Homemade Pot Roast

I don't know about you but when the weather starts to change I think of hearty comfort foods.   With that in mind I thought of pot roast with root vegetables.

Here is my pot roast recipe.

Pot Roast
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 boneless chuck roast (I used a rump roast because it was what I had in the freezer)
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Viognier, I already had a partial bottle open)
1-1/2 cups beef broth (I use an Organic Better Than Bouillon Beef Base - I haven't made my own homemade beef broth yet)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups sliced onions
6 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Sear roast on all sides for about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a 4-6 quart slow cooker.  Stir flour into saute pan; cook 1 minute.  Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.  De-glaze saute pan with wine, cooking until liquid evaporates.  Stir in broth and Worcestershire sauce; bring mixture to a simmer, scraping up any brown bits.  Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker and add onions, carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.  Cover and cook until meat is for tender, on high heat setting for 4-5 hours or on low heat setting for 8-9 hours.  Discard thyme
 and bay leaves before serving.  Serve with gravy.

I also made mashed potatoes to go with this meal.   I keep it very simple when making my potatoes.  Cook peeled and cut up potatoes until soft.  Drain from water add potatoes back into the pan and put on stove.  Add a couple of pats of butter.  Mash potatoes along with butter in pan.   In another pan have milk warming on stove to add to the potatoes.  Add enough warmed milk to make potatoes smooth (continue to mash).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

A side salad was added to the meal as well.  Lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, a couple of croutons and a little Parmesan cheese on top.  Served with a Dijon Vinaigrette dressing.

Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing
2-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients together.

The dinner was pulled all together with a really wonderful wine.  We had a Virginia Wine called "3".  It got its name from 3 winemakers, 3 vineyards, 3 varietals, 1 wine.  The wine is 1/3 Merlot, 1/3 Petit Verdot, 1/3 Cabernet Franc.

Grilled Tuna

Tonight we had tuna that we bought yesterday from our local fish market.  It is sushi grade tuna which is great because we like our tuna cooked rare.

I put a Thai sweet red pepper sauce on the tuna before grilling and then brushed it on while it was cooking.

I made a corn relish (or whatever you might like to call it).  It consisted of fresh corn cut off the cob, onion, tomato, cilantro, salt, pepper, and a little white wine vinegar.  This was put on the top of the tuna when it was finished.

I sliced some carrots that I steamed, after they were steamed I added a little butter and a little honey.  The honey adds a nice little sweetness.

I also took red potatoes, sliced them and put them in a foil pouch with butter which was cooked on the grill.  It was a hot day and the more stuff we could cook outside on the grill the cooler the house would remain.

Homemade Chicken Stock

I kept everything from the chicken I baked on Monday.  I put all the bones and carcass into a crock pot.  To it I added a couple of cut up carrots and an onion that I cut into wedges (I would add celery to this as well, but I am allergic).   I also added some fresh oregano, fresh basil, dried tarragon, and a bay leaf.  Also included in this is the herbs that I put inside the chicken when I baked it.  Add water to almost full and a little bit of vinegar and let cook.  It will take a couple of days for the broth to cook down.  I want the liquid to cook down by half of what was in there.  

Once it is done, I will strain it and pour it into pint and quart mason jars.  I put them into the refrigerator to settle, once settled I skim the fat that has floated to the top.  I then put them into the freezer. You will then have stock anytime you need it.

The chicken parts, vegetable, and herbs in crock pot

The only down side is that your house will smell like cooking chicken for the next couple of days.  Of course this can be good or bad (depending on how hungry you are at the time).