Pot Roast with Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Gravy

Pot roast is an easy to prepare delicious meal perfect for Sunday night dinners during the winter months.  I pulled one of the last of our roasts from the freezer a couple of days ago.  We are getting the freezers ready for our beef on the hoof purchase this year so there isn't much beef left.  Our beef stock is down to a two packages of soup bones, three roasts and a package of stew beef.  I'm actually quite pleased we have been able to get our beef stock this low before we pick up our new beef.  In the meantime we will enjoy moose, chicken, pork, fish and seafood so it isn't like we have to go without meat.

I traditionally make pot roast with a beef roast, potatoes, carrots and whole mushrooms.  The resulting gravy is rich and flavourful.  Most think of gravy as being meat or poultry based but there is the gorgeous sausage gravy for biscuits, brown gravy and mushroom gravy.  A very popular gravy with my Mennonite friends is tomato gravy. 

Tomato gravy is extremely easy to make as it is just lightly seasoned tomato juice thickened to a gravy consistency.  It is used much the same a meat based gravies.  I decided to kick tomato gravy up a notch by using a fire roasted tomato basil sauce to make a gravy.  Once the roast was seasoned (garlic pepper, Worcestershire sauce) and surrounded by potatoes, carrots and cabbage, I poured about 500 ml (2 c) of the fire roasted tomato basil sauce over the meat and vegetables. 

The roast was cooked in the clay baker at 300ºF until the vegetables were tender and the roast was starting to caramelize.  The internal temperature was 155ºF/68ºC which is medium.  Note that this is a lower temperature than that for ground beef which is done at 160ºF/71ºC.  The reason for this is a whole cut of meat has a smaller surface area than ground meat.  Any bacteria present on the meat will be killed off during the cooking process.  Ground meat has a high surface area and the grinding process itself allows surface bacteria to be transferred throughout the meat giving them a greater chance of multiplying.  This is one reason I prefer to grind my own meat just before wanting to use it.  This also explains why eating a blue steak (just barely cooked on each side) is fine because surface bacteria has been killed off but it is not fine to eat a burger that is still rare in the middle.

Cabbage is an underused, inexpensive and nutritious vegetable.  It takes on a lovely sweetness when cooked!  The fires roasted tomato basil sauce accented the flavours nicely.  I simply thickened the juices from the roast using a cornstarch slurry to make a gravy.  We really liked the roast cooked this way.  It would be a wonderful wintertime comfort meal!

I will admit to starting out this meal with an end in mind.  I've talked of making my own convenience foods.  After I made a plate for my husband's lunch the following day, I set about making three packets of convenience foods.  Tomorrow I will share with you what those foods were and how I made them.

Lemon Peppered Chicken

Pork has been the bargain meat for the past couple of years.  The price went as low as 99¢ per lb ($2.47 per kg).  At the same time the price of other meats rose significantly especially chicken.  All of this was due to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak.  Chicken was always one of the least expensive meat choices but prices rose well over $1 a pound.  I refused to buy whole chickens that were going for about $2.50 per pound.  A four pound chicken was averaging $10 for awhile.  Chicken prices have not returned to their former low price per pound.  Current sale price for boneless, skinless chicken breast is $4 per lb ($8,82 per kg) and chicken legs with backs attached are $1.99/lb ($4.39/kg) which is quite a jump from the former 69¢ per lb.  So the days of inexpensive chicken are long gone but chicken is still a frugal choice of protein.

Chicken is a very versatile meat so despite the price increase we continue to enjoy it once or twice a week.  I particularly like chicken breasts because not only are they quite lean, they cook quickly.  I've been taking advantage of some of the chicken sales as well as just buying chicken breasts and chicken kiev from Elite Gourmet Foods.  It's been awhile since I have been this well stocked for chicken!

Bone-in, skinless chicken breasts were on sale so I picked up a couple of packages.  Each package contained four large chicken breasts (two plus meals) for about $6.  I don't mind removing the bone myself because the bones can be used to make stock. 

