... a cozy meal to celebrate the first day of 2010

First off, I apologize for the lack of action shots, but as Rich said "it wasn't much to look at earlier."  Now, however, is a completely different story (if I do say so myself!)...

Pot Roast
1 chuck roast - I used a two and a half pounder, but you can use whatever and adjust accordingly
flour
s and p
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion
3 baking potatoes
6 carrots
a couple sprigs of thyme

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet until it's pretty darn hot.  Flour, salt and pepper all sides of the chuck roast.  Put chuck roast in the pan and brown for about 5 minutes on each side or until it's a nice, deep brown color.

Cut the onion into wedges by slicing off the very ends of the onion so that when you cut the onion into wedges the core keeps it intact.  Place the onions in the pan with the roast and a little bit of water - maybe 1/4" - and put the pan (with a lid) in the oven.  Leave it alone for several hours.  Seriously.  Like 7 or 8 hours.

Peel your potatoes and carrots.  Cut the carrots in half or thirds depending on their size and the potatoes in quarters.  Place them in the pot with the roast and onions, along with the Thyme, and crank the temp up to about 325 degrees.  Leave it for another hour or so until the potatoes and carrots are done and the smells coming from your oven make the dogs beg.

Taylor's Notes:
This is the recipe as told to me by Grandma Norma who makes an incredible pot roast.  This is my first one to make - first pot roast, first day of a new year, pretty cool.  I browned and cooked the roast in my 3 1/2 quart Le Creuset and it was just big enough for the size of roast and vegetables that I bought.  I'd love to cook a bigger roast sometime, you know to serve more than just me and the boy, but in order to do so I'd probably need a bigger pot.  So, if you're feeling kind and would like an invitation to dinner, please feel free to bring me one of these.  Thanks :)  


As I mentioned before, just adjust the size of your roast and the quantity of vegetables based on how many people you're serving.  This fed two hungry people who'd been working on home renovation all day and gave us leftovers for tomorrow... or a midnight snack... we really did work up an appetite!


Grandma used to cook her roast at 250 degrees for 10 hours - from the time she left for work in the morning until she got home at night.  I bumped up the heat a tiny bit thinking we'd want to eat sooner, but as it turns out I'm cooking it for almost the same amount of time.  And you know what, it's delicious.


Enjoy and Happy New Year!!