Pot Roast #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

 

This recipe is adapted from stayathomechef.com. Someone on Twitter had posted about the delicious pot roast he'd made for dinner.  The last time I made a pot roast, I was disappointed in it.  The meat wasn't nearly as tender as I would have liked and the flavor wasn't there.  I asked the poster on Twitter for the recipe and he sent it to me! Never say social media is a complete waste of time lol.  I used a chuck roast for this and the two of us had two dinners and a lunch out of the 3 lb. roast.  Sadly, our grocery store did not have rosemary but I imagine it would add even more incredible flavor.  Don't leave out the Worcestershire--in my opinion, it's what really makes this pot roast!

1 3-to-5 pound beef roast – chuck roast, round roast, or brisket

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 cloves minced garlic

1 to 2 cups red wine (or broth)

2 cups low sodium beef broth

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 large onions cut into chunks

1 lb. baby carrots (or cut regular carrots into smaller pieces)

1 lb. red potatoes or russet potatoes cut into chunks

1 sprig fresh rosemary

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Season both sides of chuck roast with salt and pepper.

 

Add oil to a large Dutch oven pot and heat.  

 

 Sear roast until nicely browned on both sides.

 

 

 

Remove roast from pan and set aside.  Add garlic to pot and saute 60 seconds.

 

 

 

Deglaze pan with red wine and beef broth

 

 

 

Return roast to pot and pour Worcestershire sauce over roast.

 

Nestle potatoes, carrots and onions around and on top of roast.

 

 

 

Cover and place in preheated 350 degree oven.  Cook 3 hours or until meat is tender and shreds easily with a fork.

 

 

 

Add salt and pepper to taste

 

Optional:  Gravy – strain liquid and return to pot.  Boil until desire consistency is reached.  Thicken with a roux or corn starch slurry if desired.

 

Treat yourself to some armchair travel to England with my 

Open Book Series!

 Coming August 1

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

When murder taints writer-in-residence Penelope Parish’s charming British bookshop, she must follow the clues to catch a killer before tempers boil over.
 
Penelope Parish thought she’d turned the page on her amateur sleuthing days but when the owner of Upper Chumley-on-Stokes’ proposed first high-end gourmet shop is poisoned, the American novelist starts to wonder if she and her quaint British town are in for another rewrite. It turns out that not everyone was a fan of Simeon Foster’s farm-sourced charcuterie and imported pastries—many of the locals were outraged by the potential new competition.
 
With a full menu of suspects on her hands, this just might be Penelope’s toughest case yet. Luckily, her friends at the Open Book are there to help with every twist of the poisoned pen.

 

 

 

Mississippi Pot Roast@VMBurns #Recipe

 VMBurns:  I LOVE cooking with my crockpot. Everything always comes out so tender, plus it's super easy. I dump everything in the crockpot in the morning, go to work and when I come home, the house smells amazing and dinner is done. When I moved to the south, my coworkers talked about Mississippi Pot Roast and it sounded great, so I decided to give it a try. Initially, I wasn't sure about the Pepperocini peppers and 8 seemed like an awful lot. However, these peppers aren't too spicy for me, but if you're nervous, you can start with just a couple or skip them entirely.

MISSISSIPPI POT ROAST

INGREDIENTS

• 3 lb Chuck roast

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 1 Packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

• 1 Packet Lipton Onion Soup mix

• 1 Stick butter

• 8 Pepperocini peppers

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Trim excess fat from chuck roast.

2. Heat a large skillet. When hot, add the olive oil. Sear (brown) roast on all sides about 2-3 minutes. You're not cooking the meat, just getting a nice brown color and sealing in the juices.

3. Transfer meat to the slow cooker.

4. Sprinkle the ranch dressing and onion soup packets on top of the meat.

5. Add butter and peppers around the roast.

6. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

7. When its done, take 2 forks and shred the meat.

    

READERS: Do you like cooking with a crockpot? If so, do you have a favorite dish?  Let me know in the comments for a chance to win a copy of the first book in my Dog Club Mystery series, IN THE DOG HOUSE,.

V. M. Burns

My most recent release is KILLER WORDS, Mystery Bookshop Mystery #7.

