Woes! We Are Out of Beer!

[chomiji]

This has put a serious crimp in my usual pot roast procedure!

:-(

Comments

[sanada.livejournal.com]

Pot roast is made with beer? o__O

(of course, I don't even know what meat goes in pot roast...)

[chomiji]

Well, my pot roast is made with beer ... (and a hunk of lean beef).

(Hello! I thought for sure you'd want to voice an opinion on Hoshin Engi ... how've you been?)

[sanada.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, sounds tasty!

x____x ...I've been better. I'm sparing the world my wangst and living in basement seclusion while watching large quantities of old anime and generally being a useless excuse for a human being. >__>;;;;;;;

[chomiji]

It usually is ... I ended up using chicken broth and wine instead this time. We'll see how it turns out!

Oooh? (Write me e-mail about it, maybe?)

xxx/ooo > hugs!!!! <

[the-resa.livejournal.com]

Dang, go bringing up food while I'm hungry and waiting for the chili to cook.

Okay -- share the basic recipe, and I'll forgive yaz!

[chomiji]

OK ....

Cho's Pot Roast

(Somtimes imitated, but never successfully duplicated, even by Cho, because this is a rather vague recipe!)

Gather ye ingredients:

a piece of lean beef, 2-3 lbs (mine is usually chuck roast)
1/4 cup plain ol' white flour
salt and fresh-ground black pepper
dried thyme
oil or other fat for browning (mine's usu. olive oil)
a couple of average-sized carrots, or 8-10 fat "baby" ones
an onion or two
a couple of boiling potatoes, or 8-10 new potatoes
a rounded teaspoonful of Dijon or other flavorful mustard
a bottle of decent beer (mine's often Dos Equis), opened and left to sit a bit

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Grease a casserole (with lid) large enough to easily hold your chunk of meat, with room around it for veggies (grease the inside of the lid, too).
3. Put the flour, seasonings to taste (I use maybe half a tsp of salt and 25 grindings of pepper, plus 4 or 5 good pinches of thyme) into a plastic or sturdy paper bag big enough to hold your meat, then shake it to mix the seasonings and flour, then shake (or roll) the meat in the bag until floured all over. Whack it a few times (over the bag or over a plate) to shake off the excess flour. Reserve the leftover seasoned flour in the bag.
4. Heat the oil or whatever (I sometimes add a bit of bacon fat, if the Mr. has saved any, for flavor) in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, until the oil is fragrant and a drop of water sizzles in it but doesn't skitter and pop. Then brown the floured meat on all sides. When it's done, drop it into the casserole.
5. While it's browning, prep your veg. If using regular carrots, scrub the carrots, trim, and cut into 3 or so fat rods each (don't split unless very thick). Get any sprouts and bad bits out of the potatoes, and cut into 1-inch or so chunks if using large ones (you don't need to peel them). For the onions, either dice coarsely or slice thinly and cut the slices in half (so you have a bunch of C-shaped bits).
6. Arrange the carrot and potato chunks around the meat in the casserole.
7. Lower the heat under the skillet you used to brown the meat. Toss in your onions, salt them well (don't skip salt here - it helps the cooking process by drawing the water out of the onions - skip it in the flour, if necessary), and cook, stirring fairly often, until soft and golden but not scorched (lower heat as needed).
8. Toss about a TBSP of the seasoned flour over the onions, and stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.
9. Add the mustard and the beer. Heat to a simmer, stirring frequently.
10. Pour the liquid and onions over the meat and veg. It should fill the casserole most of the way. If you need more liquid, you can use chicken broth, more beer (if you have some way to, um, use the rest ...), or in a pinch, water you've heated in the previously used skillet so it has some flavor.
11. Cook for about 3 hours, turning the meat a couple of times and topping up the liquid if it gets more than 1/3 gone. (You can split the cooking time, doing an hour or two, then cooling and refrigerating, and then finishing the following day). Meat should be very tender.
12. Serve with your choice of egg noodles, rice, or crusty bread, and something green (salad, another veg) on the side. Serves anywhere from 6 to 10, depending on the size of your meat and their appetites.

Finis.

[the-resa.livejournal.com]

Oh - I am soooo keeping that! Will try it soon as we get the new oven in!
Thanks so very much!

[chomiji]

Let me know how it comes out!