Saturday, July 31, 2010

Pioneer Woman Pot Roast

The Pioneer Woman has NEVER let me down. Seriously, I have never made a Pioneer Woman recipe and not been impressed. And this pot roast is no exception. It's delicious, moist, fresh, and amazing. I think the herbs really take it up a notch. Even if you don't normally like pot roast, you MUST try this pot roast. Tonight. And if you've never heard of The Pioneer Woman, crawl out from under your rock CLICK HERE, and be amazed! The photography, the cooking, the witty banter, it's all fantastic!

This roast does take a little bit more prep than the typical pot roast that you just throw in a pan, but the work you do before putting it in the oven is really what elevates this roast to another level. Now, although it pains me to disagree with the pot roast aficionado herself (Pioneer Woman, of course!), I have found one serious flaw in her pot roast doctrine. She declares that she does not include potatoes in her pot roast, because she finds them to be mealy, and dumb. However, the potatoes, after soaking up all of the delicious juices from the meat, and other veggies are, in fact, my favorite part of a pot roast. So, of course, I included them in my rendition. Also, I happen to like my pot roast to be more juice than gravy, so I add a lot more beef broth than she does. Now, PW notes that you can use wine in the pot roast as well, and I think some red wine would be DIVINE here. However, I happen to live in a state which restricts the sale of wine (and any other alcoholic beverage except beer) to the state liquor store. And since I'm sure that taking my 4 year old son, and 10 month old daughter into the liquor store would win me Mother-of-the-Year, I stick with plain old beef broth here, and it's STILL delicious!

Also, a quick little tip about a key kitchen tool for this pot roast, and dozens of other recipes. I, like many other home-cooks, am DYING for a Le Creuset French oven like this one:

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Unfortunately, my pocket book (and my husband!) is not dying to drop $270 on one pot. However, my husband is a pretty amazing man. You don't think he'd leave me wavering, without another tool to conquer the same job, do you? Of course he wouldn't! So, for Christmas last year, I found this beauty under the tree. She comes from my other culinary hero, Paula Deen.

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This bad boy can go from the stovetop, to the oven, and back again! It's great for browning veggies (as you'll see in a moment), and braising meat, and making soup, and just about all the things that the amazing Le Creuset brags about doing. All for a grand total of...$29! That's right, almost 1/10th the cost! So, if you're in need of oven safe cookware, and have not yet hit the lottery, put on your best dress, and head on down to Wal-Mart, and pick up one of these babies. You will NOT be disappointed!

Now, onto the FOOD!

Hallelujahs:Delicious, beautiful, literally falls apart it's so tender, smells heavenly!
Hellfires:A little bit more work than the average pot roast, you have to smell it for 3 hours before eating!


Pioneer Woman Pot Roast

-Place a couple of tablespoons of oil in the bottom of your pan, and heat it up!
-Add in 2-3 small onions, halved, and brown on two sides. This can happen fast, be careful not to burn them!

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-While your onions are browning, take a few carrots, and wash them, peel them, and cut them on the bias. Because it looks much more rustic, and homemade that way.
-When the onions are done, take them out of the pan, and add in the carrots. You're going to sear these as well, getting a nice, rustic browning on them. For some reason I did not take a picture of this, but it looks BEAUTIFUL when done!

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-When the carrots are browning, salt and pepper your chuck roast. You want to be VERY generous with your salt and pepper here. Like my inspiration, the PW, I prefer Kosher Salt here, because it seems to "stick" well to the meat. Of course, all I had this day was sea salt, which worked just fine, too:

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-Remove the carrots, and place in a bowl with the onions.
-Sear your chuck roast on all sides. You want your pan HOT for this. You're going to want to get a nice, deep, brown sear on it. The more brown bits on the bottom of the pan, the better! It takes about 2-3 minutes per side to achieve this. PW says 1 minute, but she must be cooking with gas, because even with my amazing Shelby, it takes at LEAST twice this. Be patient, it's worth the wait.

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-Be sure to grab some tongs, and hold it up to sear the short sides of your meat, too.
-The seared meat:
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-Now, add about 1-2 cups of your beef broth (or wine, if you're into that kind of thing...which I would be if I could get it in my grocery store!), and whisk away, loosening up all of those delicious brown bits on the bottom of your pan.

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-Now, we're going to add our garlic. Have I mentioned our love of garlic in this house? It's almost unhealthy. Except that garlic is VERY healthy! So, although PW's recipe doesn't call for garlic, I add a healthy dose of it. At least 4 cloves. Incidentally, is my grocery store the only one who has started selling purple garlic recently?! Anyone know what the deal is here?

