Thursdays Are For Cooking!!!
Baby red potatoes
This time, I’ve gone back to basics with the lady whose YouTube site is The Hillbilly Kitchen. Here, she presents her Sunday and holiday roast beef, which we’d have after coming home from church. What my paternal Grandma fixed was pretty close to this lady’s method. What my Dad fixed was burnt meat. 😛
Hillbilly Pot Roast
First is the YouTube video, which is about 38 minutes long. She explains everything and repeats where appropriate. This is the Sunday pot roast my paternal Grandma made and my Dad tried to copy. I miss that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTU7daNkBK0
Note that she does not tell you to “flour” the roast before searing it. That does make a difference, as searing the meat is meant to seal in the flavor, so flouring the roast is not necessary in this case.
Here’s her list of Ingredients:
Beef or Pork Roast (She’s using two different cuts of beef in this video, and she does discuss the price differences.)
Carrots (she’s using the baby carrots)
Potatoes
Water as needed
1 tablespoon Corn Starch per cup of liquid from the roast
Optional Seasonings:
Onion
Peppers
Garlic
Worcestershire Sauce
Mushrooms
Celery
Salt & Pepper
She’s doing this as a stovetop cookery event with a large deep lidded skillet as the cooking pan. We all have our own methods and utensils, and I would put it in a small oval roasting pan with a lid (yes, you can still get them!), or if it’s a holiday, the deep and very large 3 Ton cast iron skillet with a deep lid that I got from Lodge Cast Iron, and then I’d go do other chores like laundry.
The most important thing to remember is to keep it covered, which keeps the beef moist. She only uses a hot flame to sear the meat. With the stainless deep skillet she’s using (a lot like the Lodge deep skillet), once the meat is seared and seasoning veggies (onions, peppers) are added, it might be a good idea to turn the flame or burner down a bit, but that’s up to the cook. Me, I’d put a flame diffuser on the burner to spread the heat more evenly, but that’s just me. You know your own kitchen equipment and what does and doesn’t work.
Fortunately, it’s a one-pot meal, which means less clean-up in the end, and keeps the gravy in the pot with the roast.
It’s worth your time to take a look as she is very thorough in going over her methods of cooking this way and the difference between stovetop roasting and the other methods, such as the Instapot.
Hi Ex,
when is dinner? Pot Roast is one of my favorite meals! My wife makes a wonderful roast and her gravy is beyond belief! Nothing like gravy made by a good southern girl!!
Great as always!
Willy
WW!!!!
Great to see you on AND with a healthy apatite.
YAY.
Cheers
Welcome Back, WW…We have missed you!
Happy to see all is well for you!
Thanks Guys,
I am still having computer troubles, so I can’t get online most of the time, but I will try my best to be more active!
Take care all,
Willy
Thank You for sharing this with us, Ex!
She also has a recipe for “Nana” Pudding.
Ask any Southerer (such as our resident Rebel, KoB, hbtd) what a TRUE Banana Pudding is comprised of as well as the taste.
Definitely NOT Boxed Vanilla pudding!
https://youtu.be/KtLosBvPePA
Num, num, num…ain’t NOTHIN’ like a good beef or porked loin beast orast, with taters and baby carrots, stewing in its own gravy. Add a pan of fresh, hot buttermilk catheads to sop up that gravy with. Make a puppy pull a freight train. Took me a bit bit to get here, Had to watch the video…you know…just to make sure Ms Thang wasn’t steering y’all wrong.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, searing the meat is supposed to keep the juices in, but putting a layer of flour on the meat not only helps in that aspect, but also makes a real nice crusty edge on the beast, and helps with the gravy makings. And yes ma’am, I gots me several of them round, blue enamel covered orasting pans, different sizes, with lids. Cast iron dutch ovens with lids in various sizes too. Flame diffusers? yes’um…one on each eye of my gas stove, including the power burners and the accu simmer. No time for half measures.