Valerie Burns

Bookstore owner and mystery writer Samantha Washington comes to the aid of the cop who once arrested her own grandmother . . .
 
Sam and Nana Jo are back in sleepy North Harbor, Michigan, where Sam is eagerly awaiting the publication of her first book. In search of more immediate excitement, Nana Jo hits the casino with her fellow Shady Acres Retirement Village gal pals—but they get more than they bargained for when they witness Detective Bradley Pitt decking mayoral candidate John Cloverton.
 
As Sam well knows, mystery novels are full of brilliant detectives, genius sleuths, and hero cops. Detective Bradley Pitt—aka “Stinky Pitt”—is another story. In the past, the dull-witted detective has mistakenly accused members of Sam’s family for crimes they didn’t commit. Now, it’s his turn: when Cloverton turns up dead, he’s arrested. With his predilection for polyester, Pitt has been wanted by the fashion police for years, but Nana Jo knows her former elementary school math student would never commit murder—it doesn’t add up. Somebody’s framed the flatfoot to take a fall, and Sam and Nana Jo must step in to restore the reputation and good name of Detective Pitt.

  

Make Ahead Slow Cooker Italian Pot Roast @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Maybe you’re tired of cookies and other holiday goodies, and need something hearty and old-fashioned for your next family and friends meal? I’ve got you covered. This recipe was adapted from one presented by Florence Fabricant in the New York Times cooking app. She prepared hers in a heavy pan on the stove. Other cooks baked the dish covered in a low oven for several hours. I chose to make it in the slow cooker. It's better if you cook it a day ahead, cool the meat in the sauce, and refrigerate overnight. Then you can skim off the fat, slice the meat, and reheat it in the oven along with the sauce. Serve with either cheesy polenta or mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese and a green salad. Don’t get too fussy about the size of the vegetables—whirling them in the food processor works fine and is easy. 

• 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

• 1 (3-pound) rump or boneless chuck roast

• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 ribs celery, chopped

• ½ cup red wine

• 1 14.5 oz can chopped plum tomatoes, drained

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat a tablespoon of the oil either in a heavy pan or in the slow cooker if you have a browning function. Add the meat and brown it well over medium heat. Remove it from the pan and save on a plate. 

2. Chop the garlic, onions, carrots and celery. Sauté them in the same pan until soft, adding oil if needed. Add the tomato paste and sauté that a few minutes. 

3. Stir in the wine, tomatoes, and basil, and cook for a few minutes. Add the meat back to the cooker and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Turn the meat a few times during cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Refrigerate the meat in the sauce overnight. Several hours before serving, skim the fat off the top. Remove the meat from the sauce, slice it, and nestle the slices into the sauce. Reheat the roast in a 350 oven for an hour. 

5. Serve with mashed potatoes, polenta, or my personal favorite, macaroni and cheese.

In addition to Lucy's Key West food critic mysteries, she's written a thriller called Unsafe Haven! 

About Unsafe Haven: A chance meeting on the New York subway leads to the destinies of two very different women becoming intertwined with terrifying consequences in this nerve-jangling thriller.

Sixteen-year-old Addison is on the run. She's leaving her life on New York's streets behind for a new one with Rafe, armed with just his phone number on a scrap of paper. She's taking the subway to meet him in New Jersey. He'll take care of her. Or so she thinks . . .

Elizabeth Brown's world has fallen apart and she's thinking about her newly ex-fiancé. Until she locks eyes with a teenage girl while waiting for the train doors to open, and a bundle is thrust into her arms as she leaves the subway. A baby, wrapped in a dirty coat.

Elizabeth phones the number she finds in the coat pocket. Then wishes she hadn't. Someone wants Addison and the baby. And they'll do whatever it takes to get them . . .

In a major departure from her lighthearted Key West mysteries, Burdette invites readers into the world of a chilling thriller. (Unsafe Haven is) a page-turner highlighting the problem of exploited runaways.

—Kirkus Reviews

If you'd like a nibble before you buy, read the first chapter here. And if you'd like to read more about the genesis of the book, read this post from Jungle Red Writers.

Ways to buy your copy of UNSAFE HAVEN:

Book depository 

Indiebound 

Barnes and Noble 

Amazon 

Severn House 

And if this is not in your budget (which I totally get,) you can invite your local library to order a copy!

