Another week, another delicious thing simmering away in the kitchen.  This time it was pot roast, a long slow braise making the most of an inexpensive piece of meat.

Pot roast is one of those 50s housewife kind of meals that I imagine my mom ate growing up.  My grandma was – and still is – a total 50s housewife, complete with red lipstick and meat-and-potatoes meals on the table when her doctor husband came home from the office.  I can easily imagine pot roast, carrots, and potatoes on the table with a green salad and pie for dessert.  I don’t remember ever having pot roast growing up – my dad’s not a meat-and-potatoes guy – but I’ve had a taste for it since we shared a portion at Knight’s a few months ago.

Nothing fancy here: the meat and veg get a quick brown, then a slow cook in the oven for a few mouth-watering hours, until you almost can’t stand it and have to take a peek.  It’s fortunate that I did, as while the recipe called for three hours in the oven, our roast was D-O-N-E at 1:45.  While the meat rested, I reduced the hell out of the pan juices, and about 15 minutes later – and an hour ahead of schedule – we sat down to a fantastic meal.

Recipe:
Perfect Pot Roast from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, who recommends 3 hours for 3#, 4 hours for 4-5#.  I would STRONGLY recommend checking your roast with a meat thermometer at the halfway point, as our 3# roast was well beyond the temps for well-done after 1:45.  Nothing that a little gravy couldn’t fix, but it would have been INEDIBLE if we’d let it go another hour.