It’s October in Southwest Ohio…the air is crisp and cool, the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn to their fall colors of yellow, orange and red. Autumn is definitely in the air and it’s my favorite time of the year. With the cooler weather my thoughts turn more and more to comfort food…roasts, stews and soup…heartier meals. Recently I’ve been craving pot roast…so when I did my grocery shopping this week, I picked up a roast, potatoes and carrots. This morning I pulled out my Crock Pot, gathered the ingredients and went to work.
Potatoes
Carrots
Onion
Garlic
Beef roast, approximately 3-4 pounds
Salt
Pepper
One package of dried onion soup mix....I don't always add this, the roast is just fine without.
beef broth ½ cup
½ cup flour and ½ cup water or broth, if you plan to make gravy
I don’t know how many potatoes or carrots I use but use a lot because my favorite part of this dish are the potatoes, carrots and gravy.
I put oil in a frying pan and brown both sides of roast ….beef cooked in the Crock Pot tends to look a little gray so I like to brown it first.
Put vegetables in the Crock Pot first then place the roast on top.
I love baby carrots, I think they taste a little sweeter than regular carrots…again, no peeling; just add to the pot.
I used one onion…cut approximately the same size as potatoes.
One clove minced garlic. Whenever I use garlic it reminds me of a story.... I live in a small college town where most of the students live off campus. When these young people come to college, this is the first time that many of them have had to cook for themselves so cooking and shopping are new to them. One day while I was in the produce department at the supermarket, I had a young man come up to me carrying a bulb of garlic and asked me if it was a clove….he said he was going to prepare a dish that required one clove of garlic. I, of course, set him straight. Don’t even get me started on how some of these kids to their laundry……it would frighten you.
This looks good and it hasn't even cooked yet.
Place roast on top. I usually add dried onion soup mix at this point but the last time I was in Penzey’s, I saw a Beef Roast Seasoning and decided to use this instead. Salt and Pepper and add ½ cup of beef broth into the Crockpot.
Place lid on Crockpot. I sometimes start out with the Crockpot on high and then turn to low and let it cook for approximately 10-12 hours or 5-6 hours on high. Cooking times may vary depending on size and brand of slow cooker.
I left the house for the day and returned several hours later to the wonderful aroma of my roast cooking.
10 hours later....yum!
To make gravy, mix ½ cup flour with ½ cup water or broth until smooth. Remove meat and vegetables from crockpot, turn to high and add flour and water mixture, stirring constantly. Once all lumps are removed, put lid on crockpot and cook until boiling…this should take about 15 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, add liquid until it reaches the desired consistancy. If it's too thin, just let the gravy continue to cook a little longer. Salt and pepper, if needed.
I could hardly wait until I had the gravy made and the food plated. It was sooo good...another craving satisfied!
