Some comfort foods are just…quintessential. Pot roast is one of those comfort foods. Of course I have a story about pot roast. I grew up with pot roast for Sunday dinner; it was the very taste of dinner for company. Several years ago, a dear friend named Lindsey was in the last days of her fight against metastatic breast cancer. She was CRAVING pot roast and nobody seemed inclined to make it for her. So I volunteered. It’s not a difficult meal to make but it IS essential to have in your repertoire….you know, just in case someone CRAVES it!
Basic Homemade Pot Roast
I started with 4 to 5 pounds of meat. Today I used venison roasts for this dish. Slow cooking venison gives you a tender, moist meat. Right now my freezer is full of venison that tastes like beef. I’m pretty sensitive to gamey tastes in my meat and this venison is amazing. This is a great recipe to start with if you’re new to cooking venison.
I cooked this pot roast in my deep, covered roaster pan. This kept the meat and all the veggies nice and moist. I peeled and quartered:
- 1 large onion
- 6 small pearl onions
- 5 cloves of garlic
I put these in the bottom of the roaster.
Then I heated up a skillet on a medium high burner.
Because I was going to be searing venison which has virtually no fat on it, I melted a couple tablespoons of butter in the skillet and then plopped the venison roast in the pan. I browned all the sides of the venison roast which took about ten minutes. Then I put the roast in the roaster pan on top of the onions and garlic.
Meanwhile, I put another 2 Tablespoons of butter in the skillet. I melted and browned the butter. Once it was browned, I whisked in:
- 1/3 c. flour
- 2/3 c. wine
- 1/3 c. water
I scraped this thickened, browned mixture over the roast. I also salted and peppered the meat generously.
I put the cover on the roaster pan and put it into the oven at 400°. I left the oven on for an hour. Because I was cooking the roast in a really heavy pan, the high temperature just started the cooking process. After an hour, I turned the oven down to 300°.
The roast continued to cook at 300° for another 3 hours. Remember, the heavy roaster pan cover is keeping all the moisture in.
Then I put in about ten small red potatoes and 3 large carrots on top of the meat. I put the cover back on and continued cooking. Meanwhile the house was smelling just amazing! Another 45-60 minutes cooked the potatoes and carrots to fork-tenderness.
By the time the meat and vegetables were all cooked, there was a thick brown gravy in the bottom of the roaster pan. I didn’t even need to make gravy for the meat and potatoes; it was already bubbling and perfect in the pan.
I added a tossed green salad and our meal was complete. And oh my, comfort food it was!
Barb 
- don’t forget that we’re on FacebookAND Twitter . “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for the very latest in the Kitchen.
My cheater recipe from the 70′s:
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can red wine
1 envelope dehydrated onion soup
Slow roast (300 degrees) until the meat is done
Sounds and looks disgusting when it goes into the pan but the result is delectable. Still, I admit, my mom’s Sunday roast with all the veggies would beat it hands down!!!
I was given a similar cheater recipe and it was definitely tasty. One word of caution on those soup mixes though….I’m prone to migraine headaches and all the sodium and MSG triggered a whopper of a migraine for me when I ate that variation of pot roast. These days I work hard to avoid those seasonings that come loaded with MSG. If extra sodium and MSG doesn’t bother you, however, this is a very tasty recipe to try.
i agree with you barb. back about almost 10-11yrs. now, while recovering from my hysterectomy, a bunch of gals from the church brought meals over for a couple of weeks. now this was in august at the height of the heat here in oakhurst and bryana frembling brought over pot roast. it tasted divine and the good thing was i didn’t have to heat up my kitchen to get it. we just almost never have pot roast in the summer time and this was a real treat. ooh, i remember you brought over a pasta/chicken salad that was really yummy too. i was blessed.
Sounds delicious, and I’m glad you were able to make some for your friend. You’re right – it is an ultimate comfort food and everyone should have a great roast recipe.