Halloween Wrap-Up, November Musings and Pot Roast

November 3, 2015

Happy November, Readers! While the Minxes are sorry to bid Halloween goodbye, I’m giving a little sigh of relief. October is just chaotic for us. When I went to turn the family calendar to November, I had to laugh, because our October calendar looked like a bunch of Sharpies got drunk and threw up all over it. November seems tame in comparison.

Colorado cooked up a beautiful weekend for us and we felt grateful. Mozzy got lots of walks and leaps in leaf piles and the girls could trick-or-treat for hours without heavy coats. Thank goodness the school does a candy “buy-back” program the Monday after Halloween, because we are drowning in junky, sugary stuff. I allowed the girls to keep about 1/3 of their haul, and believe me, we still have plenty underfoot.

Miss D. broke out the face paint this year, as you can see. She’s some sort of gothic ghoul with a cracked, spidery face. She spent hours practicing her makeup (and made a complete mess of her bathroom). Last Friday, she set her alarm 40 minutes early so she wouldn’t have to rush her handiwork. An artist needs time, people!

 

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She was pleased with the results. She was a little less pleased on Sunday, when I handed her a whole bottle of bathroom cleaner and put her to work, but that’s the tradeoff.

Miss M. chose a Cheshire Cat costume this year.

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The undershirt is her own doing and is a must for that child; she has the most sensitive, itchy, rash-prone skin in the universe. Those store-bought costumes always send her into fits of scratching, so the undershirt is key. Her sister offered to paint her face and M. politely declined. I think that black, freaky eye gave her the willies.

A bit of a funny on M.–while she was okay on Saturday when her sister went trick-or-treating with her friends, Miss D. also had plans with friends Sunday afternoon/evening. About an hour after her departure on Sunday, M. began getting restless, asking when her sister would be home. She fidgeted and fretted and pouted around the house. Poor little thing missed her sister. We teased her gently about it and she huffed, “Yeah, yeah, I miss her. So what? Sue me.” Our hummingbird loves hanging out with her big sis, probably even more than hanging out with the Mozz-man, and that’s saying something.

Speaking of Mozzy, we did not dress him up in costume this year. I guess I was negligent because I didn’t look for one until a week before Halloween, and PetSmart was nearly out of everything! People take their pet costumes seriously around here. So breathe easy, Mozz–at least until next year!

 

P1060018                                                                                                            ^ 2015 Bullet-Dodger

 

I’ve seen a lot of grousing on social media about the arrival of Daylight Savings Time, and I get it, because I definitely dread the dark days of winter. On the other hand, it’s been a little easier to drag my butt out of bed the last few days, because it’s not pitch-black out in the morning. How do you feel about DST? Yay, Nay or Don’t Care?

I wanted to share last week’s pot roast tale with you. I need to back up a little though, and tell you that when I was a kid, I hated it when Mama made pot roast. In those early North Dakota years, Daddy traveled a lot for work–I mean, a crazy amount–and whenever he came home for a few days, she welcomed him back with a pot roast dinner. While I was happy to see Daddy, I was not so thrilled about the pot roast, because a pot roast dinner meant the arrival of my arch-nemesis: cooked carrots.

Cooked carrots, with their slimy texture and oddly sweet flavor? Ugh! Not meant for human consumption. Cooked carrots are the Devil’s Instrument, and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate them to this day.

When Mama served pot roast dinner, I’d take a tiny amount of pot roast, load up on potatoes and gravy, and studiously avoid the cooked carrots. Usually, she let me get away with it, bless her.

I never thought, as an adult, I would choose to make a pot roast, but if it’s Daddy’s birthday, I’ll try. Unfortunately, the pot roasts of years past haven’t turned out very well. I’ve never found a recipe that worked for me, even when people assured me that pot roast was the easiest thing EVER to make. “What’s the fuss? Just stick it in the oven and cook the tarnation out of it,” people would say. Hmph.

This year, when I was (yet again) scouring the internet and cookbooks for a pot roast recipe, I figured out what I find so maddening about pot roast. For such a “simple” dish, there are a million ways to make it, and nobody seems to agree on the best method! Some recipes called for a 2 1/2 hour cooking time. Other recipes–for the same size roast–called for over 4 1/2 hours. Some swore by the crock pot method; others said that was a disaster waiting to happen. Some braised the roast on top of the stove; others baked it in the oven. And oh! Those recipes where you bake the sucker? Just try to figure out what temperature to set the oven at. I saw temperatures as low as 275 degrees and some as high as 350. Maddening, I tell you!

Finally, I settled on this recipe from Cooking Light magazine. I did NOT serve the carrots that went along with the roast, though. How on earth would they advise you to cook the carrots with the roast for 3-plus hours and then serve them alongside? Those carrots were pasty, nasty, glutinous things. As soon as the roast was done, I tossed those bad boys into the garbage. I roasted a few carrots in olive oil, salt and pepper for 30 minutes and served those. I didn’t eat them myself, though. Even done properly, cooked carrots are an abomination.

I am happy to report that the roast turned out! I also took the extra care to order my pot roast from a good butcher, so that may have been a huge part of the equation right there. I don’t know. I’m just relieved that it came out fall-apart tender and juicy. Fifth time’s the charm, eh?