“‘Nana puddin'”? Gots to make them with ‘nilla wafers…and fluffy egg white baked (just enough to lightly brown it) meringue. Box? phffft! Maybe a box involved with the shipping of the ‘nanas…or the nilla wafers. Creepy, Sniffy, Prezzy Joe eats puddin’ from a cup…like the ones you can get at the K Roger store 4 for a $1.
Tanks Ex…let’s eat! ninja…RTR!
Whoa! Thank you for this BP recipe, Ninja! My Missus assures me that she always endeavours to feed her #1 knuckle-dragg’n primate only THE very best. Her reasoning – well fed = less likely to stray 🐵👍 And experience tells me, if it’s ‘Southern-sent’, it’s gonna be good. Reeeal GOOD! Cheers
Probably one of the refinements in learning to cook is how seer different cuts of meat. There are subtle differences between various metals but that spray oil stuff can be helpful.
The other sensitive variable is the moisture content of the meat. We’re sort of cursed with one of those flat top electric stoves and the heat is not steady, it sort of pulses. So much more reliable to cook with a nice blue flame. Nonetheless, as Ex notes, we all learn to work with what we have.
When I see a bargain on inexpensive wine I’ll stock up and use it for deglazing pots & pans. Otherwise, I’m not above using plain old vinegar.
My dear ol’ grandma from Vidor, TX used add vinegar to her pot roasts and you couldn’t find a more tender roast if you wanted to. Ahh, geez, that was in another era and that part of East Texas was real peculiar, and not just for the poor quality of the drinking water.
Do you know what kind of vinegar she used? Apple cider vinegar is distinct from other vinegars, as is wine vinegar. Also, the approximate quantity your Grandma used would help, too.
That is something I’d like to give a trial run.
I use a tablespoon, or so, and check the broth for flavor. Haha, grandmas just pour it in, never saw her measure anything. Vinegar is acidic and that helps to tenderize the meat. A three or four pound roast could probably handle a quarter cup of vinegar.
I’ve used cider vinegar with good results with low and slow cooking.
Adding some crushed ginger snaps when making the gravy is also a tasty enhancement for those who like a little sweet with the tart.
For those who like to cook under pressure….
Ingredients:
2 to 3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut in 4 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup beef flavored broth
8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into fourths
3 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
8 baby red potatoes, cut in half
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
Steps
1 Rub beef with salt and pepper. Spray 6-quart Instant Pot® insert with cooking spray. Select SAUTE; adjust to normal. Melt butter in insert. Add beef; cook 4 to 6 minutes on first side until browned. Turn and cook 4 to 6 minutes on second side until browned. Transfer to medium bowl using tongs.
2 Add onions; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until softened and beginning to brown. Stir in broth. Select CANCEL. Stir in carrots, celery, garlic and thyme. Stir in potatoes. Add beef to mixture in insert.
3 Secure lid; set pressure valve to SEALING. Select MANUAL; cook on high pressure 45 minutes. Select CANCEL. Set pressure valve to VENTING to quick-release pressure.
4 Remove beef to serving platter. In small bowl, beat cornstarch and water with whisk. Select SAUTE, and adjust to normal; heat liquid to simmering. Gently stir in cornstarch mixture; cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. Select CANCEL. Serve vegetables with beef.
From Betty Crocker. https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/instant-pot-classic-pot-roast/05be7a40-2453-4465-bf33-a6b0e13396a5
Thanks, GC! I was hoping you’d drop that in here.
Anytime!
There are some recipes that are just not conducive for pressure cooking alone. For the most part, that is anything that needs to be browned after the cooking is done. (think pies, bread, etc.) So I can’t respond to all recipes.
This one, however, fits well with pressure cooking.
I did recently purchase an Instant Omni Plus Toaster Over / Air Fryer and have been playing with that and so far, absolutely love it.
So more toys to play with!
Keep up the good work!
Cooked a pot roast yesterday in the crock pot with some taters, carrots and onions. Just finished the leftovers as hash fried up in the skillet.
Don’t you feel kind of sorry for people who think cooking is throwing something into the microwave?