Back In The Kitchen Again

It's good to be back in the kitchen again. After months of unpacking the new kitchen is finally suitable for cooking. It's almost organized (not everything has a home yet and I still have to search around for things) and I have a new work bench I purchased at IKEA so I can start cooking again.

Today I am trying a recipe from the Cook's Country TV show for slow and easy pot roast. The recipe is adapted from "the lazy cook" recipes of the 50's and 60's. It involves making a pot roast wrapped in foil and using onion soup mix for flavoring.

Cook's Country keeps it easy but improves on the recipe by making homemade "soup mix" for flavoring.

To find out more about Cook's Country go to www.cookscountry.com or purchase the new cookbook from Cook's Country that features every recipe on all five season's of the show. Available at Amazon.com

Click here to go to Amazon.com

The whole meal takes about 30 minutes prep time and then 4 hours in the oven.
Here is what you will need:

Equipment
Roasting Pan
Chef's Knife
Cutting Board
Measuring Spoons
Small Bowl
Small Whisk or Fork
Extra-wide Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
8-10 pieces of Cooking String
Fat Separator
Mesh Strainer
Tongs
Slotted Spoon

Meat and Produce
4lb Beef Chuck Roast
2 Large Onions
6-7 Red potatoes
4-5 Carrots

Pantry
2 tbl spoons Soy sauce
2 Bay Leaves
4 tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Celery Seed
3 tsp corn starch
1 tsp Espresso Powder


Start by making the home made onion "soup"mix. Mix together onion powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried thyme, light brown sugar, celery seed, cornstarch and surprisingly espresso powder. Put the dry mix aside.

Take a 4lb chuck roast and divide it in half along the fat line, trim off large pieces of hard fat and tie up into two smaller roasts and pat dry with paper towels.

Cut 2 large onions (peeled) and 6 or 7 red potatoes into quarters. Peel and cut up 4 carrots into large chunks.

Line a roasting pan with two very large pieces of aluminum foil. Lay them in the pan cross wise. Put the vegetables in the pan. Add two bay leaves and two tablespoons of soy sauce.

 Lay the roasts on top of the vegetables and then coat all over with the dry ingredients.

Seal the first layer of foil closed and then the second, wrapping both layers tightly so no moisture can escape.

Place the roasting pan in the oven at 300 degrees. Set a timer for 4 to 4 1/2 hours and walk away. I recommend having someone else clean-up the preparation dishes and utensils.

When the meat is done remove from the foil package (be careful of the steam when opening) and tent on a carving board for twenty minutes. Use tongs to remove the onions and bay leaves. Use  slotted spoon to remove potatoes and carrots into a bowl and cover with foil. Lift the foil wrappings and pour all the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a fat separator. Allow the fat to separate and then pour the "au jus" into a gray boat or serving pitcher.

Slice the meat against the grain. Serve with potatoes, carrots and smother in the sauce.

The pot roast was falling apart tender and had a deep, rich, beefy, onion flavor,. The potatoes and carrots were perfectly cooked, the outsides were soaked in the beef and onion juices and still firm, while the insides were smooth, creamy and delicious.

This meal can be put together during the day for a nice weeknight dinner or the perfect meal for 4-6 people on a Sunday afternoon.