I will make one comment about the gravy in this recipe, because personally, I am picky about my gravy. The gravy in the recipe you see below is very heavy on tomato flavor, and I wasn’t used to that. I haven’t made a tomato-based pot roast before and Mama never added tomatoes to her pot roast, so this was new to me. The gravy was flavorful and pretty healthy, with the tomatoes and herbs and pureed vegetables in it, but personally, when I make it again, I am going to reduce the tomatoes (maybe use half the amount they called for) and add in another cup or so of beef broth instead. It just tasted a little too aggressively “tomato-ish” for me. Feel free to tinker based on your experience and your preference.

Also, if any of you readers have a tried-and-true pot roast recipe, send it my way! Next year, I’ll be looking for something else to try.

Final verdict? Pot roast was delicious, gravy needed tweaking.

Sigh.

Until next year.

 

Beef Pot Roast (and yeah, there is no picture because pot roast is ug-ly. Tastes good, looks awful)

adapted from Cooking Light magazine

serves 8

1 (4-pound) boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and tied

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons canola oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

12 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

2 cups dry red wine

2 cups low-sodium beef stock

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 (28-ounce) container chopped tomatoes (such as Pomi)

2 teaspoons freshly chopped fresh rosemary

4 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 large onion, cut into 8 pieces

1 bay leaf

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper and rub with canola oil. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat until very hot. Add beef to pan and sear on all sides–about 7 minutes per side or until browned. Remove beef from pan.

Add tomato paste and garlic to the pan and cook for a minute. Add red wine to the pan, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine is almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Combine beef stock and flour in a bowl and stir with a whisk until no lumps remain. Add stock mixture, sugar and tomatoes to the pan. Bring to a boil. Return the beef to the Dutch oven and add rosemary, carrots, thyme, onion and bay leaf. Cover the Dutch oven and place in the oven.

Bake, covered, for 3-4 hours*, turning halfway through cooking time, or until the meat falls apart when pierced with a fork.

Remove the beef, the thyme sprigs and the bay leaf. Remove carrots, if desired. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth, adding more beef broth if it seems too thick. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly.

Shred the beef into large pieces and serve with the sauce.

 

* If you live at high altitude like I do, you will probably need closer to the 4 hours called for.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Arnebya November 3, 2015 at 7:52 am

Um, I have to come back in a few minutes after I stop staring at Miss D. JESUS BE A TIME TRAVELING DELOREAN AND MAKE THIS SHIT STOP.

OK, I’m back. My thoughts on DST: big fat NO. The sun tells us what time it is, period. Although I understand the concept, and original purpose, it’s still feels antiquated and more harmful to those who it doesn’t help. And believe me, it ain’t helping me to have it pitch damn black at 5:30.

We don’t eat red meat so the pot roast is out for me, and tomato-y gravy just sounds uck. BUT! I cook the hell out of carrots! Roasted, sauteed, steamed, you name it (I can only eat them raw if they’re shredded or at least chopped in half). I’ll also suggest this, which I JUST figured out after having an electric oven for 14 years: those bitches don’t heat evenly. If I had the money to convert to gas . . .

Reply

Dana Talusani November 3, 2015 at 7:02 pm

Arnebya,

You are very lucky that I adore you (so much, girl). I will forgive you cooked carrot love.

As for Miss D.: No kidding! Can we shut this shit down? She is built like a bottle rocket and Mama no likey.

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Biz November 3, 2015 at 9:06 am

I am a firm believer that the only reason I didn’t eat veggies growing up was because my Mom overcooked all of them. I only ate raw carrots and cucumbers because they were raw. It wasn’t until Tony took me to a fancy steak house when he was wooing me that he ordered asparagus as his side, and it was unlike any asparagus I had ever seen growing up. It was bright green, vibrant. Turns out I loved them! I was 32 when I started eating cooked veggies again!

But I digress, I did love when my Mom made pot roast with gravy, and that was the only time I loved cooked veggies with the potatoes and melt in your mouth sweet carrots. Yum! Okay now I need to make pot roast!

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Dana Talusani November 3, 2015 at 6:59 pm

Beth,

I will forgive you for eating cooked carrots because you love potatoes as much as I do.

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Kitchwithch's Dad November 3, 2015 at 7:22 pm

Sorry, Kitchwitch but pot roast is beautiful! Yes, yes I know, I’m the Robert Mitchum man: “beef, it’s what’s for dinner!” But it was a great pot roast, as tender a piece of beef as I’ve ever had. And if you are good enough to go to a great butcher for a select pot roast again, please feel free to forget the carrots. I really don’t care much for them either:-). A little less tomato in the gravy with a little more beef stock and your wonderful creamy mashed potatoes and I’m a happy camper! With your generosity of sending the leftover home with us, I had superb pot roast sandwiches for lunch for days. Nothing could be better than that! Your Daddy really thanks you for being so thoughtful and kind on his birthday.

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Sherri November 10, 2015 at 2:59 pm

You had me at Halloween and pot roast. Your girls are beautiful, btw. Happy November and thanks for the recipe – trying it this week.

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Dana Talusani November 11, 2015 at 7:28 pm

Sherri,

Please let me know what you think!!

Reply

Velva November 15, 2015 at 4:49 pm

Halloween is fun at your house! Its a fun time of year. October was a blur for us and November is not looking much better (sigh).

I love pot roast. My son could eat an entire pot roast ( without carrots too) with potatoes and gravy in a couple of sittings. Since he needs the calories for sports, I try to make it once a week. I sear the roast lightly dusted with flour before adding it to the crockpot and I use instant coffee, and big broth to help flavor the gravy.

Velva

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