me - LOL) ruins all my roasts. I just made this one last week and will probably never make anything but this again. EASY
ReplyDeletewww.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/perfect-pot-roast-recipe.html
Enjoy.
Use a chuck roast, brown in olive oil on all sides. Place in crockpot and add 1 envelope of Lipton French Onion soup mix and 1 envelope of ranch salad dressing seasoning mix, dry. Add 1/2 cube of butter and three or four pepperoncini peppers and cook on high until meat falls apart. Tasty. Sounds like it won't work, but trust me!! Add vegetables the last couple of hours. Sometimes I boil the potatoes for a bit before I add then to crockpot.
ReplyDeleteI never have been a fan of a pot roast...but don't tell my father (bless his dearly departed soul). I was raised on a cattle ranch/farm in the 50s, 60s, and 70s...I do love me a juicy beef tenderloin, however, and a plateful of prawns... Feel better soon Coni! ♥
ReplyDeleteA solution to your roast problem.
ReplyDeleteBuy 1 of those McCormick ccoking bags with the spice packet with it for Pot Roast.........delicious!
Usually by all of those gravy packets in the stores.
Easy, and always good. :)
You cook it in the oven, not crockpot.
I do hope you feel better soon.
Take care.
Marilyn
Your sick, nothing will taste good. Try again when well!
ReplyDeleteI am single and only cooking for one, but I often make stews, corned beef, etc, in my pressure cooker. Best investment I ever made - Wolfgang Puck pressure cooker! Perfect pot roast, stew, rice, etc in under an hour - perfect every time!
ReplyDeleteConi, I am a terrible cook. Admittedly. BUT my family and friends say my pot roast is wonderful and I will tell only you how I do it. I put my roast in a roasting pan, fill the pan 2/3 up on the roast with water, and use a package of McCormick's AuJus sprinkled over it. If it is a large roast (3-4#) I use two packages. Cook in the oven for three hours at 350 and then add your veggies and cook for another hour or hour and a half. Try it. You'll like it!
ReplyDeleteEasiest pot roast ever. Mississippi pot roast. One 3-4 lb roast. Place in crock pot. Sprinkle one packet of ranch dressing on top. Follow this with sprinkling one packet of McCormick's Au Jus. Top with one full stick of butter and, finally, six pepperonnici peppers (from a jar). Cook on low for 8 hours. I prepare a package of noodles, then add them to the crock pot the last 30 minutes. Delicious. No water. No onions. No spices. Unique flavor and, oh, so tasty. Feel better soon!!
ReplyDeleteHere's another tried and true pot roast recipe...put your roast in the crockpot, add your carrots and potatoes how ever you prepare them...then add 1 packet dry onion soup and one full can Pepsi/Coke (NOT diet), cook it on low for 8 hours...amazing!
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better soon <3
I made this last night and it was amazing! I added a can of Cream of Mushroom Soup to the Pepsi/Soup mix! I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 4 hours and I doubled the Soups/Pepsi mixture!!!
DeleteI'm so glad all these wonderful people shared their recipes! I've ruined a couple roasts myself so I'm excited to have these ideas. Get well soon, but if your body says rest then do it! Best thing in the world. Take care!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad all these wonderful people shared their recipes! I've ruined a couple roasts myself so I'm excited to have these ideas. Get well soon, but if your body says rest then do it! Best thing in the world. Take care!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a cook and my hubby is a trained chef, so you see what I'm up against when I attempt to cook anything. My best advise - season however you like and add a can/bottle of beer. I don't like beer and never drink it, but it does wonders for a chuck roast - makes it so tender and nice.......
ReplyDeleteBuy a pressure cooker! I cut it up along with potatoes, carrots, onions. Add 1 cup beef broth, salt and pepper,tablespoon flour and a package of brown gravy mix. Set for 50 minutes. Let the steam out very slowly, remove juice and thicken with a little flour in a saucepan, add back in to pot. Perfect in an hour! I make this every couple of weeks. Could be easier or more perfect.
ReplyDeleteI am not much help in the roast department. I just go to Allrecipes.com and choose whatever is rated the highest :)
ReplyDeleteI cook mine in a 100 (or more) year old cast iron Dutch oven. Brown in bacon fat. Take out and then cook celery onions and carrots (lots of them). For 10 minutes in the same pot. Put back the meat, add bay leaf, whole peppercorns, cheap red wine, and half a can of tomato paste. Turn every half hour or so and cook until fork goes in easily. Thicken you gravy with a couple of spoonful of McCormick brown gravy mix. My family loves this and my two sons are fighting over who gets the pot when I die!!!!
ReplyDeleteone word: crockpot!!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the crock pot. They heat higher then the old ones and your over cooking the meat. Did you know it actually takes longer to cook potatoes and carrots and such in a crock pot then the beef?
ReplyDeleteI use a pressure cooker for the beef(electric one that will time itself and turn itself off so I can snooze if I want to )... Pop it out and let it set a bit and then throw the vegies in the pot and cook separate (8 minutes) and then thicken the gravy and add the beef back to the pot and your good to go.
I cannot get a good roast out of my crockpot for anything.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear your meal was a bust. I do hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteBless you, sweet Coni!
ReplyDeleteWho cares if you can't make pot roast, you are a wonderful, caring, funny, talented person. Eat more chicken!
ReplyDelete