Ragu from Leftover Pot Roast #Recipe @PegCochran

 

I love repurposing leftovers! This was a great way to use up the remains of a pot roast, which can get dry or tough when reheated. The sauce had a lot of flavor and was quick and easy to make.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups finely chopped leftover pot roast and vegetables
1/2 cup leftover gravy or homemade or low-sodium canned beef stock
1 twenty-eight-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, roughly chopped, with juice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Chop pot roast.

Heat olive oil and sauté onion and garlic--about 3 minutes.

 Add wine and deglaze pan. Boil wine until nearly evaporated.

 

 Add tomatoes, pot roast, beef stock, thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

 

Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 30 minutes.

Serve over pasta of your choice. Top with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

 

Murder in the Margins has everything: England * Charming town * Book shop * Writer-in-residence * Royalty * Cute detective * Murder!

 

 Amazon

Barnes & Noble

The plot thickens for American gothic writer Penelope Parish when a murder near her quaint British bookshop reveals a novel's worth of killer characters.

Penelope Parish has hit a streak of bad luck, including a severe case of writer's block that is threatening her sophomore book. Hoping a writer in residence position at The Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England, will shake the cobwebs loose, Pen, as she's affectionately known, packs her typewriter and heads across the pond.

Unfortunately, life in Chumley is far from quiet and when the chairwoman of the local Worthington Fest is found dead, fingers are pointed at Charlotte Davenport, an American romance novelist and the future Duchess of Worthington. Charlotte turns to the one person who might be her ally for help: fellow American Pen. Teaming up with bookstore owner Mabel Morris and her new friend Figgy, Pen sets out to learn the truth and find the tricks that will help her finish her novel.

 Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

 

Website

 

Dutch Oven Pot Roast

We're having our first blast of true winter air with temperatures in the 20s and 30s, so it seemed like the right time for the comforting heartiness of a pot roast.

Like everyone else, I have made pot roasts before. In fact, somewhere among my recipes, I have some interesting twists on them, like adding cranberries and maple syrup. But I went for a savory dish this time.

It's such a basic dish but there are a number of ways to go about making it. I checked out some recipes and they run the gamut from using beef broth instead of water to adding veggies at the beginning versus the last hour.

Probably the biggest difference between recipes was cooking time. Chuck roast is a tough cut of meat, and I know I have eaten some painfully dry pot roasts. As I read through recipes, I found one that insisted all pot roasts should be cooked at least an hour after the meat is fork tender. Hmm. That sounded like a good idea. So I went to Food Network and checked out Emeril's cooking time on pot roast. After all, he's a cooking genius, right? Sure enough, he cooked his almost 4-5 hours! So I went with a longer cooking time, and it was perfect. I only had a 2 pound chuck roast, so the total cooking time came to 3 1/2 hours plus 30 minutes standing time before serving. If you have a larger roast increase the time by at least an hour.

I assumed that some people added their vegges during the last hour because they didn't want to overcook them. But I wanted them to infuse the liquid with delicious goodness. I compromised by adding some at the beginning and more for the last hour.

Finally, almost every recipe said to brown the meat in a pan and then transfer it to the Dutch oven. Huh? I wanted to deglaze and scrape the bottom. Why would anyone leave all that flavor in another pan?

So here's my pot roast.

Dutch Oven Pot Roast

1-2 tablespoons canola or sunflower oil
salt
1/4 cup flour
1 chuck roast
4 cups water
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 small onions
4 large cloves garlic
6 carrots (separated 2 + 4)
1 stick celery
6 red potatoes

Preheat oven to 325.

Place the flour in a bowl large enough to accommodate the meat. (Add more flour for a larger roast.) Rinse the meat and dry with a paper towel. Use your hands to rub about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt all over the meat. Press the roast into the flour, turning it so it is covered with flour.

Heat the Dutch oven on the stove top over medium high heat. Add the oil. Brown the roast on each side. While the roast is browning, peel the onions and cut them into quarters. Peel the garlic and leave whole. Peel 2 carrots. (Cut in half if necessary to fit into Dutch oven.)

