Today, I'm going to teach you a very valuable life lesson: Fatty meat is good. Don't go all health-conscious on me and choose the leanest cut of meat you can find. A little fat is good for the soul. And what's more important, the size of your thighs or the size of your soul?
Or the size of your chuck roast?
I decided to play it safe and make two.
What? We like meat, okay?
So, the whole concept here is pretty simple. You just sear it up in a pan, throw it in a crockpot with some herbs and stuff, and get on with your life. Go to work, go to school, do whatever normal people do. Or cancel all previous engagements so you can sit around and smell this cooking all day.
When you come home, you can throw some carrots and potatoes in with it if you want or you can do it the cool way, carrots broiled and taters boiled. Grandma even gave me a tip. She says if you leave a spoon in the potatoes they're less likely to boil over.
Cool.
Then you can make gravy if you're feeling really awesome. And since your personal chef, Mr. Crockpot, did all the work so far, I think making a little gravy is the least you could do. Besides, you can't just waste all of that beautiful juice that appeared while you were gone.
So, take those juices, and strain them into a saucepan.
There's such a thing as a gravy separator to get the grease out of your gravy, but I think a ladle works just as well. Just let all the grease rise to the top of the saucepan and then put your ladle in it just enough that all the grease cascades over the rim.
Then you'll want to add some corn starch. Don't just dump it in though. You'll want to take a little of the juice out in a dish and mix the cornstarch in till you've got a paste. Paste doesn't make lumps. Powder makes lumps. So obey me and do the extra step.
There. Beautiful, smooth, gluten-free gravy. Do it.
Herb Crusted Melt-in-your-mouth Pot Roast
1 beef chuck roast
A little olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 tablespoon rosemary
1/2 bulb garlic
1 white onion
Season the roast generously with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a pan on high heat and sear the roast well on all sides. Chop up the herbs and garlic put a little in the bottom of your crock-pot and put the roast on top. Coat the entire surface with the remaining herbs and garlic. Slice the onion up and place the pieces on top. Cover and let cook on low for about 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours until it falls apart. You can add carrots and potatoes a little while before you eat if you want. I like to do them separately though.
For Gravy:
Pour the juices into a saucepan through a strainer. Let it sit for a couple minutes until the grease rises to the top. Use a ladle to skim off the grease. Take about 1/4 cup or so of the remaining juice and mix it in a small bowl with a few tablespoons of corn starch or flour until smooth. Add this mixture back to the rest of the juice in the saucepan and whisk together until combined. Cook on medium-high heat until thickened, whisking constantly. Add a little water if it gets too thick.
For the Carrots (if not cooking them with the roast):
Slice the carrots into thin sticks. Coat with a little olive oil, a few chopped cloves of garlic, some dried or fresh rosemary or thyme, and salt and pepper. Line them on a baking sheet so that they aren't overlapping too much. Broil in the oven until tender, stirring a couple of times.
For the Potatoes:
Peel 'em, boil 'em, drain 'em, mash 'em. Add a little milk, butter, or non-dairy milk. The end.
