I have always loved Crock Pot meals. I believe the slow cooker to be one of the best time-saving kitchen helpers.
This past week, I had a day of appointments in the morning and several hours of raking and other yard work to do in the afternoon. In the morning, I spent about 20 minutes prepping the meat and vegetables and turned my slow cooker on to handle the rest of dinner.
When I came in the house for a break, the aroma greeted me. I gave it a stir and back to work I went. When we finished for the day, I didn't have to think about making dinner (my shoulders were aching by this time). We cleaned up, poured a glass of wine, and served up this pot roast.¬
What a nice way to end a busy day!
Yankee Pot Roast & Vegetables
Use a 4-quart crock-pot
Serves 5-6
Ingredients:
2 1âÑ2- to 3-pound chuck pot roast (or your favorite pot roast cut)
3 medium/large potatoes, scrubbed clean & unpeeled. Cut into halves or thirds
4-5 large carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
4 parsnips cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large onions, cut into wedges
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3âÑ4 cup beef broth
Trim excess fat from meat. Cut meat into large serving pieces; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place vegetables, bay leaves and seasonings in slow cooker and toss to mix a little. Place beef on top and pour broth over it. (The beef will make more juice as it cooks)
Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Remove and discard bay leaves.
Note: If you want to serve bread with this, brown bread is a traditional "Yankee" accompaniment.
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Pat Altomare's "Pat's Kitchen" runs weekly in the Friday Life section of The Eagle-Tribune. She invites your questions and comments. E-mail patakitchen@yahoo.com, or write c/o The Eagle-Tribune, 100 Turnpike St., North Andover, MA 01845.
