So most of the country is pretty chilly right now, and one of the best things on a cold night is pot roast. Well, chili’s good too, but we’ve been making a lot of that here recently, and I don’t think I could do chili again any time soon. I’m chili’d out. So here’s my epic gluten-free pot roast recipe.
Ingredients:
1-2 onions
1 32 oz. bag baby carrots
1 40 oz. bag red potatoes
2 32 oz. boxes gluten-free beef broth or stock
1 chuck roast
garlic powder
dried thyme
dried parsley
salt
pepper
1. Dice onions to sautée before adding to slow cooker. Sautée in vegetable oil (or bacon grease) with salt and pepper on medium-low heat, stirring to keep from burning. Once coated, onions only need to be stirred occasionally. While onions are cooking, clean and cut the potatoes by scrubbing the skins clean of soil, cutting out any eyes, and chopping into bite-sized pieces. Peel after washing if desired.
Tips:
1. If you want to add more flavor to your roast, consider swapping some of the carrots and potatoes for peeled, seeded tomatoes (canned would be fine) and roasted bell peppers. To roast peppers, cut into strips, then place on greased baking sheet under the broiler on low for 3-5 minutes until a char starts to build. Watch peppers closely, broilers can turn food from not done to completely black in a matter of seconds, even on the low setting.
2. Additional flavor could also be added with red wine, Worcestershire sauce, fancy ketchup, whatever. This is pretty much the most basic recipe for a pot roast, experiment with your flavors and seasonings.
3. Why sear the roast? Flavor. A combination of the Maillard Reaction and caramelization produces browning of the meat. Searing, despite what you may have heard, does not “seal in the juices,” and contrarily, actually causes greater loss of moisture. What searing does is it acts as a catalyst in certain chemical processes that break down proteins into new compounds that produce better flavors. Basically, it makes food taste good.
4. Will an unseared roast still taste good? Yes. It will be just as tender, there won’t be any tremendous difference in texture, and it will taste very similar to the seared roast. Searing will help your pot roast to develop a bit more complexity of flavor, though, so that is why I recommend it.
Sorry about how long this post is, but there was a lot of information to put out there about how to prepare meats for long wet cooking. I hope you enjoy this delectable gluten-free pot roast recipe. Leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.
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