Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Guest Post - Frying Pan Pot Roast

Hello!  I am the other half of the Cake Dish family.  I thought that I’d take a few minutes to write a “guest post” so I could share a quick and easy twist on traditional pot roast.


It’s easy, relatively quick, and very tasty.

You need two ingredients:  a roast and 2 cans of Progresso French Onion Soup.  I normally use a chuck roast.  Any roast that will fit into your pan will work, I suppose, but the first time I ever made this dish I used a chuck roast and it’s always been good so I’ve never tried any other cut.  However, the roast in the pictures does represent a major change for me, because it is not your typical grocery store chuck roast.  It is all-natural, grass-fed beef from Wilkerson Farms in Willow Springs, NC.  Also, it is bone-in….most grocery store chuck roasts are boneless


I let the meat sit at room temperature for about half an hour or so, so that it isn’t very cold going into the pan.  Season it just like you would a steak, but be careful if you use seasoning salt.  The soup will add sodium, so I normally go heavier on pepper and lighter on salt.  When you’re ready to start cooking, put a little oil (I use canola) into your pan and turn the heat to med-high.  Once the oil is hot, put the roast in and sear it for just a couple of minutes on each side.


It won’t take long before you have the outside browned.  When you do, open up the cans of soup, and pour them over the roast.  After the soup is in the pan, drop the heat to low and cover.



After about half an hour, you need to turn the roast.  It’s a big cut of meat, and it isn’t easy to turn it without spilling the soup.  Be very careful.  Usually, I use two forks for the turns:  One to start lifting it, and the other to “catch” it while it drops back into the soup. 

From this point, all you have to do is continue to turn the meat every half hour or so.  In about 3 hours (depending on the size of the roast), it will be fork-tender and the soup will have reduced to a dark, savory gravy.  Delicious!



By the way….the bone-in aspect of this particular roast didn’t last very long.  The second time I turned this roast the bone came out clean as a whistle.


Normally, I make potatoes, carrots and onions to accompany this dish.  There are two ways to prepare them, but both methods start with simply cutting the veggies into bite-sized pieces.



Once that’s done, you can simply add the veggies to the soup/roast mixture if your pan’s space allows.  If you have a “normal” frying pan, be careful.  Everything will fit, but turning the roast can become especially tricky.  Also, you have to be careful with the timing.  If the veggies stay in the soup mixture for more than 20 or 30 minutes, they can turn to mush.

The other option (and the one I usually choose) is to roast the veggies in the oven.  After slicing them, I put them into a bowl and coat them with a little olive oil (just enough to cover all the veggies with a light coat).  Then, I add salt and pepper and put them on a cookie sheet (actually a Pampered Chef bar board) and roast them at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes (the timing depends on the size of your bites).


To serve, I place the roasted vegetables in a bowl and place the roast on top of them, and then pour the gravy (by the end, you can’t call it soup anymore) over all of it.  The roasted veggies keep their texture, but the flavor of the gravy still comes through.  It’s very tasty and very easy.  Enjoy! 

5 comments:

  1. Hi Jen,
    What a great looking meal, I can almost smell it cooking. We would really enjoy this meal. Thank you so much for sharing this great recipe with Full Plate Thursday and please come back soon!
    Miz Helen

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  2. What a lovely looking pot roast, for sure going to try this week, thanks so much for the recipe.

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  3. My mother always did her pot roast on top of the stove. I could never match hers until I used French onion soup mix (or Campbells) in the crockpot, but the end result is identical to yours - fall apart tender with a great gravy! This looks wonderful!!

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  4. looks like I just found another great recipe to share with my family this week thanks for sharing

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  5. Congratulations, you have been featured on Full Plate Thursday and What's For Dinner Next Week. Enjoy your Red Plate!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete

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