I made a slow roasted pot roast yesterday in it. Pot roast are super comfort food for many. It's become expensive. There's a few varieties to choose from. Rump roast, chuck roast, eye of round and a few others. My local stores carry mostly chuck or rump roast. Chuck has more marbling and a rump roast is mostly a solid chunk of tough beef. I normally cook a chuck roast in the crock pot. After 8 hours on low, with out prior searing, it turns into fork tender butter.
Yesterday, I got more bang for my buck with a rump roast. They are ideal for slow roasting and braising in my new Dutch Oven. Braising is, by definition, slightly frying then cook slowly in liquid in a closed container. I've never had success in a tender crock pot cooked rump roast, but the Dutch oven and braising seemed like a good idea.
I kept the ingredients simple yesterday. I used all natural ingredients, we're trying to use less processed foods and a pot roast is a great start.
For this roast I used
1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, garlic power, dried parsley,2 tsp of grated horseradish 1/2 tsp oregano , and 1 tbsp Worcestershire. 1/3 cup flour
Seasoning is all up to you. I always say to kids getting their own places is you can make anything taste great with a few basics. Salt, pepper, garlic, onion, & chili powder. Amounts you use are up to you too.
Start by heating your oven to 325 degrees. Remove your roast about 30 minutes before you plan to cook, room temp meat always sears better.
Prepare your vegetables. I washed and chopped 2 celery stalks, peeled and chopped 4 carrots, and 1 med. onion. You can add 3 potatoes, but we prefer creamed with pot roast.
Begin heating Dutch Oven on medium heat, with a tbsp cooking oil on the stove.
Remove roast from package, sprinkle some seasonings directly on the beef. Add a little flour to coat the roast.
Place in Dutch oven and sear a few minutes on all sides.
I'm still learning this particular Dutch oven, I had my heat too high at first. Don't worry if you over brown. It will be just fine.
Add onions and start caramelizing them. Add carrots and celery. Season again. Add 2 or 3 cups of hot tap water. Set a few onions on top of your roast.
Cover.
Place in the center of your oven. Roast an hour. To speed up cooking and to help maybe get more tender roast, I cut it in 3 pieces at that point. My theory is, a smaller cooking surface, will yield more tender roast. So far so good on that theory.
I check my roast about every hour, to make sure the water level stays right. The dry heat of an oven will make the water evaporate, so add more as needed.
I put this in the oven about 9 a.m. It was fully cooked in a few hours, but still stringy. I cooked it for about 7 hours. It turned out tender and full of flavor. This is honestly my first rump roast that has been tender. Braising is for sure the way to go, at least in my house.
Home cooking doesn't have to be complicated or full of expensive ingredients.I use mostly store brand herbs and spices. We have a tight budget, that's becoming tighter. I buy whole carrots, and peel and chop myself. I can afford organic that way. Celery, buy whole too. The tops and leaves are full of flavor. Store onions away from potatoes. Their gasses don't mesh well. You'll have potatoes turning green and onions starting to sprout.
I hope you will enjoy this pretty easy pot roast. Its great for those lazy days at home, when its cold and keeping the oven on all day will help you lower the thermostat.
Thanks for reading, Sarah
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