Comments on: Pot Roast

By: Amie

Amie — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 01:02:57 +0000

@ plambert, I know what you mean about that loss of fat and the compromise on flavour as a result. A perfect example being making chili from turkey as opposed to a 70% lean beef chuck or sirloin. To get a comparable level of spiciness between the two, you need to use nearly twice the spice ratio, or add fat back into the mix for the turkey.

By: plambert

plambert — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:37:52 +0000

There was an article in the murky news a few years back that included a Q&A with a long time butcher. One of the most common questions he was asked was, “why can’t I make a pot roast as good as my mother made?”

His answer was simple: “you can’t buy a pot roast as good as your mother bought.” She’d put on some salt and pepper and let it cook in its own fat. But the leanest meats available 30 years ago had more fat than the fattiest in stores today.

Progress has surprising costs. *sigh*

By: bbum

bbum — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:31:17 +0000

It would have been better with yellow onions, I believe.

They were small heads of garlic. So, it was about the equivalent of 1.5 heads. Surprisingly mild in the end and had a wonderful flavor without overwhelming the subtle beef flavors.

We really, really like garlic. My wife is italian and I enjoy intense flavors.

By: Amie

Amie — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:24:05 +0000

Did the red onions have enough acidity to make a statement? I find that yellows really do hold up better in long cooking. And did I read correctly that you used two full heads of garlic??

By: rama

rama — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:55:40 +0000

For the gravy: degrease, deglaze (I like to use beer with beef, but a red wine would bring even more flavor), reduce. Add a bit of butter to finish if you need it thicker.

By: Scott Kovatch

Scott Kovatch — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 13:49:38 +0000

You should check out Cook’s Illustrated, if you aren’t reading it already. An awesome cooking magazine, and they recently had a good article on making pot roast — which cut to buy, how to cook it, and so on. See http://cooksillustrated.com/ but the site requires a subscription for back articles. Their recipe doesn’t seem too far off from the one you found.