Thursday, November 18, 2010

Pot Roast and Veggies

Tonight I'm having a friend over for dinner and we are going to eat like kings! Because of a busy Sunday this week, our typical meat day got shifted to Thursday. My two housemates are both working late tonight, so it will just be the two of us dining on a feast of pot roast and gravy, garlic smashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and cauliflower with cheddar cheese ALL TO OURSELVES! Can you tell I'm hungry? Here's some recipes for ya'll:

Pot Roast

I browned the roast in a hot (NOT non-stick) pan--a few minutes on each side. Then I put it in the crock pot over some carrots and an onion, chopped up.

I added about 3 tbsp. butter to the pan I had just taken the meat from and melted it while scraping the meaty goodness off the bottom of the pan. I added 2 large tbsp. flour to the butter, whisked it together, and let it cook for a minute or so. Then I poured in one part chicken stock and one part beer, while whisking, on pretty high heat until it thickened into gravy. I poured this over the meat and set the crock pot on high for three hours.


Brussels Sprouts

I halved and washed some brussels sprouts right after I bought them on Sunday. Tonight, I will dump them in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, add salt, pepper, loads of garlic, and a touch of balsamic vinegar. I'll roast them in the oven at about 400 until they look nice and crispy--30 minutes or so.


Cauliflower

I also cleaned and chopped some cauliflower on Sunday. I will dump that into its own roasting pan to cookat the same time as the sprouts with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe cumin. Right before it's done, I'll sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on top so it gets all melty and wonderful.


Potatoes

While the veggies are roasting, I will halve some potatoes, boil them with skins on (lazy way), and mash them up with some butter, a scoop of cream cheese, salt, pepper, and several cloves of garlic. I might throw in some dried chives if we have any.

5 comments:

  1. MMmmmmmm beer makes the best gravy!

    and, lazy or not, leaving the skins on makes the tatoes taste much better

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  2. I like the skins too! My laziness sometimes pays off.

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  3. when do i get to be the friend coming over for dinner??

    If you like pumpkin soup, here is a delicious cock pot recipe i've made at least 3 times this fall. Cream cheese is difficult to come by locally, but everything else can be found at the farmer's market this time of year. I've tried both butternut squash and the left over pumpkins we didn't carve from halloween, and you know what, the pumpkin wins! Also, though the majoram is nice, really any spices from your garden will do.

    http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-butternut-squash-soup/b9c01762-0904-42ba-9bdc-67c9912fe37e

    This soup pairs well with some homemade buttermilk biscuits.

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  4. also you get more nutritional value out of leaving the skins on - more antioxidants and potassium that way. holla dollas. and the vegetables were amazing. just in case anyone was wondering...

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  5. That sounds yummy! I made up a decadently wonderful potato thing the other night: mashed Yukon Gold potatoes (totally skin on!), put them in a baking dish, mixed with chopped onions and bacon I had fried until almost crispy and some shredded cheese (Kraft four cheese mix). Spread this out to fill the baking dish, covered with grated Parmesan and baked until the top was golden crispy. SO GOOD.

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