Roast with Veggies

"There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves." 
- Thomas Wolfe


This is a recipe that I don't ever really measure - but I tried!  Let me say that the cut of meat you purchase will inevitably affect the quality of the finished meal.  I used bottom round roast this time, and I felt like I was chewing a leather belt.  I typically use a blend of chuck roast and rump roast - or all rump.  Just keep that in mind when shopping.  Also, I ordinarily do this in the crock pot, but I didn't want to have to lug that across town when I took the food to my parents' house to eat, so I broke tradition for only the second time and did it in the oven.  The instructions for crock pot cooking will be below the instructions for using the oven.

Roast with Veggies

1 lb carrots, peeled, cut into 2" long sections (halve lengthwise if thick)
8 medium potatoes, peeled, quartered
1 large purple onion, skin and outer layer removed, cut into chunks (I did 16)
4lb roast (rump, chuck, round)
3/4 c oil
1/2 c Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper

1. Prep all veggies.

 

 2.  Mix together oil, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and pour half of it over the veggies - toss to coat.  You may want to add more salt and pepper.

3. Cut meat into 2x2" cubes or slightly larger.  Toss with remaining oil mixture, adding more salt and pepper if desired.

 4. Layer veggies then meat in large glass baking dish (11x15"-ish).  Cover with tented foil.  Bake at 350º until internal temperature of meat reaches 145º (Doneness Versus Safety) - around 1 1/2 hours.  I was going by the old guidelines which suggested cooking whole cuts to an internal temp of 160º, which is another reason mine came out tough.  The new guidelines have lowered the safe cooking temperature for whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and veal.

11-04-12:  When I reheated the leftover roast and vegetables, I picked out all the meat and put it in the pressure cooker and filled it to the half-full line with water.  Once the jiggler started doing its dance, I gradually stepped back the heat so it maintained a steady pace.  I let it cook for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, I had the veggies and cooking liquid in a separate saucepan boiling to tenderize them a bit more.  In all it took about 20 minutes or so.  If it's any indication of how much more tender the meat was, my daughter had smelled it cooking and thought I had made vegetable soup (one of her faves).  I told her it was roast and carrots and potatoes and asked if she still wanted some.  She said she did, so I fixed her a plate with one good-sized chunk of meat and a couple of carrots and potatoes.  She ate the meat (with bbq sauce) and left the veggies!

Crock Pot Instructions

Same ingredients.  Same prep for veggies and meat.  Here's where it changes.

1.  Layer veggies in crock pot with carrots/potatoes on bottom, onions on top of them.

2.  Season all sides of meat with salt and pepper.  Add to crock pot.

3.  Add Worcestershire sauce.

4.  Put on lid, and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until veggies and meat are tender (at least 4 hours).

Serve it either way with Blue Ribbon Buttermilk Biscuits, White Lily Cornbread, or crusty Italian or French bread.