Page 205
Originally posted 5/4/2020
With gravy – 4.0 stars
What this recipe gets right:
- cooked low and slow. Nothing transforms less-than-tender cuts of meat into fall apart succulent roast like a long hot bath in broth. My first roast back in the 80s was a disaster because I did not do that and I have been a fan ever since.
- big veggies. A long slow cook can turn small chunks into mush. These are perfectly sized for the 4 hour oven stay and come out with enough body to be substantial in your mouth without being undercooked in the middle.
Where it misses:
- gravy. How on earth do you throw out a pan of beef juices?! You make gravy out of it because no matter how good your roast is, it will be better with gravy.
- too much Worcestershire sauce. Yeah, this could have done with about half what it calls for. The back of my throat is still tingling from the flavor.
- onion halves. No. Just no. For starters, they are ugly. The top layer is dry and wrinkly, and the pieces are just too big to eat.
- 1 pot! Probably one of the lowest dish-count recipes in the book.
And, yes, I know it’s Monday today. One of the advantages of sheltering in place is you can cook during the day. I put this in the oven over my lunch break and it was perfectly timed to pull out for dinner when I logged off from work.
