Contest Winning Old Fashioned Pot Roast Recipes

OLD FASHIONED POT ROAST

Steps:

• I didn't give measurements for the seasonings on this recipe because you're just going to sprinkle some on to cover the meat on all sides and season the vegetables when you add them.
• First, remove the chuck roast from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature. Go ahead and season all sides with salt, cracked pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Allow to stand 30-45 minutes to reach room temperature.
• Heat a cast iron skillet or large dutch oven over medium high heat, add 2 tbs vegetable oil to cover bottom of the pan. When the pan is hot add roast to sear on each side. It should only take 1-2 minutes per side if the pan is hot enough.
• Spray a large baking dish and add your roast once you've seared ALL sides. Yes that means holding the meat with tongs to sear the skinny sides too. Does a roast have "skinny" sides? Thin sides? You know what I mean.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut up the vegetables. You're not going to add all of the vegetables at the beginning of cooking. If you added the carrots and potatoes in the beginning you would have vegetable mush as a result and that is no good. Halve your onion and cut into slices. Depending on the size of your mushrooms half or quarter. Peel and cut carrots into chunks, set aside for later. Peel and cut potatoes into chunky wedges, add to a bowl and cover with water to use later during cooking.
• Go ahead and surround your roast with the onions and mushrooms. Add 1 can of beef broth. Cover baking dish with foil sealing sides.
• Place into your 350 degree preheated oven and cook for 1 1/2 hour. We're not done yet, we are going to add more vegetables at this point. Go ahead and add your carrots and potatoes. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Recover with foil and return to the oven.
• Cook for another 1 1/2 hours. So that's a total of 3 hours cooking time.
• When times up remove your delicious, tender old fashioned pot roast from the oven. Transfer the roast to a serving tray. Remove all of the vegetable with a slotted and add to the serving tray.
• Pan Gravy
• Transfer the juices to a small sauce pan. I probably had about an inch of liquid when I added it to the sauce pan. Bring the juices to a boil over medium heat.
• In a measuring cup add 1 cup of cold water. Add 3 tbs of cornstarch and stir to mix. Once the pan drippings come to a boil, add the water/cornstarch mix (stir before adding to the saucepan as some of the cornstarch will have settled to the bottom of the measuring cup).
• After adding water and cornstarch to pan drippings, stir constantly until it thickens. It will happen like magic and you'll know when it does. Remove immediately from heat. Pour into your favorite gravy boat or bowl for serving.

CONTEST-WINNING OLD-FASHIONED POT ROAST

Steps:

• Place roast in an ungreased roasting pan. Combine the chili sauce, water and onion soup mix; pour over roast. Cover and bake at 350° for 2 hours. , Cut roast into 1/2-in. slices; return to pan. Top with the potatoes, carrots and celery. Cover and bake 1 hour longer or until meat and vegetables are tender, stirring the vegetables once.

CONTEST-WINNING MUSHROOM POT ROAST

Steps:

• Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, brown roast in oil on all sides. Transfer to a 6-qt. slow cooker. Add the mushrooms, onions, broth, wine, tomato sauce, parsnips, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and chili powder. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender., Remove meat and vegetables to a serving platter; keep warm. Discard bay leaves. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with mashed potatoes, meat and vegetables.

OLD-FASHIONED POT ROAST

Steps:

• Sprinkle the roast with 1 tablespoon flour. In a Dutch oven, brown the roast on all sides in half of the butter. Add the water, bouillon, onion, celery, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour. , Add carrots; cover and simmer 45-60 minutes longer or until meat is tender. Remove meat and carrots to a serving platter and keep warm. Strain cooking juices; set aside. , In the same Dutch oven, melt remaining butter. Stir in remaining flour; cook and stir until bubbly. Add 2 cups of the cooking juices and blend until smooth. Cook and stir until thickened; add additional cooking juices until gravy has desired consistency.

