Michael and I both have vivid memories of special meals that our moms cooked when we were growing up. One memory that we share is that of roast.
Roast was prepared differently in our households. Michael’s mom baked hers in the oven with carrots and potatoes, usually putting it on to bake before they left for church and cooking it until they got home. My mom and dad usually cooked our roast in a pressure cooker and served it with mashed potatoes and that delicious gravy that can only be made from roast drippings. I swear, it’s good enough to drink through a straw! Michael’s roast was beef. Ours was usually deer. But both were wonderful.
To this day, pot roast, oven-baked roast, pressure cooker roast – pretty much any roast is one of my ultimate comfort foods. I think that’s because it takes me back to my childhood and all the wonderful memories associated with it.
I have been scared to death of pressure cookers ever since I overheard my parents talking about one of my aunts exploding another pressure cooker. She apparently blew several up by not reducing the temperature or something. I remember my parents always listening for the “jiggle.” If you have used a pressure cooker, you know what I’m talking about. They would always wait for the jiggle and then turn the heat down. I have a pressure cooker, but I don’t use it often. I’m seriously scared of it. I can still see the ceiling in my aunt’s kitchen covered in something that she blew up in her pressure cooker. More than once. No, thanks! I have jigglephobia.
I usually cook mine closer to the way Michael’s mom did. I just make a lot more of it because…well, you know about my obsession with cooking once and eating twice. I love to have leftovers.
I have a really big roasting pan that I use. It’s 16X13 and it’s really deep. My kids love the vegetables as much as the roast, so I cook a lot of them. Elizabeth once asked if we could have the potatoes for dinner that I usually made with roast. I had to explain to her that the reason they are so yummy is that they cook with the roast!
I really just love this meal. The only thing I have to add to it is bread, so I either make biscuits or buy some big, crusty yeast rolls. It’s divine.
I call this “Sunday Roast” because that’s when we usually had it, but you can make this any time!
Sunday Roast with Carrots and Potatoes
- 5-8 pound pot roast
- 2 cups of baby carrots
- 15-20 new red potatoes, quartered
- 2 envelopes of onion soup mix
Preheat oven to 300 º. Place roast into a large roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour carrots and potatoes around the roast. Mix the onion soup mix with 3 cups of water and pour over the roast and vegetables. Cover with foil and bake for 4 hours.
Remove from the oven and remove foil. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Well Duh #1: I sometimes use fingerling potatoes instead of baby potatoes. Just use small potatoes of some kind. I’ve also added wedges of sweet potatoes, too. Delicious!
Well Duh #2: Nothing – and I mean nothing – beats a roast beef sandwich. I like mine with nothing but mayonnaise on white bread that’s fresh enough to stick to the back of your teeth when you bite it.
Well Duh #3: You can cook as much roast as you can fit in your pan – as long as you lay it in a single layer and then cover it with the vegetables. Cooking time won’t change.
Well Duh #4: This can cook a little longer, if you need it to. Don’t freak out if you don’t get home in exactly 4 hours!
Well Duh #5: Roast can be expensive. Wait until you find a good sale and stock up! They freeze well!
One day, I hope our kids look back and have their own fond memories of our special Sunday dinners and lunches. I’m pretty sure this will be one of the ones they remember the most!
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