Promises of Spring

Above, you can see that the tomato seedlings I have been babying and cooing over have grown beautifully. I have less Brandywine seedlings than I wanted, but they have bucked the dying leaf issue with some real sunlight and are doing nicely. I should be putting these in the ground weekend after next. 

 The peas are getting closer and closer to the trellis I put up for them. In my experience, once they find a place to climb, they start growing at an alarming pace! The grass is also growing back in the garden. I'm trying to pull it all up, but some are still in clots. That's what I get for putting the peas on the newer end of the garden. The soil from last year is soft and fine and is an absolute pleasure to work with. Hopefully this end of the garden will be that way next year due to the nitrogen fixing properties of these peas here.

Well, I promised you the much requested pot roast, and I will deliver! Like most of my regular meals, I have no set recipe. And often it changes from time to time depending on what vegetables, meat, or spices are available. I also do not measure my ingredients. I find that, aside from baking, when you eyeball your ingredients, the finished product just seems to turn out better.  Please take the recipe below as a guide only. All amounts are approximate!!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 3lb roast (Beef, pork, lamb, venison, etc etc.) Here I used a beef shoulder roast.
3 carrots cut into chunks
3 stalks of celery chunked
1 onion roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (thank goodness for spell check!)
1 cube beef boullion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1tsp rosemary (I use ground rosemary because I don't like chewing on needles)
1tsp thyme
1 bay leaf

First, I assemble my veggies and put all but the garlic in the bottom of your crock pot. This makes a rack for the meat that also infuses it with delightful aromatics. I have also used parsnips, leeks, and potatoes in the past. The garlic will go on top of the roast when you add it.

Next is a crucial part of this recipe!! If you skip it you will regret it and have sub-par meat. Thoroughly dry the roast with paper towels. Apply the olive oil to the roast and rub onto all sides. Apply salt and pepper liberally over all sides. On high heat, place roast into hot pan and DON'T TOUCH IT!! I mean it! Let it sizzle and even smoke a little for about  5 minutes. Then do the same for ALL sides. You want a nice caramelized crust on every surface of the roast. Those little brown bits are FLAVOR! 

Place the seared roast on top of your veggies and put the garlic on top. Now take your wine (or beer or chicken stock if you don't have any alcohol in the house) and put it in that hot pan. It will make a loud LOUD sizzle, but this is called deglazing and will loosen all those little brown bits of flavor from the bottom of the pan. Use a spatula or spoon to scrape the pan and get all those little bits up. Pour this over the top of your roast.

 Add the spices, Worcestershire, and bouillon to the pot. Then put the cream soup on top of everything. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. I stir it up about 3 hours into the cooking just to incorporate everything. And, Oh my, the SMELL coming out of your kitchen will floor you. You can add mushrooms to the mix in the last hour of cooking, but if they are fresh (and they should be) I suggest you saute them first so that they don't release all of their water into the gravy. 

I ended up having an unexpectedly busy day when I started taking photos for this tutorial, so a finished shot is not available. But rest assured, a beautiful gravy is formed. Perfectly thick for us, but if you want it thicker you can add some corn starch mixed with a little water

I hope you enjoy this family favorite!!