Dinner X2 - Pot Roast and Yummy Tomato Pasta Sauce

So I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted for dinner upon our return from Hawaii.  I was somewhat cold and felt like a comfort meal.  Prior to our departure we received the new Cook's Country magazine and there was a yummy looking pot roast recipe.  So I figured I would go for it...plus it had a yummy looking leftover recipe for "Sunday Gravy" - which is essentially a chunky tomato/meat pasta sauce.  So I figured I would try it...SOOOOOO GOOD!  Everything was outstanding and really not too complicated, which is really what you need when you are trying to keep track of both kids.  So I thought I would share that recipe with you (I only took two pictures pre-cooking - I promise I will get better with the final product pictures):

Chuck Roast in Foil (The Lazy Cook’s Pot Roast)

This recipe is from “Cook’s Country-February/March 2011.”  You can also use the leftovers for the “Quick Sunday Gravy” that is in the same issue.

You will need an 18” wide roll of heavy-duty aluminum foil for this recipe.

RUB

3 Tbsp cornstarch

4 tsp onion powder

2 tsp light brown sugar

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp instant espresso powder

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp celery seed

CHUCK ROAST

1 (4lb) boneless beef chuck-eye roast

2 onions, peeled and quartered

6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces

2 bay leaves

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1.        Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl (I whisked it together because it was kind of lumpy if I just stirred it).

2.       Pat roast dry with paper towels.  Separate roast into 2 pieces along natural seam and trim fat to ¼-inch thickness.  Tie kitchen twine around each roast at 1-inch intervals (I did not tie the twine around – but I think it would have been easier to lift the roast out once it had cooked).

3.       Crisscross two 30 by 18 inch sheets of heavy-duty foil inside large roasting pan.  Place onions, potatoes, carrots and bay leaves in the center of foil and drizzle with soy. 

Set roasts on top of vegetables.  Rub roasts all over with rub. 

Fold opposite corners of foil toward each other and crimp edges tightly to seal.  Transfer pan to oven and cook until meat is completely tender, about 4 ½ hours.

4.       Remove roasts from foil pouch and place on carving board.  Tent meat with foil and let rest 20 minutes.  Discard onions and bay leaves.  Using slotted spoon, place carrots and potatoes on serving platter.  Strain contents of roasting pan/foil through a fine-mesh strainer into fat separator.  Let liquid settle, then our defatted pan juices into serving bowl.

5.       Remove kitchen twine from roasts.  Slice roasts thinly against grain and transfer to platter with vegetables.  Pour ½ cup pan juices over meat.  Serve with remaining pan juices.

Make ahead: Rub can be made and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 month.

And then here is the followup recipe:

Quick Sunday Gravy

This recipe uses the leftovers from the Chuck Roast in Foil which is from “Cook’s Country-February/March 2011”

“This recipe will dress 1 pound of pasta we prefer tubular shapes here.”

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 pound hot Italian sausage

2 onions, chopped medium

2 Tbsp tomato paste

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp sugar

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ cup red wine

1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes

2 cups shredded leftover chuck roast meat

Salt and pepper

3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

1.       Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat until just smoking.  Add sausage and cook until well browned, 6-8 minutes.  Transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate.  Slice in half crosswise; reserve (I took the casings off the sausages prior to cooking but kept them in the sausage form, but then when I took them out, I just cut them into rounds and it worked nicely).

2.       Cook onions in sausage fat over medium heat until browned, 6-8 minutes.  Add tomato paste, garlic, sugar, and oregano and cook until tomato paste begins to darken, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add wine, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 1 minute.  Add tomatoes, chuck roast, reserved sausage, ¾ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper.

3.       Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.  Stir in basil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve over pasta.  (Sunday gravy can be refrigerated in airtight container for 2 days).

Anyway, these recipes have fed our family for the past 3 nights...so I highly recommend both of these recipes!

Let me know if you try them out!

Cheers to meat that makes two meals!