Yankee pot roast…

After a busy weekend, I have a few goals for today: organize my desk & file the papers that have been stacked up for a while and buy groceries! I enjoyed having my daughter and her family over to “hang out” yesterday afternoon while their realtor had an open house for their home. They’ve purchased 6 acres in a nearby small town and are looking forward to building there. Since I did not have any goodies on hand, my ten year old granddaughter and I made homemade brownies which were delicious. It was decided by my grandchildren that Grandmom needs to buy groceries! Since the weather is cooler right now, I’ve been in the mood for a delicious “Yankee Pot Roast”! Sounds like a dish for one night this week…

The recipe and post below was featured in my previous blog, My Southern Heart.

Yankee pot roast…

Published October 25, 2011

Yankee Pot Roast is quickly becoming one of our favorite meals. True, there is some prep work involved but it’s worth it in the end. It is a delicious meal! It’s essentially an entire meal in a Pampered Chef stoneware bowl or dutch oven – whatever you have. Tonight, I’m serving it with a small tossed salad and hot cornbread muffins.

Every time I prepare this, I’m reminded of the time, years ago, that my older son brought home his precious fiance to meet us. She grew up in upper New York state and I thought it would be a fun idea to surprise her with Yankee Pot Roast. The funny thing is that she had mentioned to my son that she was hoping for some good Southern cooking! In the end, I prepared both and we all fell in love with her…and, thankfully, vice versa. They have been happily married for about 16 years now and have 3 beautiful daughters.

Here they are…the ingredients all assembled and ready to become delicious, tender Yankee Pot Roast. The only thing missing are 2-3 fresh stalks of celery which I didn’t have.

Yankee Pot Roast

One 3-4 pound beef roast, or larger depending on size of family of course ( this one was a 2 & 1/2 pound eye round roast). Rump roast is hard to find here but is my preference.

Kosher salt (about 1 tablespoon)

Lawry’s Seasoned Pepper

3-4 fresh carrots (or more if you’re cooking a larger roast)

2-3 fresh stalks of celery (or more for larger roast)

4-5 large Idaho potatoes (or more for a larger family) (washed, peeled – or not – and cut into quarters)

2 cans Beef Broth or 1 large box of beef broth

1 & 1/2 cups good red wine (This one is a merlot from Columbia-Crest in Washington state. Reasonably priced and good for this dish.)

1 large onion cut in quarters (the small onions above came from our garden so I used what I had)

4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of Herbs de Provence (if you’re not using fresh herbs also, increase to about 1 & 1/2 or 2 tablespoons)

3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme

2 sprigs of fresh tarragon (all the fresh herbs came from my garden this morning)

Flour – Just enough to dredge roast really well.

Liberally sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt and Lawry’s Seasoned Pepper all over roast.

potroast1 — Dredge the seasoned roast in flour.

Saute’ the veggies in the preheated EVOO until slightly browned…just enough to give them some color.

Remove the vegetables to a separate bowl and brown the roast on all sides on medium-high heat.

Remove the roast and add the beef broth to the hot pan. Stir to “deglaze” the pan or get all the good pan drippings off the bottom of the pan. Add the red wine to the beef broth and stir briefly.

Combine the roast, carrots, onions, minced garlic, celery and herbs in stoneware bowl or dutch oven. Pour the beef broth/wine mixture over it. Cover tightly with lid and tightly wrapped foil on top of lid. Bake at 300 degrees for about 2 & 1/2 hours and then add the potatoes cut into quarters. Bake for another 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Enjoy!