Thursday, October 15, 2015

Crowd-sized Easy Peasy Pot Roast

We have a big family.

Lots of times they'll stop in on Sundays. They stop in other days, too, which is lovely, but pot roast just seems to be a football/Sunday dinner kind of thing, doesn't it?

So this is an easy way to make a wonderful huge, one-pot dinner.

2 BIG chuck roasts
One onion
Granulated garlic or garlic cloves
Salt
Pepper
5 lbs. peeled or washed, unpeeled potatoes, cut into big chunks or a 5 lb. bag of salt potatoes
3 lbs carrots, peeled and halved
Worcestershire sauce.

Here's the trick. Use a VERY BIG pan.

The reason you're using a very big pan is because then the meat doesn't take up all the room and when you put the potatoes and carrots in for the last hour, they swim (imagine a potato doing a backstroke in beefy goodness!!!) in the amazing broth you've made.

SWEET!

Okay, so put the two roasts in the aforementioned VERY BIG pan.

Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, garlic. Slice onion and toss it all over the meat. If you're out of onion, sprinkle dried onion liberally over meat. Seal and bake at 325° for a couple of hours.

Your house will smell really good.

If roasts start to go dry, add a quart of water. Recover and keep cooking another 2 hours.

Your house now smells like an amazingly wonderful place for folks to gather.

Get your veggies ready. When ready to put them into the VERY BIG pan, remove the cover (or aluminum foil) and stand back because it's steamy!

Add about 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce to broth in pan. Add water to bring broth up to about 1 1/2 or 2 inches deep. Layer in potatoes and carrots, and anything else you might love.

Re-cover, back in oven for about an hour.



DONE.

DELICIOUSNESS IN A PAN FOR A CROWD.

Or if you don't want to cook on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you both get multiple pot roast meals.



#happy! Do you see how nice and dark those carrots and potatoes are???  Mmmm.......

And then there's THIS:

Yes, The Mighty Finn has got it all under control as he loads the side porch with seasoned wood. Finn does whatever it takes to keep the castle warm all winter for....

YES!

The Little Princess!!!!

Because castles with princesses should always be cozy!

Oh, I could just sit here and stare at the cuteness!!!!!

But then came THIS:

An Unexpected Groom, releasing January 1, 2016. Talk about a "Happy New Year!!!"

Which means I have to stop staring at princesses and write books or we'll never know what happens to Emily, the second Gallagher sister!

So there you have it from Pumpkin Paradise in upstate New York. I will not tell you how many pumpkins we picked this week.... and how my cute school age kids earned money walking them to the truck because it's too muddy to get to the pumpkin patch! Oops!

My favorite color is October!!!! :)


15 comments:

  1. I made pot roast tonight and it was so delicious. Fall is all about the stews, for me.

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    1. I concur. One pot dishes, simmering scents, and easy clean up. Love 'em!

      Hey, Stan Williams (The Moral Premise) is in Seekerville today. I love this man's marvelous intelligence when it comes to writing/seeing/developing a story. I don't know if you've ever seen/read his work, but the guy is just brilliant. Although I didn't see any COOKIES over there.

      Maybe Myra brought some and I missed it!!!!

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  2. You know, back in my carnivore days when I was growing up we had pot roast every Sunday so this post kind of makes me nostalgic. :-) And love how the Mighty Finn is all about keeping the princess cozy. A true knight in shining armor in the making. You do know you're going to have to haul all these Mighty Finn stories and pics out on his wedding day and embarrass him with a slide show at the reception, right?

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    1. Hahahaha! No doubt we will, Kav! Our little Finn is such a trooper! He's just a gentle natured kid, so kindly! He hauled wood again today for me, for the second stack on the porch, and of course had to grab the bigger pieces and half-drag them up the walk to the porch. So funny!

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  3. You shared the secret Pot Roast ingredient!!! It's the Worcestershire sauce that turns a ho-hum pot roast into ambrosia!

    And you've helped me solve a problem. Our family is in the process of growing - you know, when your adult children bring "friends" over for Sunday dinner? I've been using the biggest roasts in the freezer for just the six of us, but was in a quandary about what to do when there are nine or ten! Two roasts won't fit in the crock pot, and besides, even with one roast there isn't enough room for the veggies to get a good stewing/roasting/marinating.

    But the big roaster is the answer. I'm putting one on my Christmas list. Or maybe it's time to invest in one of those electric roasters before Thanksgiving so the oven space is freed up.

    Oh, the wonderful problems big families bring!

    And I love the adventures of the Mighty Finn that you share on Facebook. And the Princess is one beautiful baby. I've said it before: you are truly blessed. :)

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    1. I was just going to question the amount of Worcestershire. 1/3 *cup*??? Really??? As much as I like and use it often, I don't think I've ever used more than a tablespoon in anything. But you're obviously confirming the amount. And after cramming our turkey into my very average sized roaster for our Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm putting a large roaster on my wish list, too.

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    2. I have one of those big roasters I use on the side porch all summer so we don't heat up the house, and it's so handy for holidays!

      And my big oven roaster is a huge black enamelware one that Dave found at Macy's years ago and he bought it for Christmas. It's such an ideal thing, it's big enough for two large chickens, a huge turkey, two big roasts and swimming room! :) Carol, yes, the worcestershire sauce is clutch in the sauce, and I don't measure, I just kind of pour in 1/3 of a bottle and it's like a 15 oz. bottle, so 5 oz is close to 1/3 cup. It makes all the difference!

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  4. YUM!!! I love a good pot roast. I always use a Crockpot but would love to try a roaster in the oven. And Worcestershire!! I never thought to use in a roast. Love it!

    The Princess is beautiful and looks so much like mom and Grandma! Sweet photos.

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    1. Missy, even with my big Crock pot, I can't make enough food for the weekend crew! So this works beautifully!

      And I think she looks like us, too! Her daddy just LAUGHS at me, but he's a boy. What does he know? :)

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  5. Now that Jan has me believing that such a large amount of Worcestershire is correct, I'm captivated by the wonderful aroma I'm imagining, and am going to have to make pot roast soon. But I also need a larger roasting pan. My turkey hangs over the edges of my old one...a very good reason to invest in one where that won't happen, and two pot roasts would have plenty of room to visit with lots of veggies.

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  6. I'm not sure how to adjust this for just the two of us (or maybe inviting another couple to join us) but certainly plan to work on the recipe and try it out! Thanks, Ruthy. Judy Smith

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    1. JUDY!!!!! I LOVE THAT YOU CAME OVER HERE, DARLING!!!!

      Well, I'd simply cut it in half and you'd have enough for two meals. This is great warmed up, and maybe even better the second night! More time to stew in the delicious juices! I'm so happy to see you, my friend!

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  7. This reminds me of the beef stew I made when I was home on Monday. Except I cut the meat all up into nice bite size pieces.

    Too bad there was none left over, because you've got me wanting some right about now.

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    1. Cate, I cook double every time I cook now, so I can have a few nights of editing/working. I'm too tired to write at night, but I can write blogs or market, or annoy my friends. :) We've had to do that consciously (cook for two nights) because during farming season, life's just to busy to get much time for cooking!

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