Friday, May 22, 2020

Tender Pot Roast

Hey folks...Check this out...Perfect pot roast is hard to beat. It's rich and flavorful, filled with soft root vegetables and ultra-tender shreds of meat that basically melt in your mouth. And the gravy—made by thickening the cooking liquid—is so good, I could smother just about anything in the stuff. Put it all together, and this meaty one-pot meal is the truth, ruth!


INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 boneless beef rump or chuck roast (3 to 3-1/2 pounds)

1/4 cup red wine, beer, beef broth or water, for deglazing

6 medium carrots, cut into thirds

 6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 large onion, quartered

3 teaspoons Montreal steak seasoning

1 (32-ounce) box beef broth

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Brown the roast If you're running short on time, you can skip this step, but we recommend browning the roast to make the pot roast more flavorful. Start by heating the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the roast and brown it on all sides, about five minutes per side. When it's finished, remove the roast to a platter and deglaze the pan with the wine, beer, broth or water, using a spoon to release any burnt bits.

Step 2: Prepare the slow cooker and cook While the meat is browning, place the carrots, potatoes and onion in the bowl of a 6-quart slow cooker. Place the roast on top of the vegetables and sprinkle it with the steak seasoning. Add the deglazing liquid and the broth and cook, covered, on low for 10 to 12 hours, until the beef and vegetables are tender. Editor's Tip: Since we've cut the vegetables into such large chunks, they should be able to stand up to this long, low-and-slow cooking time. If you're using smaller cut vegetables, you'll want to add them during the last three hours.

Step 3: Make the gravy Transfer the roast and vegetables to a serving platter and keep warm by tenting them with aluminum foil. Pour the cooking juices through a fine-mesh strainer into a fat separator. (If you don't have one, use one of these tricks for removing extra fat.) Skim off the excess fat, pour the juices into a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until the juices are boiling. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the juices and return the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture is thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Serve the gravy over top of the roast.

Why Is My Crock-Pot Roast Tough? It's possible that your roast is tough because it's undercooked. The pot roast is done when a fork goes in easily and twists of tender threads of meat. If it can't twist easily, it needs extra cook time. That said, the main reason that most pot roasts turn out tough has to do with cooking temperature.

The tough muscle fibers and connective tissue in the roast require low temperatures and long periods of time to break down. If you try to speed up the cooking process by blasting the roast with high temperatures, the muscle fibers will seize up and become extra tough. On the low setting of a slow cooker, this roast takes anywhere from eight to twelve hours, but it's totally worth the wait.

Does the Pot Roast Need to Be Covered in Liquid? Pot roast is a braised dish, so the roast doesn't need to be covered in liquid. You only need enough to come up about halfway up the side of the roast. As the pot roast cooks, it's important to peek in from time to time, ensuring that all the liquid hasn't evaporated. If the liquid level drops below a quarter of the way up the roast, the roast can turn out dry, so you'll want to add more. Plus, you want to make sure there's enough liquid to make that tasty gravy!

 There you have it..Enjoy!  Eat Well My Friends and stay safe during this coronavirus quarantine..
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Food Safety Tips
Protect yourself against food-borne illnesses.


1. Use a "refrigerator thermometer" to keep your food stored at a safe temperature (below 40 degrees fahrenheit).

Cold temperatures slow the growth of bacteria. Ensuring that your refrigerator temperature stays at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of food-borne illness. You can buy a refrigerator/freezer thermometer at appliance stories, home centers (i.e. Home Depot), and kitchen stores including online ones, such as Cooking.com.

2. Defrost food in the refrigerator, the microwave, or in cold water... never on the counter!

Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter for longer than two hours because, while the center of the food may remain frozen, the outer surface may enter the Danger Zone, the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly. If you’re short on time, use the microwave or you can thaw meat and poultry in airtight packaging in cold water. Change the water every half-hour so it stays cold and use the thawed food immediately.

3. Always use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/fish and cooked foods/fresh produce.

Bacteria from uncooked meat, poultry, and fish can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. An important way to reduce this risk is to use separate cutting boards for raw meat/poultry/ fish, and cooked foods/fresh produce.

4. Always cook meat to proper temperatures, using a calibrated instant-read thermometer to make sure.

One effective way to prevent illness is to use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of meat, poultry, and egg dishes. The USDA Recommended Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures are as follows:

* Beef, veal, and lamb (steaks and roasts), fish - 145 degrees fahrenheit

* Pork and ground beef - 160 degrees fahrenheit

* Poultry - 165 degrees fahrenheit.

Cook meats like roasts and steaks to lower temperatures, closer to medium-rare, so that they retain their moisture. It is recommended that those who are at high risk for developing food-borne illness (i.e. pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, people with weakened immune systems, or certain chronic illnesses) should follow the USDA guidelines.

5. Avoid unpasteurized/raw milk and cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that are aged less than 60 days.

Raw milk is milk from cows, sheep, or goats that has not been pasteurized (heated to a very high temperature for a specific length of time) to kill harmful bacteria that may be present. These bacteria, which include salmonella, E. coli and listeria, can cause serious illness and sometimes even death. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to pregnant women, children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Raw milk cheeses aged 60 days or longer are okay, since the salt and acidity of the cheese-making process make for a hostile environment to pathogens.

6. Never eat "runny" eggs or foods, such as cookie dough, that contain raw eggs.

Even eggs that have clean, intact shells may be contaminated with salmonella, so it’s important to cook eggs thoroughly until both the yolk and the white are firm. Casseroles and other dishes containing eggs should be cooked to 160 degrees fahrenheit and you can use an instant-read food thermometer to check. Eggs should always be cooked fully and those who are at high risk for developing foodborne illness (pregnant women and their unborn babies, newborns, young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems or certain chronic illnesses should follow the USDA guidelines. If you can’t resist runny eggs or sampling cookie batter, use pasteurized eggs. They’re found near other eggs in large supermarkets.

7. Always wash your hands in warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds before handling food and after touching raw meat, poultry, or eggs.

You can pick up a lot of bacteria out in the world, so it’s important to always wash your hands before you eat or prepare food. You should also wash your hands after touching any uncooked meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, as the bacteria from these foods can contaminate cooked foods and fresh produce. Use soap and warm water and wash thoroughly for at least 20 seconds.

8. Always heat leftover foods to 165 degrees fahrenheit.

The USDA recommends heating all cooked leftovers to 165 degrees fahrenheit in order to kill all potentially dangerous bacteria.

9. Never eat meat, poultry, eggs, or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables that have been left out for more than two hours or more than one hour in temperatures hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you leave perishable foods out of the refrigerator or freezer for more than two hours they may enter the Danger Zone—the unsafe temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, in which bacteria multiply rapidly.

10. Whenever there’s a food recall, check products stored at home to make sure they are safe.

You should discard any food that’s been recalled because it’s associated with the outbreak of a food-borne illness. But, according to a survey conducted by Rutgers University during the fall of 2008, only about 60% of Americans search their homes for foods that have been recalled because of contamination. For more information on food recalls, visit the website Recalls.gov






Cavier & Vodka
Courtesy of The Lady (Bug) of the Household