February 12, 2015
This recipe for Mushroom Pot Roast – or Roast Beef, totally reminds me of my dad who would make this for a Sunday meal in the winter. The whole house fills with a great smell as it slowly cooks in the oven – or slow cooker. I smell that right now in my house, although it’s Wednesday at noon. I’m making an extra large batch (four chuck roasts) to take to Oxford this weekend so Robbie can share it with his housemates for a good Sunday Supper! It goes great with Steel Clan Mashed Potatoes that I’ve already included in the blog. Both are easy to do ahead and re-heat. It used to be an inexpensive meal, but the cost of beef has gone up so much, it’s not cheap. It really does have a delicious flavor and can be dressed up as a nice dinner – or very comforting and low-key.

The ingredients are very simple: Chuck Roast, seasoning, and cream of mushroom soup. But even the soup can be modified. Today, I did not have two cans of cream of mushroom soup, so I used one can of beefy mushroom along with the cream of mushroom and it will be fine. If you like extra onion, you can add a packet of dried onion soup mix. I think it makes it a little too salty – but it adds great onion flavor. I think my dad added garlic or onion – but I don’t think its necessary. I typically use a steak seasoning – or just salt and pepper to rub onto the roasts before browning but you can use whatever seasoning you prefer. If you are dressing it up, or like mushrooms, I recommend adding 8 – 16 oz of fresh mushrooms to the pot when you put it in the oven. It will make the sauce a little thinner – but it adds great flavor. You can always thicken the sauce with cornstarch and water before serving.
Two small roasts, seasoned and beginning to brown on first side. These were about 2 1/2# each. Ideally 4# -5# will easily feed 6-8 people.

Two roasts browned on one side.

It is best to make this ahead by a day or so as the flavors improve. You really need to let this sit at room temperature for an hour so you can remove the beef and clean up the fatty parts – and break the roast into smaller serving size pieces. If it sits overnight, you can easily skim off the fat that rises to the top as well. It tastes good, but it’s a lot better for you if you can remove the extra fat.
After 3 hours in a 300′ oven. You can see the fat rising to the top of the gravy.
After the meat has cooled it is best to hand pull it apart, removing clumps of fat. This is the “cleaned” beef.
This is the “fat” bowl – all of the gelatinous and extra fatty pafts from the beef. Throw this away!
If you let the gravy chill overnight in the covered pan, the fat will solidfy like this. You can pull it off with a spoon, fork, or your fingers and discard. Underneath is a delicious, creamy gravy!. Once the fat is skimmed off you can add the beef back into the pot and reheat to serve.

Mushroom Pot Roast

Preparation takes about 4 hours until cooked, best a day ahead to allow for chilling.

serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

4-5# Chuck Roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup (condensed)
salt and pepper, or desired seasoning

Instructions

Rinse roast and pat dry with paper towel. Season both sides with salt and pepper or desired seasoning.

Heat Dutch oven, or heavy, oven proof skillet on medium-high. Coat the bottom of the pan with about 2 Tbs olive oil or vegetable oil until hot. Place Roast in skillet and brown both sides of the roast. Remove from heat.

Add condensed soup to the pot, coating the roast evenly with the soup. Cover and place in 300′ oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours until meat is fall apart tender. If you have a larger roast, it could take an extra hour.

Remove from oven, then remove lid. Place meat in a large dish or bowl to cool. After 30-45 minutes, pull the meat apart into serving size pieces and remove visible fat. Discard fat and chill meat in an airtight container.

Chill the gravy in the covered pot for several hours or overnight. Remove solid fat layer from the top. Add beef chunks to gravy and reheat to serve.

 

Notes