Ina Garten's Company Pot Roast

I think my daddy wants to kiss the member of Barefoot Bloggers who picked the 2nd recipe for November, Ina's Company Pot Roast. You can find the recipe here.

My daddy looooooves him da pot roast. He loves him da gravy even more...and Mama doesn't make gravy anymore. Because, let's face it, gravy for 2 just isn't gonna happen. If you're going to trouble with gravy, there'd better be a crowd in your kitchen.

When I first read that Company Pot Roast was on the agenda for November, I knew exactly who to invite for dinner. Hint: German with chocolate brown peepers. Loves the Windy City. The Original "Wallet Man."

The girls and I came down with colds early in the week, which worried me. I won't let Mama come over if we have colds; a bad cold can land Miss Mama-One-Lung in the hospital faster than you can say "achoo."

But I also worried about daddy; every time I called the house, Mama said, "Your father is so excited about this weekend and his pot roast dinner!" I hated to disappoint him; after all, the Original Wallet Man put up with a lot of mischief and handouts raising my sister and me. A man willing to endure that kind of hardship deserves his roast.



I never much liked pot roast dinner, which we had at least once a month when I was a kid (because daddy loved it so). Pot roast is just kinda stringy and...I dunno...a vehicle for gravy? And I loathed cooked carrots, which always rode shotgun with pot roast at our house.

I actually cooked the roast a day ahead, because pot roast, like any braised dish, improves if made in advance. I also like to make braised dishes ahead because, after refrigeration, it's easy to remove any and all fat from the sauce...bonus for the backside!!

I only deviated from Ina's recipe in one area; instead of pureeing half of the sauce mixture as instructed, I pureed the whole shebang. I don't *do* chunky gravy.

My guys were watching football while Mama and I puttered in the kitchen (and yes I did wipe down the entire house with Clorox before she came), and when I called daddy into the kitchen to do his duty as "Official Tester of the Gravy," he practically wagged his tail. He deemed it perfect. And I agreed. That is some tasty dunkin' sauce, people!

The roast was incredibly tender and un-stringy. Probably the moist-est (okay, that word is kinda gross, isn't it? Moist.) roast I've ever eaten. And I jettisoned the cooked carrots, thankfully. I ate a small portion, pigged out on potatoes (Carb Queen Reigns Again) and happily packed up the leftovers for transport. Because we know who this meal really was for.



ps: Why no picture, you ask? Because pot roast, while delicious, is not beautiful to behold. It looks like turd on a plate with vomit on it. Hungry now?