Petunia rambles on and on

Alright, a show of hands, please.

How many know that February is National Pot Roast Month? Everybody’s got their hand up in the air, right?

(How many don’t care at all?)

Those that don’t care can sit down, but they will not be served when I make the next pot roast. Son #2, that means no mashed potatoes for you, sir.  (I bet he’s paying attention now!)

I make a good pot roast, because I was fortunate enough to be the daughter of one who made a great pot roast. I had sense enough to shut up and listen, respecting that we had many differences of opinion on many topics outside the kitchen, but when it came to cooking, she knew her way around the kitchen, and only a fool would argue with her about food prep. Foolish I am, but when she cooked, I watched closely.

Lately, beef seems outrageously high in price – but still, some cuts are less so. Chuck or round are less expensive, a generally tougher cut of meat so they don’t do well broiled. Would be like chewing on the sole of your shoe. But they are tasty cuts so it’s worth learning how to deal with them properly.

That’s where the long, slow, moist cooking does the trick. Recipes? Sure, there’s tons of them.  Ask 20 experienced cooks and you’ll get 20 different responses – and all of them delicious.  Search the internet and you’ll find 42,000 more.

Here’s some tips.  Brown the roast.  Heat oil in the pan and rotate the meat until it is seared on all sides.  Cause Mom said to do it.  It does improve the flavor.  There are several methods of cooking a pot roast.  Years ago, my mother always used a pressure cooker. What would take several hours on the stove or in the oven took about 50 minutes or so under pressure.  I’ve done it that way, and it came out fine, but I didn’t like having a pressure cooker going when the kids were little, and often underfoot.  Maybe that’s silly, but I was uncomfortable with it. As it comes out just as tender and tasty cooked on the stove or in the oven, I didn’t see the point of the very slight risk. If you choose to use a pressure cooker, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully, make sure the pot is scrupulously clean and check safety valves and gaskets EVERY time the pot is used. Note that there are some things that should NEVER be cooked in a pressure cooker, and there’s good reason for the rules. Play it safe.
Another thing I didn’t like about using a pressure cooker was that you can’t open it up and peek inside mid-way through the cooking time! You can’t add anything, maybe a little more of this or that, you can’t stir it, and the wonderful smell of dinner doesn’t waft out of the kitchen and run through the house.

I generally use a cut of beef round roast, about 3 pounds. While it’s in a dutch oven getting it’s sides seared, I’m cutting veggies nearby. I cut up about 4 large onions, sliced, then clean and slice 4-5 carrots, and 4-5 branches of celery, while turning that meat often. By the time I’ve got all the vegetables cut, that meat is ready to go. Pull the meat out for a sec, put the onions in first, then the meat on top, then place the celery and carrots around.  Add hot water until it comes about halfway up the meat.  Add about 1 teaspoon salt, 1/3 teaspoon black pepper, about 1 tablespoon of brown spicy mustard (Mom said to) and I always add a tablespoon of Gravy Master – Mom swore by that stuff, for the taste, for the color, for the smell of it.  It’s not always the easiest stuff to find and when I do locate it, I’ve been known to buy 20 bottles, stocking up for the decade, but I’ve never been without it in the last 40 years - (Mom shipped me cases/12 bottles when I was in Panama, because the military commissaries never carried it!)  (btw, these are very small 2-oz. bottles)  Bring the liquid up to a boil, cut it back to simmer, put the lid on, go away. Watch TV, fold laundry. Look in now and again, letting the good smells out. Stir to make sure all the veggies are finally cooking down into the liquid and softening.

Now my family are all mashed potato freaks, and that’s what I make with this. They’re going to fight over the potatoes, pile big white mountains onto their plates and make a well in the center, filled with gravy. Every time. This is how I sneak healthy carrots into them – when they’re simmered in meat juices for hours, they’re irresistible.

So after 2 and a half hours of simmering the meat, and the potatoes are peeled, cut and boiling, you’ll need to get the meat out of the liquid and onto a cutting board for a bit. It needs to “set” for a few minutes before carving. Get a coffee mug out of the cupboard and put 4 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch into it. Then add cold water until the cup is about 3/4 full. Stir gently until all the cornstarch is incorporated into the water, then add all at once to the hot meat juice/vegetable mixture.  Stir continuously as this will thicken quickly. Simmer for at least 5 minutes, which will have your gravy done just around the time that the meat is carved and the potatoes are mashed.  Handy, that.

This can also be done in a dutch oven, in the oven at 350 F. for 2 to 2 and a half hours.

A pot roast is ideal for the crock pot or slow cooker – the only change I make is to reduce the amount of water that I put in.  Start with the water coming a scant 1/3 of the way up the side of the roast.  Less liquid seems to evaporate out of these pots, so it must be reduced early. Small amounts of liquid can always be added later if needed.

Now that’s one way.  Mom’s way.  Note that all the veggies are “hard” ones, and they can stand being simmered for an extended period of time.  That’s why there’s no peas or potatoes in the recipe!  Many people like potatoes in the mix – great.  Just put them in later in the cooking, so they don’t boil down to mush.

And for variations, when I’m bored in the kitchen.  Well, I’ve simmered the meat in a few cans of Italian stewed tomatoes, served it with any pasta readily available at home.   I’ve known many that use cans of mushroom soup. Beef broth and wine. I’ve used enchilada sauce – oooh, that was a good idea. Leftover spaghetti sauce. Sometimes its all about using up what’s around before it goes south.

Lots of folks are tightening their belts.  Being able to make a great meal out of a “lesser” cut of meat is one way of reducing costs.  So is cooking at home rather than eating out.  After eating that large helping of mashed potatoes, though, we all might be loosening our belts instead of tightening them.