We were supposed to have some people over for a late lunch early supper the other day and I had bought a couple of small briskets to make for us all to enjoy. Alas the weather interfered with our plans and so I froze one of the briskets for another time, and cooked one for Todd and I to enjoy on the day.
I didn't do it in my usual way this time. I found a recipe for a pot roast in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook entitled "Comfort Food Lightened Up". I had to adapt it big time because it called for things I didn't have or want to use, but the basic concept sounded good and so I used it as a backbone for what I ended up doing in the end (with most delicious results, I might add!).
Normally I cook my pot roasts in the slow cooker, but I didn't feel like dragging it out on Friday. I did this in the oven. You can see it resulted in lovely tender meat, but sliceable meat, which was great! In the slow cooker it takes a lot longer and the meat falls apart so you can't really slice it. The original recipe had called for browning the roast first and for using a boneless beef chuck roast.
Even lightened up it came in at over 500 calories a serving, so I used brisket, which is a lot leaner, and I did not brown it first. I just seasoned the meat all over and then lay it on top of some sliced raw onions in my La Creuset covered casserole dish.
Then I stirred together some beef stock, tomato sauce/passata, and a bit of brown sugar. I added some prepared horseradish and Dijon mustard, and some celery salt. This got poured over top and then it roasted covered in a moderate oven for about 3 hours or so.
At the end I took the meat out to rest for a time, while I simmered the pan juices on top of the stove until they got as thick as I wanted them to be, with the end result being a delicious onion sauce that we were able to spoon over our tender slices of beef. It was really lovely! I served it with mashed potatoes, mashed swede (rutabaga) and cooked carrots. Todd was in man-meat-and-potatoes heaven!
*Another Pot Roast*
Serves 10
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Rub the roast all over with the crushed garlic, salt and black pepper.
Place the onion in the bottom of a heavy flame proof oven casserole (I use a La Crueset enameled round roasting dish). Place the roast on top of the onion. Put the broken bayleaf in the pan. Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour around the roast in the dish. Cover tightly and roast in the preheated oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, at which time the roast should be quite tender. Remove the roast to a platter and tent with foil. Discard the bay leaf. Place the roasting dish over medium heat and simmer briskly until the sauce is of the desired consistency. Serve the roast sliced with some of the sauce spooned over top.
I like to serve this with potatoes (mashed or boiled) and a cooked vegetable . . . carrots, peas, swede, etc.
You could of course add peeled halved potatoes, and carrots in with the meat for the last hour of roasting. I don't though as Todd enjoys his mash and my roasting casserole was not big enough to put much else in it. This is really delicious however and a bit different than my usual pot roast. Tune in tomorrow to see what I did with the leftovers. You are going to love it! Bon Appetit!
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