Have you ever stored gasoline in your dishwasher? Ever used your hand held blowdryer while you were sleeping? Have you ever read product warnings when you buy a new appliance? We always do as it can be pretty entertaining and a guarantee for a good laugh. Fact; a few years ago when we got our new dishwasher, one of the warnings was not to store gasoline inside the dishwasher. What’s this got to do with Sunday Pot Roast? Well yesterday while the roast was cooking I read my new hairdryer product warnings. They warn me not to use my hair dryer while I’m sleeping…insert big wide-eyed confused “what the?” blink here.
When I was growing up, every single Sunday morning, my mom would not put a pot roast in the dishwasher, but she would pop one in the oven. We’d head off to Sunday School and Church and when we got home we’d be greeted with the wonderful aromas of savory roasting meat mingled with sweet roasting vegetables. By noon, we’d be at the dining room table and enjoying our traditional Sunday Pot Roast. And all of it slathered in beef gravy.
Here’s my mom’s version of this slow roasted meal.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. The cut of beef was usually what was on sale that week. And most of the time it was the seven bone variety. She’d place the meat into the same inexpensive metal speckled oval roaster that she’d had forever and sprinkle on a good layer of flour, salt and pepper. I’m not sure the purpose of the flour, maybe to seal in the juices as a hot sear would do?
Place the roast into the oven and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove roast and reduce the heat to 325 degrees. Layer in big chunks of potato, celery, onion and carrots. Ever so gently salt and pepper as you layer. Pour one cup of water over the vegetables, cover the roast and cook three torturous hours. I say torturous because the aromas will soon fill the air and those hunger pangs will go wild.
Move the roast to a serving platter and spoon vegetables around. Tent with foil and let rest while you make the gravy.
Beef gravy is so easy. In a container that you can seal and shake the heck out of, add 1/2 cup water and two tablespoons of flour. Move the Dutch oven with the drippings to the stove top. Bring it to a simmer. Add about two cups of water or beef broth. Add the flour and water mixture and simmer until thickened. You may need to shake up another batch of flour and water if gravy doesn’t thicken to your liking. There is usually a few chunks of potatoes and carrots stuck to the bottom and sides of the Dutch oven, make sure and smash those into the gravy. If none are stuck I’ll go get a couple of pieces from the platter and coarsely smash into the gravy.
After moving to Denver, every trip home, we’d call mom to let her know we were about an hour away from arrival. I’d always ask, what’s for supper? Even though it wasn’t Sunday, the answer was always “Roast Beef”. She knew it was our favorite and it was a perfect end to a long road trip.
What was on your Sunday dinner table?
Pot Roast…It’s What’s For Sunday Dinner.
