This weekend was unseasonably warm. I had suggested to Christopher that we do a pot roast over the weekend, and luckily we had checked the forecast before turning on the oven. So we left the roast in the fridge to thaw and decided to cook it today. You see, in wonderful Minnesota style, we went from almost 80 degrees yesterday, to around 70 this morning, and then to the upper 50s by dinner time today. It was a rainy Monday, as well, so it seemed to be the perfect day to warm up the house with a pot roast.
I received a slow cooker (technically it's not a Crock Pot, which is a brand name like Kleenex) as a gift a while ago, and although I've used it for appetizers and such in the past, I hadn't ever done the full-on slow cooking deal. So I prepped some carrots and onions and potatoes, salted and peppered the roast, tossed it all in the pot with just a little liquid and left it to its own devices.
About an hour in, the house started to smell of onion and garlic (sorry... forgot to mention that I threw in a couple of cloves of garlic), and I knew that I had remembered to turn it on. (Long story...)
The meat thermometer told me the roast was up to rare at about the 3-hour mark. At about the 4-hour point, it was pushing well-done. But the recipe said it was supposed to stay in for 5 to 6 hours--until the meat was tender. So I left it alone to "crock" away, but cautiously turned the heat down from High to Low.
Dinner was set for around 7, so I pulled out the roast about 15 minutes early to rest. I cut the roast and served up the not-quite-mushy carrots, onions and potatoes on top. Unfortunately, the roast had gotten a bit dry, so the juice that came with the veggies was sorely needed.
Dinner was not a total flop, though. We lit candles on the table, poured some wine and put in a couple of John Barrowman CDs. It wasn't quite as festive as last Monday (no martinis!), but it was nice to have something a little special at the beginning of the work week.
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