Pot roast mom's way

Talk about brown food! When I was a kid my mother regularly made pot roast for Sunday dinner. It went into the oven before we went to church and was ready to eat by about 1 pm.

You can see this hunk o' meat was pretty big (took this snap after dinner). About 4 pounds in fact. It's original price was just over $16. I got it on sale for $5 from the manager's specials bin at Safeway. The reason the price was reduced was that it's "last date of sale" was yesterday. But with beef or lamb I don't considere the date specific deadline to be of any importance whatsoever. With pork or poultry I feel differently of course.

The meat has been chilled and you can see more residual congealed fat in the bottom of the container. I'll skim off more of that when I reheat it for dinner tonight.

After researching various pot roast methods I happened on one that I just had to do. It mimics the way my mom cooked our pot roasts lo these many years ago. The only real difference is the wine. She didn't use it. Whether or not she used some chicken stock or not I really don't remember.

When the casserole came out of the oven, I was surprised by how much liquid there was.

Solution? Gravy.

Pot roast mom’s way
1 7-bone chuck pot roast, about 4 lbs.
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can undiluted mushroom soup
1 ½ cups red wine
water and flour as needed

Preheat oven to 300°.

Place pot roast in a casserole just large enough to hold it. On top of meat put onion soup mix and mushroom soup concentrate. Pour wine around meat.

Cover with foil and seal tightly. Bake for 1 hour then reduce oven to 250°. Continue baking for 3 more hours.

Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature (or put it outside if the weather’s cold). Refrigerate until the fat congeals. Scrape up fat and discard. Pour liquid into an adequately sized sauce pan for gravy.

Taste and dilute with water as necessary (mine was extremely salty and strong – I added about ¾ cup of water). Bring to a boil. Whisk in about 1 tbsp flour per (estimated) cup of liquid. It takes more time and more flour here in mile-high Denver). Keep at a strong simmer and keep whisking until the gravy thickens.

Garlic gravy

For several months I have contemplated making a dish that is garlic, garlic, and more garlic. Finally last night I did it. The idea of so much of the pungent little heads of goodness may be appalling to some. In the end, it was exactly what I had hoped for.

Garlic gravy
3 heads garlic
olive oil, as needed
1 tbsp butter
1 cup chicken broth
1 stalk fresh thyme
1 serrano chile, halved but not seeded
1 cup corn kernels, thawed if previously frozen
¼ cup heavy cream
salt, to taste
white pepper, to taste
1 tsp corn starch
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut one garlic head in half across the middle drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour.

Peel 8 cloves from another head of garlic. Set aside.

Peel 3 more large cloves from another head of garlic. Slice them across to about 1/16”.

In a sauté pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter over medium heat. Place the garlic slices in the oil and cook until golden but not brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel. Save the remaining butter and oil in the pan to saute a piece of meat or something else.

Put the chicken broth, thyme, serrano pepper and peeled whole cloves in the sauté pan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer until the cloves are very tender, about 30-40 minutes.

Remove the garlic to a small bowl with a slotted spoon. Discard the serrano pepper.

Add the corn to the broth and simmer until very tender, about 10 minutes. Remove to a food processor. Add the cream and puree thoroughtly.. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing with a wooden spoon. Discard solids.

Return this liquid to the processor, add the roasted garlic (squeeze it) and puree. Put this back in the saute pan. Add the whole peeled garlic cloves, corn starch (dissolve it in a little water first), season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over your favorite kind of rice.