Pot roast

[ksmith]

Did you know that there's a what_a_crock community? The latest recipe posted is Chicken with Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary. Looks luscious.

As for Sunday's pot roast, it came out pretty good. I rubbed the beef with salt, pepper, and dried thyme, then browned it in a fry pan (with a little olive oil). Then I added it to the crockpot atop a bed of sliced onion, garlic cloves, celery, and carrots. I deglazed the pan with 3/4 cup red wine and added that to the pot. Then I added another half cup of wine. That was the only liquid I added. After it had been cooking for two hours, I added some sliced Portobello mushrooms.

Three hours later, the beef was soaking in bubbling brown juice. Not quite falling apart, but close. I could have given it another hour, I guess, but I was hungry. I sliced some up, and had it with fork-mashed potatoes and carrots from the pot. It seemed a little dry, but it was tender.

The celery and onions were cooked down to pratically nothing, and the gravy was incredible. I can't get over the quality of the stock I get cooking this way. Another thing that surprised me was how little fat the gravy contained. I skimmed off a thin layer before I put it in the fridge--today, there was no additional fat to be seen. I noticed the same thing with the Lasater ground beef--very little solid fat separates out. Given that hamburger and chuck are usually fatty, this is surprising. Is this a quality of grass-fed beef?

Anyway, had some of the beef tonight, sliced in a salad. Very good, and I'm not a fan of leftover cooked beef.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

When you cook to the falling apart stage, the meat will get juicier again.

Yes, the grass fed beef tends to be much leaner. The animals have to walk for dinner. And instead of eating high density calories, which packs on the fat, they get way more ruffage and trace nutrients. The fat you get in grass fed beef contains higher quantities of CLA, which they're now recommending as a weight loss aid, and for it's help with the cardio-vascular system.

There are two kinds of grass fed beef. Much of it has been "finished on corn" which means the cow stands in a feedlot for it's last few weeks to pack on the not so good for you fat. I'm pretty sure Lasater is finished on grass, meaning they don't feedlot their cows.

Adrianne

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

When you cook to the falling apart stage, the meat will get juicier again.

Damn, I had a feeling, but I was hungry. Now I know.

I'll be happy to have the deep freeze. Then I can buy a number of larger individuals cuts and freeze them.

[(Anonymous)]

::laughs:: I make that mistake three times out of four. I forget to put my close roast in until mid-afternoon. And then at 7, it's still not cooked through. (I often also start cooking mine completely frozen.) So we eat it dry and chewier.

Hubby's mom often takes a roast and cooks it three times. She'll close roast it the first two times, then thin slice it and toss it back in the pan with the gravy, and roast it again. So all is not lost if you decide it needs more cooking.

Adrianne

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I'll be happy to have the deep freeze. Then I can buy a number of larger individuals cuts and freeze them

The point of this being that I'll have room to experiment and practice.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

And yes, Lasater is 100% grass-fed. No grain/corn finish.