Third Time's a Charm

What could be easier than a basic pot roast, right? Unfortunately, I've had some disappointing pot roast meals, but I think I've found a winning recipe now. The first time I tried cooking a pot roast, I was looking for a recipe I could use that day. I didn't have time to marinate the meat for days, so I settled on a recipe for grass-fed beef that cooked a 3-5 pound roast for a 2.5 hours in a cast iron dutch oven. Only problems were that my roast was only 2 pounds and I didn't have a cast iron dutch oven. I decided to use my largest pot and put aluminum foil over it. After cooking the roast, I was going to use the liquid in the pan to make yorkshire pudding and gravy. Epic fail. I checked the meat after 2 hours, and the meat was dried out and the liquid was gone. There went my plans for the rest of the meal.
The second time I tried a pot roast, I decided to use my crock pot. I found a recipe for regular beef in one of my crock pot recipe books. At least this meal was edible, but the beef was tough and didn't have much flavor.
For my third attempt, I gave myself plenty of time, and I found the Nourishing Traditions recipe for Pot Roast on www.food.com. Miracle of all miracles, I remembered to pull the meat out in time to thaw and then marinate for 2 days. I think I'll try 3 days in the buttermilk next time and see if that makes it even more tender. I watched a YouTube video on searing meat, and I used my large pot to sear the meat and heat the cooking liquid. Then I transferred the meat and liquid to my ceramic dutch oven with a lid. The meat was still a little tough, but it had good flavor, the vegetables were tender, and there was plenty of liquid in the pot to make the yorkshire pudding and gravy. Success!

Sally Fallon's Pot Roast - serves 6-8
Ingredients
3 lbs rump roast (chuck roast or other cut suitable for pot roast is okay)
1 qt. buttermilk
2 Tblsp. butter
2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
3 springs French tarragon, tied together (subbed for fresh thyme)
1/2 tsp. green peppercorns, crushed or 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, crushed, placed in tea infuser
1 dozen small red potatoes, unpeeled, left whole
1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 Tblsp. arrowroot
2 Tblsp. filtered water
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Pot roast: Use a metal skewer to poke the meat all over.
2. Place the meat in a bowl or glass loaf pan that is just large enough to fit it. Pour the buttermilk over the meat.
3. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator, for 2-3 days, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the meat from the buttermilk (discard buttermilk) and dry off with clean lint-free towel.
5. On med. heat, sear the meat on all sides in a Dutch oven in the butter and olive oil.
6. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
7. Remove meat to platter; pour out the browning fat and discard.
8. Next, add the red wine, stock, French tarragon and peppercorns to the pot. Bring to boil and skim off the top.
9. Return the meat to the pot and bake, covered, for 3 hours or until tender. One hour before serving, add the potatoes and carrots.
10. Gravy: Transfer the meat and vegetables to a platter and bring the sauce to a boil on the stove top.
11. Spoonful by spoonful, add the arrowroot and water and whisk in the pot to make a gravy of desired thickness. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the pot roast.

Pot roast, carrots, potatoes, and yorkshire pudding with gravy

Yorkshire Pudding 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place muffin pan into oven and heat until drippings are boiling. Meanwhile, place in medium mixing bowl:

1 1/2 C. flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup sprouted whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
1 cup water

Beat well. Remove muffin tin from oven. While still hot, fill cups with batter and quickly return to oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 10 minutes longer until puffy and golden brown. Serve immediately. 


After the meal I saved the marrow and the bone for my next beef stock. I've read somewhere that people eat marrow on toast. That sounds a little gross and strange to me, but I'll keep reading and keep you posted when I figure out what to do with marrow. 

1. .

Spring time grilling

This winter has been amazingly mild, and we've had temperatures in the 40s and 50s on most days. I've loved being able to take my two little ones outside for fresh air and exercise. This past Friday I saw my first daffodil of the year, and on Monday the temperature even climbed to 60 degrees.  I decided it was high time we started using our grill again.

I had ordered some grass-fed hamburgers from our farmer last week, and I even remembered to pull them out on Sunday to begin thawing. The first time I cooked grass-fed hamburgers, I used our George Foreman grill, and I think I over-cooked the meat. They were rather hard and bland. This time I decided to do a little research before we grilled. I found a website with detailed instructions about how to grill grass-fed hamburgers. We grilled some sourdough bread for buns, and we added some raw milk Cheddar cheese. They smelled incredible when they were cooking, and they tasted juicy and flavorful. We added some grilled onions, mixed greens, ketchup, and mustard to the burgers. I haven't figured out how to make my own condiments yet, so that's a skill for the future.
Now on to the sides.  I read on a blog that beef tallow can be used to make french fries, and I thought that would be a fun side for the burgers. I saved beef tallow from the last time I made beef stock, but it's only a few Tablespoons of tallow. When I looked up the recipe for french fries, I realized I needed 6-8 cups of tallow!  Other than when you make stock, how do people get that much tallow? So that recipe was a bust. It did inspire some new items for my wish list: a french fry cutter,  deep-fat fryer, a whole bunch of tallow.
Since I still don't have my own copy of "Nourishing Traditions", I googled "nourishing traditions potato wedges." I didn't find any potato recipes that looked promising for dinner, so I tried www.tasteofhome.com, my former go-to site for recipes. I found a recipe for "Two-tone Potato Wedges," and I changed it a little based on what I've learned about traditional foods. In my teleconference with KerryAnn, she said that we shouldn't heat olive oil, so I substituted grass-fed butter. I also substituted sea salt for regular salt.
Here's the recipe for my version of Two-tone Potato Wedges
Prep: 10 min. Bake: 45 min. Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients:
- 3 medium organic potatoes
-2 medium sweet potatoes
-2 Tblsp grass-fed butter, melted
-1/4 tsp. sea salt
-1/4 tsp. pepper
1.5 Tblsp grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
- Cut each potato into eight wedges; place in a large resealable plastic bag. Add the butter, salt and pepper; seal bag and shake to coat. Arrange in a single layer in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. greased baking pan.
-Bake, uncovered at 425 degrees for 20 min. Turn potatoes; sprinkle with cheese and garlic. Bake 20-25 min. longer or until golden brown, turning once. Yield: 5 servings.

I also cooked some organic green beans with melted butter and basil as a second side. Along with our kefir and mixed berry smoothies, we had a yummy weeknight dinner. Bring on grilling season!