OLD FASHIONED POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat the Dutch oven on medium heat until it is hot. Add a little oil of choice and heat that too.
• Sear both sides of your chuck roast, about five minutes on each side. Just brown it.
• Remove the roast from the pan and set aside on a plate.
• Add the chopped onion and celery to the oil and juices in the pan. Cook for a few minutes while stirring. These will mostly dissolve during the cooking of the roast but they add tons of flavor.
• Add the roast back into the pan and add 1/2 cup of water or beef broth and cover.
• Place the Dutch oven in the oven.
• Cook for about two hours at 350 degrees.
• After two hours add peeled and quartered russet potatoes. The size of your pot will determine how many you can add. But allow about ½- 1 potato for each person.
• Cook for another hour. Remove pan from oven and check for doneness in potatoes. They should be tender and cooked through.
• Check that the roast is done. It should pull apart easily with a fork. If it needs to cook more, remove potatoes and return to the oven for another half an hour.
• Or if the roast is done and the potatoes aren't, remove the roast and cook the potatoes for more time.
• When the roast and potatoes are both done cooking, let them rest in the pan until ready to serve to keep them warm.
• Granny recommends cooking the carrots separately to retain their color and flavor. This is how to do it.
• Peel the carrots, and slice off tip and the stem. Cut in half, then cut each half into about four carrot sticks.
• Place carrots in saucepan with a small amount of water. Add a little salt and about a teaspoon of sugar. Cook until tender but not too soft, about 10 minutes.
• To serve, place the pot roast in the center of a platter and surround with the potatoes and carrots.

ULTIMATE POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Pat roast dry with a paper towel; tie at 2-in. intervals with kitchen string. Sprinkle roast with pepper and 1-1/2 teaspoons salt. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides. Remove from pan., Add onions, celery and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the same pan; cook and stir over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until onions are browned. Add garlic, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves; cook and stir 1 minute longer., Add wine, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan; stir in broth. Return roast to pan. Arrange potatoes, parsnips and carrots around roast; bring to a boil. Bake, covered, until meat is fork-tender, 2-2-1/2 hours., Remove roast and vegetables from pan; keep warm. Discard bay leaves; skim fat from cooking juices. On stovetop, bring juices to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half (about 1-1/2 cups), 10-12 minutes. Stir in vinegar and parsley; season with salt and pepper to taste., Remove string from roast. Serve with vegetables and sauce.

OLD-FASHIONED BEEF STEW

Steps:

• Combine the flour and pepper in a bowl, add the beef and toss to coat well. Heat 3 teaspoons of the oil in a large pot. Add the beef a few pieces at a time; do not overcrowd. Cook, turning the pieces until beef is browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch; add more oil as needed between batches.
• Remove the beef from the pot and add the vinegar and wine. Cook over medium-high heat, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add the beef, beef broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
• Cover and cook, skimming broth from time to time, until the beef is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add the onions and carrots and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more. Add broth or water if the stew is dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle among 4 bowls and serve.

POT ROAST FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• Pat meat dry with paper towels, then season on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat a Dutch oven over high heat for 2 minutes. Then add enough oil to barely coat bottom of pot and heat until shimmering. Sear the meat until golden brown, turning to cook all sides evenly, about 8 minutes. Don't be tempted to turn the meat too soon or it will tear; instead wait until it easily releases from the pot. Once it is nicely browned all over, remove it from the pot. If there are lots of blackened bits on the bottom of the pot, wipe it clean with a paper towel, or deglaze with a little water then discard.
• Reduce heat to medium. Add the olive oil and all of the aromatics, and cook, stirring fairly often, until the onion is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. You may need to increase the heat after a minute or two if the onion isn't softening, but only slightly. If the garlic or onion begins to burn, add a little water and stir up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Sprinkle the flour into the pot, and stir to coat everything evenly; cook the flour just long enough to remove the starchy taste without taking on any color, about 30 seconds. Add vinegar and water, and bring to a boil. Deglaze pot, scraping up browned bits from the bottom. Put the roast in the pot; the water should come only about 1 inch up the sides of the meat. Reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering, not boiling, and cover the pot tightly with the lid. While the meat is braising, turn it every 30 minutes; the meat should be almost tender (a sharp knife inserted in the center should meet little resistance) after 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the meat from the pot. Strain braising liquid through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible (discard solids).
• Return the roast and the strained liquid to the pot. Nestle the garnish vegetables around the roast, submerging them a bit in the liquid (the liquid should almost reach top of vegetables). Bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. The meat should be very tender by now and give no resistance when pierced with a knife (The meat will be firm enough to slice; if you want it be falling-apart tender, cook 30 minutes more).
• Transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving platter, leaving the sauce behind (there should be about 1 cup). Cover and keep warm near the stove. If the sauce is too thin, heat until reduced (but be mindful of the saltiness, since the more sauce is reduced the saltier it will taste) or thicken it with a bit more flour, whisking until smooth. Add a small amount of vinegar if necessary to balance the flavors. Let roast stand for about 20 minutes, then slice to desired thickness. Spoon some sauce over pot roast and vegetables to moisten and serve with remaining sauce on the side.