When the meat has been browned, add two cups of water and scrape up any bits stuck to the pot. (If your Dutch oven has a glaze, use a wooden spatula so you won't damage it.) Add the rest of the water, and mix in the marjoram. Add the onions, garlic, the 2 carrots, and the celery. Put the lid on and cook in the oven 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Peel the remaining carrots, and cut the potatoes in half. Add to the pot. Cook one more hour. Let stand 1/2 hour with the lid on before serving.

Chuck Roast

Rub with salt and press in flour.

Brown the roast in the Dutch Oven.

Add some veggies in the beginning and some with 1 hour to go.

Look! A heart potato!

Why I'm a Comfort Food Addict

A very warm welcome to Chris Wenger, author of DO OR DINER and A SECOND HELPING OF MURDER, comfort food cozy mysteries from Penguin Obsidian Books. I knew we had to invite Chris to guest blog the second I saw the cover of her book. It makes me want to dive in and read. Oh, and maybe make a little comfort food to snack on . . .

Don't miss Chris's very generous giveaway at the bottom of the post.

Here's Chris!

What is comfort food? I haven’t consulted a dictionary, but I’ll take a fork stab at the definition: food that comforts.

Brilliant, huh?

My mother was the best cook in the world. Her buffets for special events of ours (first communions, graduations, pre- and post-wedding parties, and birthday parties) are legendary.

Mom could really cook, and she knew just what us kids and our friends needed. Is there anything more comforting than a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup on a snowy day? Or how about homemade chicken soup?

Macaroni and cheese reminds me of Friday night dinners. Bacon and eggs and toast remind me of Sunday morning breakfasts. There was baked chicken most every Sunday for dinner.

The rest of the week was filled with dishes like: spaghetti and meatballs, roast beef and mashed potatoes, roast pork or pork chops, meatloaf, potato soup or B-L-Ts.

Because I am of Polish heritage, there were pierogies (that took forever to make) fried in onions, galumpkie (cabbage rolls), and kielbasa.

The summer was time for splashing in the pool, barbecued meat on the grill and corn on the cob. The winter was a time for soups and stews.

Comfort food.

So when I need “comfort”, I make my favorites and I have a craving for pot roast!

Yum!

AUNT HELEN’S POT ROAST

(My Aunt Helen was a great cook. She had a small Cape Cod house and a kitchen with little counter space, but she made the most out of every inch she had. I remember sticking to her plastic furniture covers whenever my parents brought us over for a visit. Soon I learned never to wear shorts to her house !)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 to 5 lbs. chuck roast
• 1-1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 onion, cut into chunks
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 cup apple juice
• 3 apples, cored and quartered
• zest & juice of 1 lemon or lime

PREPARATION: 

1. Brown roast in oil and add all remaining ingredients, except apples and onions.

2. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 2 hours.

3. Add onions and apples, simmer additional 1-1/2 hour or until meat is tender.

4. Remove meat from pan.

5. Slice and serve over noodles or boiled potatoes.

ABOUT CHRIS

I have worked in the criminal justice field for more years than I care to remember. It seems like I was forever going to school while I was working full time, but in the end, I received a dual master's degree in Probation and Parole Studies and Sociology from Fordham University. 

Unfortunately, the knowledge gained from way too many years in night school, didn’t prepare me for what I love to do the most - write!

To date, I’ve written nine romances for Harlequin and “almost” three cozy mysteries for Penguin Obsidian Books.

My first cozy mystery, DO OR DINER, was released from Obsidian Books in August , 2013, and was their first “comfort food” mystery! My second cozy mystery will be called A SECOND HELPING OF MURDER, and will be released on April 1, 2014. A third is completed and will be called DINERS, DRIVE-INS AND DEATH (release date unknown). This trilogy of books all feature the same characters, same small town, and are set around a 1950’s diner.

For fun, I enjoy watching professional bull riding and rodeo with my favorite cowboy, my husband Jim. We put on our cowboy regalia (I look horrible in a cowboy hat!) and have traveled to events in Las Vegas, Florida, Connecticut, and other states.

GIVEAWAY!

Chris is giving away three sets of her two cozy mysteries, DO OR DINER and A SECOND HELPING OF MURDER! That means three winners! To enter, leave a comment, preferably with your e-address so we can find you. If you don't want to leave an e-address, be sure to check back to see if you won. GOOD LUCK!