Take note of this one busy parents!
The other night I bought a "pot roast" (presumably, some cut of chuck) on the recommendation of the enthusiastic butcher at Kroger. Well-marbled, about $8 for a 2-3 pound piece. Last night, I dragged out a cast iron skillet and put the semi-frozen slab in, filled the pan (sides and on top of the meat) with chopped veggies: potatos, carrots, turnips, onion, a little garlic, a sprinkle of salt, big sprig of rosemary and a small squirt of oil. I tossed it in a 220°F oven from 8 pm to 6 am.
The aroma wafting through the house caused the dog to wake up several times. This morning, I removed it and let it sit. In the interest of quality assurance and protecting my family, I selflessly lunged at a morsel of the fork tender succulence. I almost portioned it out for breakfast.
Interestingly, the roots were not overcooked, still relatively firm. Took 10 minutes to toss together and will take a few minutes to warm and we will eat well tonight.
Slow cooking is the way to cook these inexpensive cuts - Thanks Wolfert (and Andrew for telling me of her book.)
My only complaint on this is the roots cooked near perfectly, BUT, they and the meat looked all the same color. Visually, the meal wasn't very appealing. We served it with a few crisp raw veggies to up the color. In the future, I'd add the veggies later in the cooking to retain their color. Aside from that, it was an amazing meal.
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