The school The Hubble is in has several foreign students in it. Within his group is a student from Poland. With us being so interested in different cultures and enjoying diversity amongst the people we associate with, The Hubble was more than willing to volunteer to be the Polish student's sponsor for the duration of the program.
Of course to me, that meant that I got to introduce the Polish student to American cuisine! Woohoo!! My dilemma was: what to make???
Naturally, I went with pot roast! What says "American cuisine" like pot roast?? But not just any pot roast, no. I was going to make him New England pot roast! And for dessert?? Congo Bars! The Hubble says the Polish student loved dinner. Now I just have to get him to give me some Polish recipes!
On to the recipe!
Ingredients: beef roast, potatoes, onions, carrots, horseradish sauce, salt, pepper, and water.
Generously salt...
And pepper both sides of the pot roast.
Place in a large Dutch oven and brown all sides.
I know this wasn't listed in the ingredients but once the top is brown I like to sprinkle it with Montreal Steak seasoning. Yum!
See how pretty...and yummy?!?!
After all the sides are browned and you've properly seasoned your roast, dump your horseradish sauce on that bad boy.
And just smear it all over the meat.
Now pour in some water. And pay no attention to the fact that I have two roasts in there. I couldn't find one big enough at our grocery store so I got two small ones. But you don't see that second one!
Bring the water to a boil while still ignoring my second roast. Unless you had the same small roast dilemma. Then you can look at my second one because you have a second one as well.
At this point we cover the roast, lower the heat, and let everything simmer for 2 and a half hours. You can now go take a bath, do the dishes, color your hair, read a book...heck, you can even watch a movie during this time!
When the house starts to smell so delicious you can hardly stand it anymore (about half an hour before the 2 and a half hours is up) you want to go start prepping your veggies. Wash your potatoes...
Cut them in half...
And place them in a large bowl.
Peel your carrots...
Chop off the tops...
And the bottoms...
Cut them into four pieces.
Toss them into the bowl with the potatoes.
Take your onion and chop off the top...
And the bottom...
And peel.
Cut it in half one way...
Then rotate it 45 degrees and cut in half the other way...
Yay! We just quartered an onion! Now do this several more times until all your onions are quartered.
Toss those in with the carrots and potatoes.
When the 2 and a half hours are up (oh man that looks good!)...
Dump your veggies in the pot with the meat.
Try to get all the potatoes as covered as possible. Then cover and cook another hour or so until the potatoes are cooked through.
When the potatoes are done remove everything to a platter. If you don't work very fast, cover it with foil to keep it warm.
Now at this point people started arriving so I don't have pictures of this part. But, you want to take about half a cup of the juice out of the pot and put it in a bowl. Whisk in a quarter cup of flour (like with did with the chicken with 20 cloves of garlic). When the flour dissolves, whisk that mixture back into the pot. Bring to a boil for a minute or two to thicken. Now you have a nice gravy to go over your post roast. Serve it up and enjoy!!
New England Pot Roast
Adapted from Betty Crocker BigRed Cookbook
Ingredients:
- 4 pound beef pot roast
- salt
- pepper
- 1 jar (12-16 oz) horseradish sauce
- 1 cup water
- 8-10 small red potatoes, cut in half
- 8-10 medium carrots, cut in fourths
- 6-8 small onions, quartered
- 1/4 cup flour (for gravy)
- Montreal Steak Seasoning (optional)
- Generously salt and pepper both sides of meat.
- Place in large Dutch oven and brown all sides.
- Sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning (if desired).
- Spread horseradish all over meat.
- Add water, heat to boiling.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
- Add potatoes, carrots and onions, cover and simmer another hour to an hour and 15 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
- Transfer meat and veggies to platter, cover with foil to keep warm.
- Remove 1/2 a cup of broth from pot. Whisk in flour. Whisk mixture back into pot. Allow to boil for 1 to 2 minutes until thick. Serve over roast and veggies. Enjoy!