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-Just throw it in that handy dandy garlic press we discussed a few posts back, and you're good to go! No peeling necessary.
-Now, if you're feeling rebellious, like me, slice yourself some potatoes. However many you like. Nevermind PW's hatred for roasted potatoes, trust me, they are soft, and flavored and DELICIOUS. Totally worth it!
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-Add your chuck roast back into the pan, then throw in the potatoes, carrots, and onions.
-Add another box of beef stock. I prefer stock to broth. It's a richer flavor.
-Now, for the best part! Add your herbs! I have made this with both fresh, and dried, herbs, and trust me, BOTH are delicious! I do about a palmful of rosemary, and a hair less thyme.
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-Cover that baby up, and pop it in your oven for at least 3 hours at 275 degrees. Note, when I made this, my roast was much larger than 3 lbs, and I was in a hurry, so I did it at 350* for 3 hours, and it was just as tender, and delicious. In Microbiology they call these "equivalent treatments," meaning it's okay to cook it for less time at a higher temperature!

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-The hardest part of this recipe is leaving that beauty in the oven for 3 hours while you smell it's heavenly scent all day. But it is WELL worth the wait!
-After 3 hours, the broth has cooked down just enough for the meat to poke its little head through at the top. See it there?
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-Stick your fork in there, pull yourself off a big hunk (no knives necessary here), and put it on your plate. Ladle on some vegetables and broth, and be ready to be in comfort food heaven!
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Plain Text Recipe


Pioneer Woman Pot Roast


Ingredients:
3-3.5 lb Chuck Roast
Salt and Pepper
Carrots (however many you like, 3-5)
2-3 small onions, peeled, and halved
2 boxes beef stock (I use the small Swanson boxes because that's what Wally World carries)

2-4 garlic cloves
Rosemary
Thyme
Olive Oil



-Place a couple of tablespoons of oil in the bottom of your pan, and heat it up!
-Add in 2-3 small onions, halved, and brown on two sides. This can happen fast, be careful not to burn them!
-While your onions are browning, take a few carrots, and wash them, peel them, and cut them on the bias. Because it looks much more rustic, and homemade that way.
-When the onions are done, take them out of the pan, and add in the carrots. You're going to sear these as well, getting a nice, rustic browning on them. For some reason I did not take a picture of this, but it looks BEAUTIFUL when done!
-When the carrots are browning, salt and pepper your chuck roast. You want to be VERY generous with your salt and pepper here. Like my inspiration, the PW, I prefer Kosher Salt here, because it seems to "stick" well to the meat. Of course, all I had this day was sea salt, which worked just fine, too.
-Remove the carrots, and place in a bowl with the onions.
-Sear your chuck roast on all sides. You want your pan HOT for this. You're going to want to get a nice, deep, brown sear on it. The more brown bits on the bottom of the pan, the better! It takes about 2-3 minutes per side to achieve this. PW says 1 minute, but she must be cooking with gas, because even with my amazing Shelby, it takes at LEAST twice this. Be patient, it's worth the wait.
-Be sure to grab some tongs, and hold it up to sear the short sides of your meat, too.
-Now, add about 1-2 cups of your beef broth (or wine, if you're into that kind of thing...which I would be if I could get it in my grocery store!), and whisk away, loosening up all of those delicious brown bits on the bottom of your pan.
-Now, we're going to add our garlic. Have I mentioned our love of garlic in this house? It's almost unhealthy. Except that garlic is VERY healthy! So, although PW's recipe doesn't call for garlic, I add a healthy dose of it. At least 4 cloves. Incidentally, is my grocery store the only one who has started selling purple garlic recently?! Anyone know what the deal is here?
-Just throw it in that handy dandy garlic press we discussed a few posts back, and you're good to go! No peeling necessary.
-Now, if you're feeling rebellious, like me, slice yourself some potatoes. However many you like. Nevermind PW's hatred for roasted potatoes, trust me, they are soft, and flavored and DELICIOUS. Totally worth it!
-Add your chuck roast back into the pan, then throw in the potatoes, carrots, and onions.
-Add another box of beef stock. I prefer stock to broth. It's a richer flavor.
-Now, for the best part! Add your herbs! I have made this with both fresh, and dried, herbs, and trust me, BOTH are delicious! I do about a palmful of rosemary, and a hair less thyme.
-Cover that baby up, and pop it in your oven for at least 3 hours at 275 degrees. Note, when I made this, my roast was much larger than 3 lbs, and I was in a hurry, so I did it at 350* for 3 hours, and it was just as tender, and delicious. In Microbiology they call these "equivalent treatments," meaning it's okay to cook it for less time at a higher temperature!
-The hardest part of this recipe is leaving that beauty in the oven for 3 hours while you smell it's heavenly scent all day. But it is WELL worth the wait!

Original recipe can be found at: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/01/2008_the_year_of_the_pot_roast/

2 comments:

  1. Mmmm...I just tried my first Pioneer Woman recipe a few days ago (even though I've been looking at her site for years!) and it was great! I should expand and try this one too. And yeah, about the Le Creuset...let's just say I would pretty much die and go to heaven if one of those found its way into my kitchen.

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  2. ok so the roast looks absolutely fantastic but as its going to be over 105* heat index every single day this week i think I'll need to hold off... however. Where is the cake!? I want that cake!? lol.You're going to make me weigh 500 lbs Kelley! Also our garlic seems to be purpley too...

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