So you learned to cook a pot roast like your Grandma or your Mom did. You salt & pepper the roast, brown it in a heavy deep pot and finish it in the oven for about 3 hrs. Right?
Then, came the “Crockpot”, making all our cooking lives easier with a whole lot of variations for seasoning, from sprinkling it with onion soup mix, spreading top with a condensed cream soup and letting it cook for hours in the slow cooker.
Next came the “Mississippi Roast”!
This month I’m going to give you still another way of
cooking your “traditional” pot roast, covering it with your favorite brand of jarred salsa! Easy and delicious
Salsa Roast Beef. You can choose from mild, medium or hot salsa. I recommend medium because mild is too mild and doesn’t give your meat the proper “kick”!
And if like your Mexican food hot, you might choose the hot type salsa. Either way it makes a delicious and different tasting beef
roast.. For this recipe I used a jar of “Pace” brand but you can use your favorite brand.
For our 2nd recipe try our Broccoli/Cranberry Salad. I had this at a Charlotte Christmas ladies luncheon years ago and fell in love with it. I had never heard of it before but it was the bomb!!!! It’s a great covered dish you might want to take to a ladies get-together!
Bon Appetit!!!
Salsa Roast Beef
1, 3½ lb. Chuck Roast
Salt, black pepper and flour
2 Tbsp. oil
1, 24-oz. jar prepared Salsa
(I used Pace, use your favorite brand)
5-qt. Crockpot
(or anything larger than a 3 qt.)
Heat
the 2 Tbsp. oil in large skillet. Salt & pepper the roast, dust with flour on both sides and brown it on both sides in the
frying pan .The flour results in a thicker gravy. I like to use a crock-pot liner for easy clean-up. Place roast in crockpot
and pour bout 2 cups of salsa evenly over top. Close the liner and set the dial for 6 hrs. on high. Check at 5 hrs. but mine is fork
tender at 6 hrs. Take 2 forks and shred meat. Serves 4 to 6
Note: Since carrots and potatoes require different cooking
times, I suggest cooking each separately on the stove and then add to the roast at the end.
Serve with fried sweet Vidalia onion rings,
fresh corn on the cob fresh peas (all shown in photo. Also delicious would be, mashed potatoes, green beans and perhaps a green
salad.
Note: For more servings, choose a larger roast, 5 to 6 lb. but still check at 6 hr. on high.
Broccoli/Cranberry Salad
1 head of broccoli, cut into flowerets, about 2 cups
1 ½ cups dried cranberries
4 spring onions or ½ purple onion, thinly sliced
½ cup raisins
1 cup pecans or walnuts
8 to 10 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
½ cup Cheddar
cheese (optional)
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
Make the dressing first:
Mix all of the dressing ingredients together and refrigerate at least 1 hr. before addition to broccoli mixture.
Then: Wash and cut
broccoli into flowerets, making them uniform in size. In a large pot, bring some water to a boil and add 1 Tbsp. salt. Boil the broccoli
for only 2 minutes (you don’t want them to be soft!) Remove and immediately put them in ice water for about 2 minutes, to stop the
cooking and then drain and pat dry with paper towels. They’re now ready for your salad.
Mix salad ingredients together, drizzle dressing
over and toss lightly to coat. Cover and chill at least one hour, up to 24 hrs.
Note: Blanching the flowerets longer than 2
minutes will cause the broccoli’s pretty green color to fade and make them soft and mushy!