I seared the two chicken breasts then seasoned with lemon pepper, reduced heat and continued cooking until the juices ran clear.  I served the chicken breasts on a bed of long grain rice topped with steamed baby spinach.  I ladled mushroom gravy over the chicken breast.  I love easy recipes and mushroom gravy is ever so easy to make.

Mushroom Gravy

1 can condensed low sodium mushroom soup
¾ can milk
2 tbsp flour
milk

Mix the flour with just enough milk to make a slurry.  Mix the condensed soup and milk together then heat to a low boil.  Slowly stir in the flour slurry.  Continue stirring until mixture is thickened.  Ladle as desired.

Arlene's Truck Stop, Battle Creek, Michigan (with recipes)

I've mentioned before that when we are on road trips we often stop at truck stops for meals. The reason being truck stops tend to have good coffee and excellent home style cooking. Now you can't stop at just any truck stop. The quality of the coffee and food is directly related to how busy the parking lot is. The busier the parking lot the better the truck stop! My husband is very good at finding the excellent truck stops. We've yet to eat at one that hasn't had good food thanks to his well tuned sixth sense.

Arlene's Truck Stop

Arlene's Truck Stop is located at 4647 Columbia Ave. in Battle Creek, Michigan just off of I-94 on exit 92 to the right about a quarter of a mile up the road. The truck stop is quite busy but not fancy. There is a rather small tuck shop with the basics, mainly snack type foods. Fuel is available and there is ample parking for larger rigs. The restaurant is small and quite non-descript but the food is excellent. The home style food portions are large but low priced. A bottomless cup of coffee was $1.50 each. The service was fast and friendly, well above average. You definitely will not be leaving this truck stop hungry!

Country Fried Steak

My husband ordered the country fried steak ($7.59) with American fries, 2 poached eggs and white toast. Country fried steak is easily made at home. It is simply a thin cut of tenderized cube steak or round steak coated in fried chicken coating (eg. Homemade Shake & Bake Coating Mix) or seasoned flour then pan fried. It is usually topped with country gravy. Country (white) gravy is extremely easy to make and quite versatile. It is basically a thicker, seasoned white sauce. You can kick it up a notch by turning white gravy into sausage or bacon gravy. Here's how I make sausage gravy. You can substitute a good quality bacon cut across the slices to form bacon pieces for the sausage.

Sausage Gravy

4 breakfast sausage links or small pattie slices
2 c whole milk
2 tbsp unbleached flour
salt and pepper to taste

Fry the sausage links until cooked through, breaking them up as they fry. When the sausage is nicely browned and resembles the texture of crumbled ground beef remove from the heat. Drain the sausage reserving 2 tbsp of fat. Mix about ¼ c of the milk into the flour in a separate bowl to form a smooth slurry. Return the frypan to a medium heat. Pour in the rest of the milk. Heat while stirring constantly until milk comes to the scald stage (just starting to boil). While stirring pour the flour slurry into the milk and continue stirring and cooking until the mixture thickens to desired consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in the crumbled sausage. Season as desired with salt and pepper if desired.

Eggs Sunny Side Up

I ordered the ultimate breakfast ($5.79) with ham, 2 eggs sunny side up, hash browns and whole wheat toast. I think every restaurant serves some type of potatoes with their egg breakfast however what is a bit confusing is the terminology used to describe the potatoes. The term American fries was used to describe those included in my husband's meal. However, these are often called home fries or even country cuts. I had hash browns with mine but quite often if you order hash browns you end up with something almost like a semi-mashed home fries or actual home fries or something that looks like strands of French fries cut across to form little cubes of potatoes. These hash browns were the shredded variety and they are quite easy to duplicate at home. Do not be tempted to stir these hash browns while cooking as they will get gluey. Here's my method.

Hash Browns (shredded)

1 - 2 large baking potatoes (eg. Yukon Gold, Russet)

Shred the potatoes. Rinse to remove extra starch. Place the shredded potatoes in a tea towel and press out as much moisture as possible. Pour enough cooking oil to cover the bottom of your frypan. Heat a frypan on medium high. Pour the shredded potatoes into the pan in a shallow layer, about ½- inch thick. Let them cook without disruption for 3 minutes or until just golden brown. Carefully flip and repeat. Remove from pan and serve seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.