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?
