Pot Roast
Family weekend looming and all, I decided to cook something unusual. At first I was thinking about trying to make proper plov. As much as I love that dish, I was always afraid of trying to actually make it, mostly I get lost in all the countless recipes for the "real" plov. Well, this time I was determined.
Unfortunately, at the last possible moment I remembered I need a kazan-type dish for plov, and I don't have anything even remotely resembling one. But, as a determination of hungry me is not so easily broken, I decided to finally try something I was hoping to try for a long time: pot roast.
Normally in my experience beef is a bitch to cook. Too little - and it feels slimy and ugh, too long - and it's rubber. That said, this thing ended up tender like baby's ass. No tenderizer, no marinating, no tricks - just two hours in the oven with very low heat and a little bit of water. Oh, and the water leftovers make an absolutely delicious gravy. Maybe next time I'll try to dress it up a little - maybe some onions, tomatoes, you know, good stuff.
Try it yourselves. It is very easy to make (a WoW player could do it lol) and it's delicious. Unless you are one of those vegetarian people.
Here's an approximate recipe - at least the way it worked for me. You need, as a bare minimum:
1 beef roast, whichever cut fits your budget.
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup water (or wine, or broth, or whatever)
1 tbsp flour
Oven-safe roasting pot, with lid.
Your favorite side dish. I recommend mashed potatoes.
Throw the entire slab of meat on a frying pan and brown it from all sides. Rub the sides with salt and pepper. Transfer the meat to the roasting pot. Add 1/2 cup hot water (or wine, or broth, or whatever). If you are using plain water, you want to make it a little acidic, so add some lemon juice. Alternatively you can just put some sliced tomatoes there. You don't want to add too much water - you aren't making a stew after all. Preheat oven to about 225F, cover the pot and place it in the oven.
Roast until internal temperature is about 145F for medium-rare to 170F for medium roast - it would take a few hours, depending on the size of the roast. To be honest, by the time I got to it, my meat was rare-well done, but it was still soft and awesome, unlike what you'd expect from a steak. When it's done to the desired tenderness, open the pot and turn up the heat to 425F, roast for another 15 minutes - to form an awesome brown crust.
At this point the meat is good to go. You can transfer the remaining water into a bowl, add a spoon of flour and mix like crazy - you get a REAL gravy =) Carve the meat, get your side dish, pour some gravy over it and ENJOY.
Unfortunately, at the last possible moment I remembered I need a kazan-type dish for plov, and I don't have anything even remotely resembling one. But, as a determination of hungry me is not so easily broken, I decided to finally try something I was hoping to try for a long time: pot roast.
Normally in my experience beef is a bitch to cook. Too little - and it feels slimy and ugh, too long - and it's rubber. That said, this thing ended up tender like baby's ass. No tenderizer, no marinating, no tricks - just two hours in the oven with very low heat and a little bit of water. Oh, and the water leftovers make an absolutely delicious gravy. Maybe next time I'll try to dress it up a little - maybe some onions, tomatoes, you know, good stuff.
Try it yourselves. It is very easy to make (a WoW player could do it lol) and it's delicious. Unless you are one of those vegetarian people.
Here's an approximate recipe - at least the way it worked for me. You need, as a bare minimum:
1 beef roast, whichever cut fits your budget.
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup water (or wine, or broth, or whatever)
1 tbsp flour
Oven-safe roasting pot, with lid.
Your favorite side dish. I recommend mashed potatoes.
Throw the entire slab of meat on a frying pan and brown it from all sides. Rub the sides with salt and pepper. Transfer the meat to the roasting pot. Add 1/2 cup hot water (or wine, or broth, or whatever). If you are using plain water, you want to make it a little acidic, so add some lemon juice. Alternatively you can just put some sliced tomatoes there. You don't want to add too much water - you aren't making a stew after all. Preheat oven to about 225F, cover the pot and place it in the oven.
Roast until internal temperature is about 145F for medium-rare to 170F for medium roast - it would take a few hours, depending on the size of the roast. To be honest, by the time I got to it, my meat was rare-well done, but it was still soft and awesome, unlike what you'd expect from a steak. When it's done to the desired tenderness, open the pot and turn up the heat to 425F, roast for another 15 minutes - to form an awesome brown crust.
At this point the meat is good to go. You can transfer the remaining water into a bowl, add a spoon of flour and mix like crazy - you get a REAL gravy =) Carve the meat, get your side dish, pour some gravy over it and ENJOY.