pot roast

I don't make pot roast that often because to be honest, the meat is too expensive for me. I bought this one for $10. I can get multiple chicken meals for that price. Anyway, I decided it was time so I bought one. I have 2 stories to share about this. First I would spend weekends with my Grandma (Dad's mom) and she would always make a pot roast on Sunday. I would help her cook. What I took from those moments was this: She would always put onions in the roast pan first to set the meat on. Then she would add a couple beef bouillon cubes in. I don't remember everything else. 

My Mom and Dad had a Deli when I was in high school and of course I worked there after school and on the weekends. My parents would make their own roast beef that they would cool and then slice. I remember it being a HUGE piece of meat that they would roast for hours. Everyone that came in would smell it in the morning and then come back later and try to get my mom to slice them off a piece as it was cooling. OK, not everyone, but some of our regulars/friends. The ingredient that I have on hand is Maggi seasoning. It makes it yummy. 

So back to what I did. First I pulled out the crockpot. I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer until that morning.... so I put the crock pot on high and hoped for the best. No worries though, it came out great. 

2 - onions, I wedged mine

2 - beef bouillon cubes

2 - bay leaves

3 - cloves of garlic cut into 2 or 3 pieces each

1-2 Cups of water

1 - roast

S&P to taste

8 - red potatoes (I left mine whole)

4 - carrots, peeled and cut into big pieces

3 - celery stalks cut into big pieces

Maggi

I put the onion wedges on the bottom with the garlic and bouillon cubes and bay leaves. I place the roast on top and sprinkle with S&P. I add the water. I then covered it and let it cook on high for a few hours. We have afternoon church, so right before I left, I threw in all the veggies around and on top of the roast. I doused it with Maggi and re-covered it and then left for church. 

Because I started with a frozen block, I cooked this on HIGH for 8 hours. If it was thawed, I would have done LOW for about the same amount of time. 

After I took the meat and veggies out and placed them on a platter and covered with foil. I strained the drippings because Adam wanted gravy. There are many ways to make gravy... flour and water, cornstarch, or a rue. I decided to make a rue. 

1/4 C- butter/oil

1/4 C- flour

3C - broth

S&P to taste

Melt the butter in the pan, add the flour and whisk until smooth. It should be creamy. Slowly add the broth and whisk, whisk, whisk until it is well blended. I used about 4 C of broth, but I didn't measure. Cook on med-high heat and keep whisking until it reaches the thickness you want. Mine wasn't that thick, but I added a lot of broth. S&P to taste.