I was very fortunate to have married a man who definitely brings home the bacon….. or should I say elk, deer, antelope and all other four legged animals with antlers. Our freezers are never scant to say the least, and he is always encouraging me to make something new and different with them. To help you understand my husband he is, and is not a picky eater. The best way to describe what he likes is this; if he had meat, potatoes, and corn the rest of his life he would be completely happy, but in the same breathe, he does not like to venture too far from his comfort zone of foods. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love to cook. I try different things, challenge myself in the kitchen and if that limits me to a starch, some sore of game meat and a can or corn…ugh…you get the point. Even with this bit of knowledge in my head I try to go forth and make food that could possibly change his mind. 7 out of 10 I can but occasionally I find him picking his way around the dish, but like the great husband he is, never complains, that or as my mother would say “he knows better then to get hit with the frying pan!”. All in all he has gotten better about trying things in our 7 years together, and now encourages me to use up what we have in different ways.
This Christmas I received a cookbook from my parents in honor of the Pendleton Round-up called “Beyond the Bull”. This book is full of recipes, pictures, and history about one of Oregon’s cherished events. From cover to cover, this book is full of down home hearty cooking that can stick to the ribs of any cowboy or cowgirl, green horn or saddle tramp.
After having some time to go through the book, I selected a Beer pot roast recipe to try out. I should start by saying I have traditionally hated pot roast because in my opinion thus far, it has been bland, boring and dry. Whenever I have had it, it normally gets drowned in ketchup or some other condiment just to make up for the “mistake in a pot” flavor. I knew this going in but was convinced I would find a way to give it a better flavor, the recipe looked promising and that chuck roast in the freezer could be used for little else. It started off with a onions caramelized in butter, and I mean lots of onion. I know that onion can be a really over powering flavor, but once they are caramelized they are so sweet and mild in flavor that even the most anti-onion eater will find it suitable. Once the onion were nice and brown and had a sweet smell steaming from the pot I added the flour, salt, garlic, and one can of beer. While this was brewing away, I seared off my roast. One tip I will give anyone either doing a dry oven roast or a pot roast, ALWAYS sear your meat. This means you have your pan so hot, when you add your oil to the pan it starts to smoke. Then you season your meat (salt, pepper etc.) and then put it in your pan. This will create a really loud sizzle and it will only take maybe 20 seconds to get a good dark color, and you’ll want to rotate to do the same on all sides. When you finish, if you were just looking at it you’d think it was done. This is a trick I learned in culinary school that keeps your juices in when cooking for long periods of time. That also means, no cutting and checking it while cooking. The best way to tell if a roast is done is to check periodically with your instant read thermometer. You can find a done-ness guide online or in your typical Betty Crocker cook book. Once I had the meat seared and the base done I placed the meat in the dutch oven with the sauce and baked it, covered for about 3 hours. I wanted to be sure and have a vegetable, so about ½ before being done, I added some carrots. I also made some roasted red potatoes to help sap up some of the sauce. This recipe was so easy, and so good, heath went back for 3rds! There are so many different ways to cook a pot roast and I really feel like it comes down to the meat and how it is handled, and thanks to my husband; we have plenty to fill our table. He may be picky sometimes, but boy he sure comes in handy!
Love you honey.
Now on to book #8
This Christmas I received a cookbook from my parents in honor of the Pendleton Round-up called “Beyond the Bull”. This book is full of recipes, pictures, and history about one of Oregon’s cherished events. From cover to cover, this book is full of down home hearty cooking that can stick to the ribs of any cowboy or cowgirl, green horn or saddle tramp.
After having some time to go through the book, I selected a Beer pot roast recipe to try out. I should start by saying I have traditionally hated pot roast because in my opinion thus far, it has been bland, boring and dry. Whenever I have had it, it normally gets drowned in ketchup or some other condiment just to make up for the “mistake in a pot” flavor. I knew this going in but was convinced I would find a way to give it a better flavor, the recipe looked promising and that chuck roast in the freezer could be used for little else. It started off with a onions caramelized in butter, and I mean lots of onion. I know that onion can be a really over powering flavor, but once they are caramelized they are so sweet and mild in flavor that even the most anti-onion eater will find it suitable. Once the onion were nice and brown and had a sweet smell steaming from the pot I added the flour, salt, garlic, and one can of beer. While this was brewing away, I seared off my roast. One tip I will give anyone either doing a dry oven roast or a pot roast, ALWAYS sear your meat. This means you have your pan so hot, when you add your oil to the pan it starts to smoke. Then you season your meat (salt, pepper etc.) and then put it in your pan. This will create a really loud sizzle and it will only take maybe 20 seconds to get a good dark color, and you’ll want to rotate to do the same on all sides. When you finish, if you were just looking at it you’d think it was done. This is a trick I learned in culinary school that keeps your juices in when cooking for long periods of time. That also means, no cutting and checking it while cooking. The best way to tell if a roast is done is to check periodically with your instant read thermometer. You can find a done-ness guide online or in your typical Betty Crocker cook book. Once I had the meat seared and the base done I placed the meat in the dutch oven with the sauce and baked it, covered for about 3 hours. I wanted to be sure and have a vegetable, so about ½ before being done, I added some carrots. I also made some roasted red potatoes to help sap up some of the sauce. This recipe was so easy, and so good, heath went back for 3rds! There are so many different ways to cook a pot roast and I really feel like it comes down to the meat and how it is handled, and thanks to my husband; we have plenty to fill our table. He may be picky sometimes, but boy he sure comes in handy!
Love you honey.
Now on to book #8
