Pot Roasting Like Granny

There are probably as many different variations on pot roast as there are grandmothers that cook. I don't remember all the details about my Granny's pot roast, but I do remember that it was my favorite meal to eat at her house. Melt in your mouth roast with juicy carrots, yummy potatoes and rice with gravy. My mom actually made a pretty good roast, too, but I'm almost positive she learned it from my Granny.

(Remember whatever the recipe, the key to a good roast is a good cut of meat. You want lots of marbling if you're going to cook it for a long time.)

Here's my attempt at putting her roast into a recipe.

Salt and pepper the roast. Coat in flour. Heat a dutch oven with about two to three tbsp of oil. Sear all sides. Remove the roast and let it rest while you prepare the veggies. To your hot oil, add a tsp or two of minced garlic and a medium chopped onion. Cook until fragrant. Sprinkle in a little rosemary and thyme, about a 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. Add a couple of cups of beef stock and a couple Tbsp worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrin's Reduced Sodium Worcestershire sauce is corn free). Add half a small can of tomato sauce or a couple Tbsp diced tomatoes (to tenderize the meat). Add chopped carrots and potatoes. Cover and bake on 350 for 2-3 hours or until tender. Then she would make gravy from the pot drippings and serve it over rice.

My memaw started 'cheating' with her gravy and making it with cream of mushroom soup (the Campbell's kind), and I think it tasted better that way. So, I combined all that, give or take a few things, to my crock pot recipe.

How I do it.

If I have time, I sear the roast like she did. Let it rest while I saute the onions and garlic, too. I don't use the rosemary, thyme or the beef stock. I add a can of Health Valley Cream of Mushroom Soup (corn free, uncondensed, organic), the worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrin's Reduced Sodium), tomato sauce, carrots and potatoes. Stick it in my crock pot and let it cook all day. I still cook rice to go with it, and (since I'm too lazy to make a good gravy) I just use the 'soup' it makes as a 'pot liquor' as they would call it in the old south. It tastes enough like hers to take me back in time, but I've made it mine, too.