Tags
Crock Pot, dry red wine, frozen pot roast, frozen roast in crock pot, gravy, lazy man pot roast, lazy pot roast, pioneer woman asparagus, pot roast, ree drummond, weber grill seasonings
The school year has commenced.
The beginning of the school year means different things to different people, but it certainly means that life is now just a bit busier for everyone. With that in mind, I present to you a dinner that makes your hectic life a bit easier, and one that is bound to be popular throughout the year.
It involves a crock pot, frozen meat, and wine. If you are turned off by any of those things, stop reading now. If not, press onward.
Earlier in the summer I came up with this recipe when we had a busy day ahead, but still wanted dinner at home. So, I came up with this and it turned out great.
THE RECIPE:
frozen chuck roast *really the only type of roast I like.
one onion
dry red wine
a handful of grape tomatoes
seasoning mix to taste. I have an adobo spice mix I make myself and use for pretty much everything, but I’ve also used Weber’s Chicago Steak Seasoning with great success.
THE STEPS:
Cut up onion into large slices and place in the crock pot.
Put the frozen roast in the crock pot on top of the onions.
Season liberally with the spices. I know that it seems kind of crazy, but the flavors will eventually come through with the beef and especially the broth later on.
Add a few grape tomatoes around the bottom of the roast.
Pour wine CAREFULLY around the bottom of the crock pot, until it comes up to the bottom of the roast. You don’t want to pour it on the roast, since that will cause the spices to run off.
Turn on low for about 10 hours.
AND DONE.
No browning the roast, no defrosting, virtually no mess.
I know this isn’t the Alton Brown preferred method, but I’ve tried this three times now, and I love it.
EXTRA WORK (If you want to)
Two times I’ve done this, I’ve made a bit of a gravy to go over the roast.
When the roast is done, take it out and set it on a plate, then cover it with foil to let it rest.
Ladle out three scoops of the wine-infused broth with a couple of onions and tomatoes for good measure. Place in a saucepan and get out your immersion blender.
Blend that stuff up. It should puree the tomatoes and most of the onions.
Then bring it to a boil and let it boil down for about five to ten minutes while your roast is resting.
It should thicken, and you will have a fancy, wine based gravy to go on your roast.
All that being said, you don’t have to do that, you can just ladle some of the juices on your roast as well.
Overall, this is a very easy weeknight meal.
The picture at the top makes it seem fancier than it was, but the Caprese salad was leftover, and I use the roasted asparagus recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and that takes just 15 minutes to prepare.
So, there you go, an easy recipe for your busy back to school world.
Do you have any easy recipes for busy people? Share below!
StLouEats 