I don’t know about you guys, but I kind of wanted to just skip January this year, and all the dumb kale diets that go with it. I’m having some serious December withdrawals. I kind of feel like December broke up with me and I wasn’t ready for it. Now I’m dying my hair, “finding myself,” my face is breaking out and all I want is Ben and Jerry’s. Come on, December. We were so good together. We’re two weeks into the new year anyway, and that’s usually about when my diet peters out, so I’m comin at you with some comfort food to numb the Christmas break up. POT ROAST AND MASHED POTATOES FOREVER. Here’s a few pot roast creations from readers like you! Don’t they all look so amazing?? Do you suck at making pot roast as much as I used to? You can be a great pot roast maker, you really can be. All it takes is a little patience and a packet of onion soup mix. (Those onion soup packets are pretty magical. I use them to make this 3 Ingredient Roasted Potatoes with Crunchy Onions, too. So good.) Choose a chuck roast with lots of good marbling. The fat that runs throughout the meat melts while it’s cooking, essentially self-basting the roast. Fat = flavor, so choosing a marbled roast is very important. After a very long cook time, the fat has mostly melted into the meat, making it super tender and flavorful. Choose a well-marbled roast with lots of white fat, then brown it to get the most flavor possible. Place the roast in a crock pot along with pan juices. Add spices and onion soup mix, then cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add carrots in the last 3 hours of cooking. The Drippings from the crock pot are on the left. I like to use a fat separator so that I’m making my gravy with only broth, no fat. Better Than Bouillon is my favorite beef base. This is what I use to make the broth for the gravy (in addition to drippings). It’s affordable, it has better flavor than any other broth I’ve tried, and I can keep it on hand in the fridge. Whisk together a little water and flour, making sure to get out all the lumps before slowly pouring it into your simmering broth/drippings. And voila! Perfect pot roast, with plenty of gravy to go around. If your grandma really hasn’t ever made you pot roast, don’t worry, you don’t need to get a new one. Just make her this recipe and establish your reign as the pot roast ruler in your family! Conveniently, your veggie side dish, carrots, is already cooked with the roast, but don’t let that stop you from serving up even more veggies. Green beans, broccoli, and asparagus are all great (click those links for my favorite ways to cook them). If this is Sunday dinner, do it right and make homemade rolls: easy ones like these Quick One Hour Dinner Rolls, classics like Aunt Shirley’s Famous Homemade Dinner Rolls, or Garlic Knots, which are totally worth the time and will make everyone love you forever. PS!! I almost forgot to tell you something else very exciting. The entire reason I posted this crock pot roast recipe is so that you have a good basic pot roast for the LEFTOVER recipe that’s coming soon on the blog. Picture this: huge amounts of pie crust. Lots of juicy roast beef. Tender carrots. And cheesy scalloped potatoes, all piled sky high in a pie pan. Oh man guys, it’s so good, can’t wait to share. UPDATE: here it is! Leftover Roast Beef, Carrot, and Creamy Potato Pie. Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
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