It was a high pain day for me today so I sat all day and watched Hallmark movies. While I was watching, I put together and pot roast. Pot roast is one of those things one can do in steps so it’s not so hard. If I were working full time, I would have stuck it in the crock pot and the house would smell yummy when I got home to a hot, homecooked meal. Since, I’m home, I put it in my pot on the stove.
Pot Roast
I braise the roast in a cast iron skillet and when it’s browned on all sides, I put a couple of cups of water in with it and simmer for a bit. Then I put it in stainless steel and add 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Today, I had a tough bottom round so I put it on early, brought it to a boil and then turned it down to simmer for the next several hours. While it was simmering I peeled the vegetables in stages. I used onion, garlic, carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, and a couple of potatoes. My daughter commented that it was deconstructed stew. I told her not to worry, it would be reconstructed stew tomorrow night. I didn’t have the energy to stand at the sink for long periods so I did up the carrots and sat a while, then did up the parsnips and sat a while. You get the picture. Pot roast is one of the magical meals that can’t go wrong. In a separate pot I warmed up green beans out of a can as my nod to balanced nutrition. I saved the pot liquor along with the left overs and tomorrow, it will magically become stew.
Left Over Stew
Cut up the meat in to little pieces and put in the soup pot with a couple of cups of water and the left over pot liquor. Add oregano, basil, and paprika to taste. If there aren’t enough left over vegetables, now is the time to peel and cut up whatever didn’t make it into the fridge from the pot roast. I’ll need to peel a couple more carrots, a parsnip and probably more garlic. Let it all simmer and about 1/2 hour before supper time, cut up the veggies from last night and put them in the pot. Just before serving, I mix up oat flour, garlic powder and onion powder to taste with a little water and make a paste out of it. This is my thickening for the stew. I put it in the broth slowly while stirring with a wooden spoon and when it’s the thickness I like, I turn off the burner and serve it. We use oat flour because we a gluten free and it works the most like wheat flour of all the flours I’ve tried.
Chicken soup makings
Now, since it was a high pain day and I was cooking anyway, I cooked up some chicken drumettes in the cast iron skillet. I just put them in a bit of olive oil and season them with onion and garlic powder. I season them on both sides and they make a crust just like flouring them would. It only takes about 20 minutes until they are cooked. I start them on high and turn them to medium low when the crust forms, cover them and let them cook without supervision. When they are done, I put them aside to cool, put a little water in the bottom of the pan and get all the great leavings for chicken soup stock. I put it in a container in the fridge. Then, I cooked up the chicken thighs I had thawing. I cook them the same way as I do the drumetts and I save that pot liquor the same way. Now, the chicken drumettes are in the fridge for quick snacks, the thighs and the soup stock are ready for chicken soup on Tuesday.
Teri's Healing Tides 