Pot Roast like no other

Slow and easy...

Here is another one of my 'throw-it-all-in-a-pot' and leave it alone recipes, these are the ones I find myself cooking on busy days. This roast recipe is similar to a pot roast we did back home only I'm using spicy V-8 juice to tingle my taste buds and make a saucy gravy. Momma used tomato juice and a little other seasonings but with the V-8, I cut back on a few spices.

Now I normally brown my roast to sear in the flavors, that's how I was taught but I know a lot of folks do not, especially if cooking long and slow. Maybe the flavor has a better chance of seeping into the meat without the sear and the long cooking time, think braising, will give us tender, juicy slices of meat or in this case, fall-apart pieces.

I'm using a chuck roast but any chuck of beef will do. A trick I learned back home on our cattle farm is that when cooking a tougher part of beef, say rump roast or any thing from the hind-end or underside for that matter, it's a good idea to naturally tenderized it the night before with just a little lemon juice. Won't affect the flavor; wrap it up and let it set overnight in the refrigerator.  And by cooking tougher pieces of meat on low heat for a long time, this method will certainly make a difference.

Enjoy this one we call:

ready for slow cooking

Pot Roast Like No Other

3 to 4 pound beef roast
Salt, pepper and garlic powder
1 large onion, sliced
3 large carrots, sliced
8 oz fresh sliced mushroom or 10 oz jar, optional
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
2 - 5.5 oz cans Spicy V-8 Juice, regular V-8 or tomato juice (about 1 1/3 cup)
Flour
Butter or olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (not creamy)

Season the roast all over with salt, black pepper and garlic powder. I went pretty good on the garlic and pepper. Place roast in a wide skillet of dutch oven. Lay onion slices on top of roast and add carrots and mushrooms if desired along the sides and a few on top. If using bottled mushrooms, be sure to rinse well under hot running water. Sprinkle the top with the dry mustard. Cover with the V-8 juice.

Heat skillet to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover and walk away, for about 3 hours at least. 

Remove about a cup of the drippings, this should leave another cup or so in the skillet. If more, you can remove the roast keeping it warm while reducing down the liquid. In a small bowl, add a heaping tablespoon of flour to about a tablespoon of melted butter or oil. Add the horseradish to the butter and stir this into the drippings and return to the skillet stirring to make an unbelievable tasting gravy. Use more flour and butter if you have a lot of liquid from your roast and want more gravy.

Note: The heat of the horseradish will mostly cook out; adding this is especially good if using tomato juice. If you like your sauce saucy as we do, you will love it with the spicy V-8. After melding with the other juices, it really isn't all that spicy.