Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Roots of Happiness

I’m several days behind in blogging. We had the good fortune to host both families this past week. Nearly everyone joined us, and those who didn’t received plenty of food updates via text and email messages.
The week opened with the weather finally turning cooler and the holiday approaching, it was time for the quintessential winter dish: pot roast. Fortunately, there were plenty of root vegetables during the past two week’s OPO shares to add. And the general busyness of the season made this a perfect crock-pot dinner, which we shared with one set of parents who had driven down from Illinois.
The Method

  • One chuck/pot roast
  • Assorted root vegetables, roughly chopped (I used OPO carrots, rutabagas, and radishes, along with celery.)
  • Seasoned flour – I used salt, pepper, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
roast veggies
  1. Bring the roast to approx. room temperature.
  2. Dredge the roast in seasoned flour.
  3. Heat 2 TB oil and 2 TB butter over a high burner.
  4. Brown the roast on all sides. Remove to a plate.
  5. Leaving the fat in the pan, lightly brown the vegetables.
  6. Add the vegetables to the crock-pot.
  7. Add 1/2 C red wine.
  8. Stick 4 cloves into a whole, small, peeled onion; place in the crock-pot.
  9. Add 2 bay leaves.
  10. Place the roast on top of the vegetables.
  11. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. (In all honesty, it wasn’t done after 6 hours on high, so we allow it to cook on low until the next evening – about 25 hours.)
The Results
This is a very low-commitment dish. It takes only 15-20 minutes to prepare; then you simply allow the crock-pot to do its magic. We served this with brown rice. A fine meal.

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Kudya Bwino Bwino (Eating Well) © 2009